Infilling holes in Wood?

[Baker69]

I have a 73 Precision on which I replaced the original stock pickups with Reflex Reds - (brilliant system by the way), which have the PJ arrangement.

I want to revert the bass back to the original Fender pickups etc, but what is the best way of infilling the hole where the Jazz pickup was and is it always going to be obvious there was a pickup there at some time?

[Croox]

I'm in the process of doing somthing similar. I'd say give bondo (automotive grade body panel filler) a shot, or cut blocks of wood the same size and fill it in that way

[lowendgenerator]

I think you'll always see that there was a route there. Is the bass a solid color or is it transparent, like a burst? With some bondo as mentioned above, you can get pretty close to making it invisible, IF you refinish the body.

[Baker69]

The bass is a solid black finish so you would not see through the paint to the wood.

I have a feeling though that unless I can get the hole filled absolutely perfectly flush with the surrounding wood that it will show through, even with it being a solid colour and using multiple coats of paint.

I think it might be an idea to try using the car body repair stuff on a trial piece of wood first?

[kyral210]

Take it to a guitar tech.

Ultimately, your looking at car body filler; overfilled. Sand down all the finish on the bass. Then you sand down the filler to be flush with the bare wood. Finally refinish the bass in a new coat of paint.

Thats my opinion at least, but see a tech. Maybe leave the pickup in as PJ is a sweet combo.

[WillBuckingham]

I would try and find a piece of alder and cut out a plug with a band saw. Glue that in and fill in any gaps with wood filler and sand. Of course you'll have to get the finish off before you do this and refinish after.