My Guitar Project, Installment #2-"The Process Involved"

Well, here's the next installment in the series, sure to bore my readers to tears...

So began the research and the searching for parts on Ebay. (I'm cheap, ok)

The body was originally routed for two humbucker pickups, and had holes drilled for a Les Paul style 3-way pickup switch and 3 knobs. However, I got to thinking, that while I'm at it, why not rout it out and put a single-coil pickup in the middle? (especially since I had several decent single-coils handy) That would open up many more tonal possibilities and make things a bit more interesting.

Unfortunately, though, single-coil pickup surrounds look tacky and it's hard to make a neat hole. The greatest matter of concern is that, without a pickup surround, the hole will be clearly visible, so any mistakes you make will be painfully obvious.

So, I got creative-

I have this old parts guitar body with a singl-coil routing in it. So, I put it on a copier, copied the top of the guitar, cut it out, traced it on a piece of scrap plywood, cut it out, and voila! A homemade routing template! I very carefully measured and marked the location for the hole on the body, clamped the template in place, and very carefully routed it out with some sort of Dremel tool attachment for which I do not have a name. (necessity is truly the mother of invention) I was very pleased with the result!

Here is a picture of the body with the pickups and bridge mounted.

After some research, I decided on a hybrid pickup swiching system that I first discovered on a guitar that belonged to Petra guitarist Bob Hartman. It has a 3-way switch and volume knob that controls the two humbuckers, a master tone control for all 3 pickups, and a volume knob for the middle pickup, so it is possible to get all 7 pickup combinations. (bridge, bridge/middle, bridge/neck, middle, bridge/middle/neck, middle/neck, neck) More details on the wiring next time.

Next came some parts-hunting on Ebay. Many parts were needed- tuners, a strap, strap buttons, a bridge, knobs, covers for the back, and the switches and pots (potentiometers, for the volume and tone controls).

I managed to find a used set of Sperzel locking tuners dirt cheap on Ebay. They are a few years old, and were in dire need of some lubrication, but that's a small price to pay for what are in my opinion, some of the finest tuners made. Especially when they can be had so cheaply. Next came a Black and red Fender guitar strap and Dunlop strap locks. Top it off with some Allparts switches and pots, and a set of red strat knobs, and we're almost ready to rumble.

The bridge is, unfortunately not a standard size. I was prepared to drill out, plug, and redrill the mounting holes. I found a cheap used bridge on Ebay, and when it came I was delighted to discover that it fit perfectly, even though it's an extremely unusual size.

Unfortunately, the back covers were not to be had, so I had to cut them by hand out of a blank piece of pickguard material. They turned out pretty well, though, all things considered.

And here's a picture with most of the switches and knobs mounted.

Stay tuned for the final installment-"The Finished Product".

Just a note about the guitar for Debi-The vote was almost unanimous for the BC Rich, but there is still time for you to weigh in and cast your vote, as Debi will be coming this weekend. I will most likely be nice to her, though, and let her play them all and pick the one she likes best.

Anyway, until next time....