Holes to Drill

[Mr Real Nice]

My body is coming in next week and this is my first build so I just want to make sure I'm remembering to drill all my holes first before I finish it.  This is what I can think of so far...let me know if I'm forgetting anything... (this is a HHH Tele but only two of the pickups are going to be used for now)

Pickguard holes
strap button holes (do they come pre-drilled from Warmoth?)
control plate mounting holes

Will I need to drill any holes for the hardtail-style bridge or bridge pickup mounting?

 

[SkuttleFunk]

fwiw, I don't drill the following holes prior to finishing:

* pickguards
* control cavity cover mounting
* strap button
* thumb rest
* trussrod cover plate on headstock
* string retainers

all of these miniscule holes only cause a headache when finishing, and are easily done apres finishing. I do drill my bridge and neck mounting holes prior to finishing, though, as I want to make sure I utilize guide lines when drilling (which are erased prior to any finish work is started)

all the best,

R

 

[rahimiiii]

I have drilled the bridge hole after finishing (usually because I didn't have money for hardware until I waited for the paint to cure) and I just put a masking tape over the place to be drilled and make the guidelines, and the masking tape allows you to drill a cleaner hole without chipping the finish.

 

[-CB-]

you can drill major holes - stop bar, t-o-m, or even bridge placement/strings on a tele, but the rest... just do after finishing.  They're small diameter, and are going to fill with finish anyway, so you might as well just let them go.  And who knows, your plans may change as you finitch things anyway... give yer self some viggle room.

 

[Mr Real Nice]

Ok, thanks for the advice.  I didn't think it would be too big a deal to drill after the fact, but I thought it was standard procedure to do it before.  I drilled straight through the finish on my POS flea market strat knockoff to install the strap button on the other side (hendrix style) with 0 issues, so I'll use the masking tape on my new baby just to be double sure.