Routing for pickups

[whoofnagle]

I am about to go and rout the pickups for my tele styly guitar. I know my neck pocket needs to be 5/8"deep, but are the pickup depths the same?. I would hate to make something to deep or shallow.

Also, I plan on installing some kind of single coil p/u in the neck (maybe a rio grande) without a scratch plate. My only refernce for pickups is my tele which is mounted with a switchplate. Does this change how I need to route? I assume that I will just screw the p/u directly to the body.

Thanks for your help. I am anxious to work!

Bill

[unclej]

i usually route my pickup pockets fairly deep to have plenty of room for the adjustment screws. you can route to withing 1/4" to 3/8" of the bottom with no problem.

on your question about the single coil i'd just suggest that you route the smallest pocket that you can fit you pickup in.

are you going to freehand you neck pocket or do you have a guide?

by the way, thats some beautiful wood. should make a great guitar!!

[whoofnagle]

I do have a guide to work with, and I was also thinking I could make a pickup ring out of the leftover wood from the top. The bottom line is my tele is mounted through the scratch plate, not the body. I figure screws can be used to mount directly to the body, but I was unawre that I could go deeper than 5/8".

Thanks. This is my first attempt and I am trying to minimize the mistakes!

Bill

[unclej]

pickup rings made from leftover or contrasting wood look great and give the guitar a great custom look. i even make my control covers from contrasting wood.

the only thing about routing deeper pockets to keep in mind is that you probably want to route shallower than your final depth first and then take the rest out. it's easier on your bits and depending on the length of the cutting area of the bit you might not be able to cut full depth the first time anyway.

good luck and post some pics when you're finished.

[Dr. Jabsco]

what type of wood is that? looks great

[whoofnagle]

Thank you. The top wood is Koa and the body is mahogany.

Bill

[litchfield]

Stunning guitar.

If you are direct mounting, route NO DEEPER than the pickup's final height. Otherwise your cavity will be packed with foam. Not a bad thing, but if you want all pickup to wood contact.....