how to fill stop tailpiece holes

[pullover]

First off this is my CIJ Jaguar Baritone Custom, I am pulling off the Stop tailpiece, filling the holes, then installing a floating trem.
Ok, so how do I fill these holes now that I have the stop tail piece cups out? I figured that I would dowel them, but a 7/16ths dowel fits with some slight movement, and 1/2 inch dowel just barely wont fit. Should I sand down the 1/2 inch dowel or will the 7/16ths work? Am I going about this completely wrong? My plan is to stain the plug a similar color to the burst and then clear coat a little poly over the area. If it doesn't look good then I'll just refin the whole thing but I would like to attempt to keep the burst for now.
I am going to eventually ask for help on routing the trem cavity, but that's a later phase in this project.

I pulled of the legs of a repro Mustang saddle and drilled it out so that I could use that rather than the stock TOM. The stock TOM is angled and the strings didn't align right over the pups pole pieces. I had the Mustang bridge lying around and thought what the hell, and it worked. The strings line up better, it sounds warmer, and will work better with a trem.

[Naturality]

Could you use paper wood and paint over it? It may not look so good, but it does the job

[Stereordinary]

I suppose I would drill the holes out to 1/2" to fit that size dowel, that way you eliminate the threading on the inside.  Either that or sand down the 1/2" dowel.

[fullerplast]

I would drill it out to 1/2" and use the 1/2" dowel and wood glue.

You could make it blend in somewhat doing what you say with the finish... butof course, it will still be visible. The dowel idea will work.. but to make it invisible requires a complete refin.

edit:  stereo beat me to it!

[pullover]

Sweet, thanks guys. I know it'll still be visible, but about half of each hole will be covered by the trem plate that I got from stereordinary (thanks again). I just don't want to take on a complete refin yet, depending on how well it turns out.

[pullover]

I've decided to sand down the dowels for now. Drilling it just adds one more possible way for me to f@!k this up. 

[mynameisjonas]

i just have to say that bridge solution was a great idea. i might steal it... i have a few repro mustang bridges lying around. would be nice to have the sustain of a TOM but with a more correct look.

[pullover]

Thanks I was really surprised at how easy the legs popped out. I just used needle nose pliers. I used a hand drill to make the new holes, and then went up 2 sizes to de-burr it. If you try it, please let me know how it works out.

[mynameisjonas]

will do! i´ll probably get to it right after i get home from work tonight.

[bassintom]

good idea with the bridge.i may have to try that on something.

[mynameisjonas]

i tried it, and it turned out really good. there was a slight decrease of sustain, but a bit more sparkle.
i´ve always preferred to have the bridge at a flatter radius than the board, so i filed down the bottom of the saddles to adjust it to where i want it, which also increased the contact area between the saddles and the base, and voila; the sustain was back again.
there is some buzz, but i actually think it´s caused by the strings vibrating against the edge of the bridge base (behind the saddles) so i´m gonna try filing it down a bit.

[pullover]

Filing down the bottom of the saddles to the proper height? Brilliant!

[fullerplast]

You crack me up...


       

[mynameisjonas]

Filing down the bottom of the saddles to the proper height? Brilliant!

one more thing one could do to make it look more correct is to cut down the posts so there´s only about 2mm left sticking up through the base plate, and drill small holes down the center of the posts, and then finally round off and polish the tips.

[pullover]

So I took it to the local guitar repair guy out of curiosity to see how much he'd charge to fill the holes and route it for the trem. He wouldn't even let me take it out of the bag and he said, "I don't want to take it on, it's not worth it to me. The amount of time I would spend measuring and lining things up, plus I'd have to make a template... the money I would get from it just wouldn't be worth it."