Hammering in the Wilkinson bridge bushings:
First I used a drill with a 3/8" bit to ream it out a little bit, used a piece of tape on the bit as a depth marker. I was very careful not to do too much, I wanted the bushings as tight as possible: string vibrations from the bridge pass through the posts and bushings into the body of the guitar. I used the cardboard backing and a few pages from a notepad to cushion the hammer against the bushing, and carefully banged away until it was nearly flush with the body. At that point, I used the old Fender bushings, again separated by paper as cushioning, to get the Wilkinson bushing to counter sink in the body. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, I was impatient to get this project finished!
Here are a couple of close-ups of the bushings (and the posts and the bridge).
Once the bushings and posts were in, it became apparent that the cavity for the bridge does not accomodate the Wilkinson as a drop-in. I knew that ahead of time though. One of the great features of these Wilkinson VS100 bridges is the mechanism that holds the trem arm is super cool. However, it also needs a little more space to move freely in the bridge cavity than the stock Fender whammy. I started out with sandpaper, enlarging the bottom of the cavity. That wasn't gonna work. Take too long. I bought a rotary tool, or a "Dremel", and used the sandpaper drum. Wow. I wish I had that thing years ago.
For anyone working on guitars, you gotta get one of these things. Mine is a cheap "Jobmate" from Canadian Tire and I love it. $30. What would have taken me HOURS by hand took 2 minutes, and it is perfect!
Anyway, I added the claw, springs, posts and it's all ready for strings. Next up: Figuring out how to fit the Clapton electronics into this stock strat's body!
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