Surprise issue re fitting Hipshot bender to Bluesboy

[NickHorne]

I just acquired a very sweet 2011 Bluesboy semi, no 4 neck, which made it from NC to England via UPS in perfect shape.
Time to fit the Hipshot B-Bender!
Usually no sweat; got the position for the hole in the bridge plate. Got the tools ready.
Then a surprise: the tail strap button is fitted off-centre.
Not a mile off, just around 1/2 of a string-spacing at the bridge. It's pretty much in line with the D string.
Now this would usually be no big deal except that with the bender I now have to make a choice out of three options:
1: Mount the bender off-centre; this will look pretty obviously off, with the big Tele-type bridge for visual reference.
2: Drill out the existing strap-button hole and fill it with hard dowel, then re-drill on the centre-line of the guitar.
3: Drill a hole in the steel alongside the slot in the Hipshot and use that for the strap-button screw fixing.

Number 2 seems tidiest, except that I'm wondering whether G&L have offset from the centre glue-line deliberately, perhaps to avoid glue line splits? And the finish may not like the drilling, and I could end up with some shattered Poly where a neat little hole once was...

So I'm leaning towards no 3, but can't quite decide.

Has anyone noticed this before? And if so, did they find any reason to suggest any one solution would be better than the others?
I would be very grateful for any suggestions!

[helle-man]

That surprises me too.

I'd go with #2. Make it easy. I wouldn't even bother to fill in the old hole, in case you ever take the Hipshot off to sell later. Nobody ever sees that area of a guitar b/o the strap.

I would make sure the Hipshot looks balanced with the bridge. Otherwise it'll look "goofy".

My 2¢
Will

[NickHorne]

Thank you for your help, Will. It's much appreciated! This is a nice guitar, and I don't want to rush anything second-rate.
Your suggestion feels right.
It's now UK time to "sleep on it", so your reply is timely!
Thanks again
Nick

[darwinohm]

Nick, I would hope that is really unusual. I looked at mine and they all seem centered. I think WR has the perfect solution. I have actually thought about putting the Hip Shot on one of mine. I winder if anyone has tried it on a Classic? I did own a Fender B-Bender for a short time but the weight was killer. -- Darwin

Edit, I do have a Bluesboy that would be a perfect candidate. Let me know how it works Nick.

[blargfromouterspace]

#2. You're going to be drilling a couple of other holes in the guitar to anchor the bender anyway, might as well set it right.

[NickHorne]

Thanks everyone for your support!

Now into some careful measuring, not least establishing the best reference points to measure from. Not helped by the bridge being just a very little off-square (funny how Tele-types almost always are).
The offset is big enough to need doing, but small enough that I have to fill the original hole to prevent weakening the new one on the side where it's stressed by being a strap button.
When I've made up my mind whether the offset is 5, 6 or 7 mm, it'll be drill time.
So I am going to gently "countersink" the finish away from the edge of the original hole, so the enlarging bit doesn't catch and chip it, and then drill out and dowel.
Then the new holes and do a proper Hipshot install in the right place.

I seriously doubt that I'll sell this guitar; if it ever did go to market, it would just have a bender on. And a 1 3/4 nut already, so not exactly everyone's automatic choice.

And Darwin, I'll keep you posted re the Bluesboy's suitability. Right now, I'm pretty confident of it feeling and sounding good, middle and back selections particularly.