Thanks for the tips. I'm going to use the sawdust method on the strap button and bridge holes, but I have to take the pickguard off every time the pickup battery dies, so I'll use the dowel method for those. As far as the paint goes, I decided to leave it as is. Every scratch and dent in the finish was put there by me and since I don't ever plan on getting rid of this one I'm just going to leave it alone. I guess I'll just have to start a new project axe to have custom painted. Darn. :D