CBJ Machineheads

 I've just got a set of John's Van Gent machineheads very weird sized bushings  9.45mm I've only ever used 8mm or 10mm  bushes , i'll have to go and buy a 9mm brad point bit , more expence ! .

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  • With a slotted headstock, bushes aren't usually used, you just drill the for the diameter of the tuner string post and that's it. I've never actually seen a slotted headstock guitar built using bushings...although I recall trying to do it once and realised that it was a really bad idea. I think some old Martins slotheads and the DuPont  Selmer style guitars use bushings, but it's not a common way of doing it.

    If you need "regular" sized bushings, let me know and I'll send some free of charge.

    •  Thanks John if you've 8mm bushes that would be great as I've already drilled the post holes at 8mm  .

  • You can curse the supplier for perhaps leaving a specification unpublished,
    Or you can curse yourself for taking something for granted. I think most of us who've been doing this a while have made the mistake of cutting incorrectly for some part that was not yet on the bench. I personally never bother with push in bushings in slotted heads, because you'd need to drill right through from the opposite side they're only going to loosen things up as I see it :)
    •  Thanks Kid from over the pond , a bit of both I think , I was building  full size guitars long before in came upon this site so I did take it for granted that they'd come with 8mm bushes , I've never seen a bush that size only 8mm and I think there's 3 sizes of 10mm , any way time to crack open a cold one and sort in Monday .

  • If you have any old imperial size drills a 23/64" would give a hole just over 9mm

    •  No I don't have any , haven't used imperial since 1968 , i'll have to sling these and buy a set with the right size bushes

    • You must know an old fart (like me) with a shed load of gear he won't part with 'cos some day it will come in handy 

    •  I'm the same  i spent most of my working life in the building trade , picking up screws , nails , bits of gash timber all stored for future use .,

       The thing that winds me up is all I have to do for this build is fit the tuners and string it and it's finished ,  but now I have to re-think this build , holes for tuners will have to be plugged with dowling and re-drilled to 6mm and use them without bushes , don't have a dedicated drill press so it'll be a nightmare to get the re-drilling centre and straight , or buy new machine heads but the only option on Ebay is Chinese ones but at least they'll come with the right sized bushes , Rant over ...

  • These bushings are a lot more substantial than the usual Chinese 'monkey metal' ones. I usually drill them undersize and take them out to final diameter with a reamer, but you should find that a 9mm bit will give you a good tight fit.

    •  Headstock is a slotted one with 8mm holes for normal sized bushes so no way to get a reamer in , I don't have a reamer so to go and spend £20 to £30 on extra tools to fit a set of £6.00 machineheads if I'd known the size of the bushes I wouldn't have bought them , perhaps you should put the sizes on your web page .

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