Repairing wood area around an input jack

[Nocturnal]

I picked up an Epi Goth Tbird ($70 on Craigslist!)to use as a project a couple of days ago and wanted to get a little advice from the group. The input jack has been yanked out of the wood and it has left a jagged hole in the face of the guitar. I had originaly thought about using a strat style jack plate on the face which would more than cover the hole and make the jack less likely to break thru again. But, I was also thinking about patching the hole and moving the input jack to the end of the body like on my 01 Gibson Bird. I kind of like this idea more than the strat plate. To patch this area I would assume that I would just glue a piece of wood into the control cavity and fill in the damaged area with a filler of some type. Would you use wood filler, bondo, epoxy? Keep in mind that I have almost zero experiance working on this type of thing (at least on a musical instrument) but it seems like a simple enough task. I can't post pictures at this time due to a tragic beach accident with my camera, but will post them when I'm able. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[jmcgliss]

Good score on the Epi for $70.  First I had to reply to your "tragic beach accident with the camera'. Would you believe I had a tragic beach accident in Florida with an HP 12C business calculator?  As a result you may not want to take a nerd's advice.

For a repair that need to hold the jack or screw threads, wood filler may not be the choice except for filling small gaps (can be crumbly and lacking in adhesion). Glueing in a wood block and sanding, or a bondo type product would be stronger since the jack area will be subjected to strain. Epoxy can be annoying to work with and has a tending to run where you don't want it before it sets up (OK, so I am a nerd and a klutz).

Good luck with the project. I'd be doing the same if the silverburst TB hadn't popped up.

[drbassman]

I'd cut a nice clean hole with a Forstner bit and then put in a round patch.  A strip of wood glued across the back would help hold it and you could fill any lines in the front with any wood putty you like.

[Pilgrim]

I'd cut a nice clean hole with a Forstner bit and then put in a round patch.  A strip of wood glued across the back would help hold it and you could fill any lines in the front with any wood putty you like.

Considering that:

1) I am in awe of Dr. Bassman's wood skills, and;
2) I happen to agree with him (usually a smart move);

I like his idea!  

Seriously, the "do it right" method is to restore wood in the damaged area.  Adding large quantities of filler of any kind is an esthetically displeasing solution, and screws are likely to come loose over time.  

The downside is that if this is on the front of the instrument, you'll probably need to refinish the instrument.  That might argue in favor of finding a jack plate that will cover the damaged area and extend JUST far enough to give you wood to screw into and secure the jack plate.

PICTURES would help, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, knowwhutImean?

[Highlander]

"Ugh... Breakaway..."

Good luck... once I start on the Peter Cook I have to replace the front of the whole control cavity...