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Hi all . i'm new to this forum and i'm not luthier. i'm planning to do Trapeze to stop tail modification on my korean Aria ES335 copy. currently can't afford to get it done professionally but i can use tools so need to drill 2 holes myself. need tips and advises. especially where exactly i have to drill. measurements etc. also do holes have to be or could be larger then stop tail posts?

Cheers
Bako

Welcome to the forum!
Got pictures?
The holes for the bridge have to be the right size.
Do a test run on a piece of wood first.
If you make a jig out of 3/4 " plywood that works,
clamp that on your guitar,
and use it as a guide.

Thx for your reply Alan.

here is a pic. by jig you mean hole ? also how many cm from the lower end of the nut holes have to be made?

thx

That's actually a simple conversion, provided there is solid wood where the stop-tail will go. That's a pretty safe bet since there's almost certainly solid wood below the bridge. The only critical dimension is the distance between the bolts on the stop-tail, the distance from the bridge to the stop-tail is not critical. You just need to have enough breakover angle in the strings at the bridge.
You can make a jig (or guide) to drill the holes using a scrap piece of wood. Measure and drill the holes to mount the stop-tail in a scrap piece of wood, and test the fit. When you get the holes exactly the correct distance apart, you can clamp the scrap piece to the guitar and drill through the holes to get them exactly correct on the guitar.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Before assuming there is solid wood under the location where you would like to mount the tail piece I would stick a feeler probe into the sound holes and try to determine that first...Mike

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