Fixing holes in a Peavey T-60

[singlewide]

Hello all

I have a Peavey T-60 in the natural ash finish here that has been modified by the previous owner to accommodate some sort of tremolo system, it was returned to the stock bridge before I got hold of it and so I am left with a bunch of screw holes and a deep channel that extends either side of the bridge. Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could best mask these in a way that would blend in with the natural finish? Obviously if the body was painted this would all be so much easier, but it isn’t and I don’t want it to be. Or alternately, if anyone recognises what type of tremolo it would have been from the placement of the screw holes I might be inclined to return it to that as a solution. Thanks in advance for any help!

[1001gear]

Fill the holes and paint to match.

 

Or polka dots.

[Freeman Keller]

You can fill the holes with dowels and small round pieces of wood - preferably ash.    Since the finish is probably catalyzed poly something you can drop fill with CA, level and knock the gloss off.   The drilling looks like it might have been a tune-o-matic bridge with a Bigsby - measure your hole locations and compare with the engineering drawings of various trems at StewMac or other suppliers.   Putting a trem back on introduces its own problems

You won't be able to hide it but you can make them look better.

[Mikeo]

1 hour ago, Freeman Keller said:

You can fill the holes with dowels and small round pieces of wood - preferably ash.    Since the finish is probably catalyzed poly something you can drop fill with CA, level and knock the gloss off.   The drilling looks like it might have been a tune-o-matic bridge with a Bigsby - measure your hole locations and compare with the engineering drawings of various trems at StewMac or other suppliers.   Putting a trem back on introduces its own problems

You won't be able to hide it but you can make them look better.

This

 

Yeah the grain will not match.

 

Paint covers up a world of sin.

 

[daddymack]

The routed channel leads me to think this was a Floyd or Kahler-style, possibly. The holes behind the bridge, those I can't explain.

I would make a 'fill block' out of ash [or any light colored hardwood] for the routed slot and bond it in there with high quality luthiers/wood glue. The other holes, depending on diameter and depth, could be filled with dowels, or just 'capped' and sanded down.

[singlewide]

13 hours ago, daddymack said:

The routed channel leads me to think this was a Floyd or Kahler-style, possibly. The holes behind the bridge, those I can't explain.

From the sheer number of screw holes and the area they cover I’m wondering if there were actually two different systems in play at different times here. 

My current thinking with the larger holes is dowels topped with a thin piece of ash veneer, that way I should be able to find a relatively close match to the rest of the finish. 

[1001gear]

That Peavey ashtray looks like it came from a bowling alley circa 1960.

[singlewide]

16 minutes ago, 1001gear said:

That Peavey ashtray looks like it came from a bowling alley circa 1960.

Legend has it Hartley Peavey bought them as a job lot when Arnold’s Diner closed after Fonzie left town

[singlewide]

I’m joking of course. We all know there’s no way Fonzie ever left town. 

[1001gear]

[daddymack]

9 hours ago, singlewide said:

From the sheer number of screw holes and the area they cover I’m wondering if there were actually two different systems in play at different times here. 

....

I considered that but the hole patterns didn't fit any unit I could think of putting on that style guitar, and since you didn't have a 'axfax'* report on the guitar's history of mods, this could have been an ongoing series of variants over many years.

Since the T-60s were produced between '78 and '88, the guitar has been around long enough to have been someone's 'test bed'. I have and old 'Gretsch' Korean strat copy from the 80s I use to make tests on, try p-ups, variable capacitors on tone pots, things like that, and, occasionally, bridges that I'm not familiar with get installed on it first, so if I make a mistake [which happens] I don't have to explain it to my clients...I just learn from it, correct it and move on.

Interesting guitars... I've worked on a couple different ones over the years and the production was extremely consistent. They play nice, the necks are well shaped...I don't recall adjusting either of the T-60's necks that I've worked on. The original wiring was, at the time, a marvel; treble bleed, out of phase and coil split switching. Personally, I find the pickups kind of lackluster, but they have their own 'voice'. They can be easily replaced with any 4 wire humbucker, btw.

 

*wouldn't that be cool? like the carfax report for guitars....

[singlewide]

1 hour ago, daddymack said:

I considered that but the hole patterns didn't fit any unit I could think of putting on that style guitar, and since you didn't have a 'axfax'* report on the guitar's history of mods, this could have been an ongoing series of variants over many years.

Since the T-60s were produced between '78 and '88, the guitar has been around long enough to have been someone's 'test bed'. I have and old 'Gretsch' Korean strat copy from the 80s I use to make tests on, try p-ups, variable capacitors on tone pots, things like that, and, occasionally, bridges that I'm not familiar with get installed on it first, so if I make a mistake [which happens] I don't have to explain it to my clients...I just learn from it, correct it and move on.

Interesting guitars... I've worked on a couple different ones over the years and the production was extremely consistent. They play nice, the necks are well shaped...I don't recall adjusting either of the T-60's necks that I've worked on. The original wiring was, at the time, a marvel; treble bleed, out of phase and coil split switching. Personally, I find the pickups kind of lackluster, but they have their own 'voice'. They can be easily replaced with any 4 wire humbucker, btw

Fun fact - they were intentionally designed so that the neck was interchangeable with that of a telecaster. That being said, for my money I honestly think the neck holds its own against any Fender neck I’ve come across. It’s almost like if Rickenbacker decided to make a strat copy, this is how it would play. I love these guitars, they are so synonymous with peoples’ first guitars from the 80s that they are kinda frozen in time there for a generation and really underrated as a result 

[daddymack]

Replace the neck? It would not be worth doing, from the playability standpoint and considering the cost of a real/licensed Fender neck these days...but then again, the crazies discovered the T-60s of late, and prices have gone over a grand for the 'mintier' ones. So why ruin a 'collectible'?

Harley Peavey was a visionary, and he had a feel for what the lower rung players and bands needed. He also did the 210 Bass amp, which was on a bar stage, every night, somewhere back in the 70s...I must have worked with half a dozen guys with that amp. And PA stuff, like monitor systems...cheap but functional.

[Grant Harding]

I remember the necks on those old Peaveys were wide and not very chunky. I really liked the ones I tried. 

I think the main thing with fixing the holes is to manage your expectations. They end up being almost as noticeable or more in my experience. 

[1001gear]

FWIW I have a Visions tele. Looks regular except for the 3 pickups.

[daddymack]

11 hours ago, Grant Harding said:

I remember the necks on those old Peaveys were wide and not very chunky. I really liked the ones I tried. 

I think the main thing with fixing the holes is to manage your expectations. They end up being almost as noticeable or more in my experience. 

can't be as bad, from a distance, as all those holes...close-up, meh...still, at least it looks like you cared

a little stain, a fine brush...voila...grain matched...😎

[badpenguin]

Love the way they played, really dug the sound out of the pickups, with a near perfect neck. GREAT guitar, MINUS the weight of them! They all averaged well over 10 lbs. Standing, it would kill your back, sitting, it would cut off circulation to your foot and leg. Which is why I'll never have another one. 

[WRGKMC]

Based on the holes and their spacing, I'd suspect that guitar had a had a Bigsby vibrato system and floating bridge installed.  The 4 holes closest to the tail, likely held a Tele style Bigsby.  The other holes likely mounted some kind of bridge. At first I thought the hole routed would accommodate a Mustang type bridge that "moves" with the strings when the Bigsby is used but there must have been more to it. The original bridge is low profile so some kind of roller bridge that required routing to get it low enough to mount was needed.  I've seen Kahler vibrato's that used shallow routes but this one seems unique.  It may have been a bridge rigged up to work and they butchered things to make it fit.  

As far as getting the holes filled in.  What I'd do is fill the route in with epoxy putty.  It does a wonderful job in cases like this and its better then wood putty because it doesnt shrink. You can sand it smooth too. Simply tape off the area around the bridge so you don't mess the remaining finish up.  You can find it in most hardware stores.  You mix it up like clay and then fill in that hole under the bridge. You should get back some bass tones with a flush solid surface.  

You can use the putty on the screw holes too.  Normally I'd simply use tooth picks dipped in CA then trim them off flush with the surface after they dry.  You can use felt tipped markers to color of the trimmed end to match the surface better, then use a drop of CA and a tooth pick to seal the end of it. If the looks still bothers you find some ornate stickers like stars and stick them over the filled holes.  It should be enough to satisfy any curious minds.  

The only other option is to refinish the top after matching the plug color. That a tough job to simply fix some screw holes and unless the instrument has great value I'd advise against it.  Personally I've done excellent work with the putty alone. Its easy to fill un holes using a putty knife and since you can buy the stuff in a Yellowish color you can easily darken it with a brown marker quickly applied and wiped off till you get the plug colors right. Wiping it with alcohol will remove the marker if you need to start over.  Once its right, a drop of CA or lacquer will seal it up. 

 

[Mr.Grumpy]

Nice to see you back, WRGKMC. 

[singlewide]

On 8/24/2021 at 12:24 PM, WRGKMC said:

As far as getting the holes filled in.  What I'd do is fill the route in with epoxy putty.  It does a wonderful job in cases like this and its better then wood putty because it doesnt shrink. You can sand it smooth too. Simply tape off the area around the bridge so you don't mess the remaining finish up.  You can find it in most hardware stores.  You mix it up like clay and then fill in that hole under the bridge. You should get back some bass tones with a flush solid surface.  

You can use the putty on the screw holes too.  Normally I'd simply use tooth picks dipped in CA then trim them off flush with the surface after they dry.  You can use felt tipped markers to color of the trimmed end to match the surface better, then use a drop of CA and a tooth pick to seal the end of it.

 

Thanks for such a comprehensive answer. I actually ended up doing something similar to this, epoxy putty but topped with a thin layer of the closest matching wood veneer I could find. The smaller holes were filled with toothpicks and then covered with shavings of  Briwax, wax filler sticks meant for wooden furniture repair. Then a layer of Dr Duck’s Ax Wax over the entire body. The end result is much like my wife - not too pretty if you get up close but does the job from a distance. 

[1001gear]

Nice job!

[WRGKMC]

On 8/24/2021 at 12:09 PM, Mr.Grumpy said:

Nice to see you back, WRGKMC. 

Thanks.  Good to be back.  

 

That's pretty good singlewide.  The only way you can improve on it is to do an entire sanding and refinish.

Even then it has a nasty habit of highlighting flaws. It wont improve the tone of course. You already took care of that so simply enjoy playing it.