Recessed straplocks?

[micpoc]

Has anyone here ever attempted a recessed straplock as seen on this Alembic?



It seems like implementing this should be pretty straightforward, but if anyone has an tips, I'd appreciate them. I'll be doing this on a guitar with a fairly heavy finish, and chipping that finish is my biggest concern.

[voided3]

Those are the old style Dunlop ones, right? I'd imagine if you use a properly sized and sharpened drill bit with the area to be drilled taped over with painter's/masking tape, it would go alright. Just go slow.

[mellecaster]

Here's a Screen capture from an older post about those...might be of some Help ?

[micpoc]

Yes, they are the Dunlop style. Right where the button would contact the body it flares out a bit, and I though it might be a good idea to file that down, though maybe that's just more work than is necessary.

One thing I was curious about was whether or not I should use some sort of wood putty to fill the remainder of the space left by the drilled cavity.

[twangmastermike]

hey micpoc;
i have recessed the strap locks on all of the guitars i have built so far. in that instance, i do all of my machining before the finish.
when i recess the locks for someone else, on an already finished guitar, i start with a drill bit about 1/2 the size of the finished hole and work up to the final size. it takes a couple of extra minutes, but the chance of chipping the finish is much less.
i undersize the hole slightly, so i get a nice tight "push fit".
try to drill the holes only as deep as need be. if they are drilled too deep, a piece of dowel glued in the bottom of the hole will work better than wood filler.
this really cleans up the appearance of a guitar.

make sure all your bits are SHARP.

[micpoc]

Thanks for the assists, guys. The strap locks I have don't look exactly like those posted by Mellecaster; like I said, they flare out a bit on the body end, like here:

Perhaps my idea of filing the buttons down would be a good move after all?

[steadyriot]

That would indeed be a good move.

[brewwagon]

just buy these buttons

http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?p...ts/accessories

bw

[cmatthes]

Ditto on the above if you want to do the full recess.

Hamer uses the larger Dunlop buttons above, and recesses them a bit, but not completely. They do a small rout and add a rubber gasket as a "shock absorber" in there. It gives it a slightly lower profile than if it was just surface mounted, but also gives you the bigger button, which is easier to grab on to when changing straps.