Mod Garage DIY Guitar Makeover: First Steps and Needle Files

The first surprise hit me while taking off the factory-installed strings. While doing so, all six string ferrules fell out of the body onto the floor. While it’s not a rare scenario that the ferrules on a Telecaster can be pulled out easily, this was special. It’s not a big problem, because with the strings installed, the string tension will hold them in place, but who wants to search for the string ferrules on the floor every time you need to change the strings—especially on a dark stage floor in the middle of a gig? This is not custom-shop grade, so it was the first issue on my list.

After measuring the diameter of the drilled holes in the body and the ferrules, it was clear why they fell out: The holes are a lot larger than the diameter of the ferrules. It was clear that I can’t glue them in for a better fit, nor use tape to compensate. There were only two real solutions: close the holes in the body with wooden dowels and drill them again, or use different ferrules matching the diameter of the holes in the body. The stock bullet-shaped ferrules are very cheaply made, so I decided it wasn’t worth the work to save them. I ordered a new set of ferrules with a larger diameter than the holes in the body (making an existing hole bigger is much easier and less work than filling it and starting from zero). I picked a standard set of vintage protruding ferrules—the first $12 on our bill.