Bingo328 Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Hi everyone, been working on my first guitar project for a while now, it's going along well. I have a question though. It's a Les Paul type guitar and I was wondering the best way to drill the 11" long hole to run the wires. I've seen the long drill bits but heard horror stories about how the wander when drilling through hard wood. My body is Swamp Ash and is basically done except for the hole. I have access to a drill press but I don't know if it will help since the body is already cut and would be hard to keep straight and level. Anyone have some advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 if you use a 1/4" bit you won't have problems with wandering, not in wood, in the machine shop I used to work in, we did a down hole tool in Inconel (one of the worst to work with metals out there) that was 1/16" and 9" deep. We didn't have to much problem with wandering which was good as we then had to drill in a 5 degrees from the other side and meet up with the first hole another 7" deep. Worked out every time. As far as your wiring hole, as it's all inside, even if it wanders a little bit you're fine, it's not as though your bit will end up coming out the wrong side of the guitar unless you don't angle your drill properly. I am guessing the hole you need to drill is either from pickup route to pickup route, or to the toggle switch up top? I don't know where there would be an 11" long hole that you need to drill, but either way, 1/4" or even 1/8" isn't going to wander much, the trick is, let the drill bit do the work, don't try to force it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 funny that you mention inconel.i have worked with that on power plants and i think it's a really cool metal.you think it's hard to work with in a machine shop?you should try it in the tube racks of a power plant in a space barely big enough to crawl into on your belly.hardest work i have EVER done.and to top it all off i am 6'2 and everyone else was around 5'6,making ME the big useless dumbass.ahhhh good times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 I think he's talking about the hole drilled from the switch cavity to the large cavity. The Bridge pickup wire goes under the neck pickup then they both go from there to the switch cavity. But the output wires go from the switch to the control cavity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 right, but the hole doesn't need to be one hole, I've always drilled from the switch cavity to the neck pickup route. Neck pickup is drilled straight through to the Bridge cavity, and bridge into the main cavity, then it's only 3 short holes, the only long hole is the one between the 2 pickup cavities because I drill from the neck pocket straight through to the bridge. The hole from the neck pickup to the switch would only be about 6" or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 You're right, I've seen it done both ways on guitars that have the switch up there, the only problem with running all the wires under the pickups is it can get messy and sometimes create noise issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 you guys probably already know this but duncan blackbacks kill the noise issue in that situation(so do active emgs but on a les paul they may not be suitable like blackbacks)the pickup itself is sheilded so the wires don't transfer interferance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo328 Posted June 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Thanks for the info everyone. The guitar I used as a pattern was my 85 Gibson invader. The hole in it is about a 1/4 dia. and its one continous drill from the input jack to the control cavity and then through both pickup cavities (toggle switch is positioned like an SG). I think now I may just try drilling from the input to the bridge pickup and then from the neck cavity through the neck pickup and stop inside the bridge pickup. Buy the way, I am using EMG's so noise shouldn't be a problem. I've already put a set in my invader and they work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 i love emg.super quiet and great tone.all with no need for a ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 14, 2003 Report Share Posted June 14, 2003 you guys probably already know this but duncan blackbacks kill the noise issue in that situation I read somewhere or was told a long time ago that Duncan Blackbacks and also the DiMarzio Black back specials were nothing more then standard pickups with electro static cavity shielding added to the bottom of the base to eliminate stray signals from entering the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 14, 2003 Report Share Posted June 14, 2003 yes that is true,but they are a good interferance free medium output pickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 14, 2003 Report Share Posted June 14, 2003 i guess that does mean you could take your favorite pickups and just shield them yourself huh. now why didn't i think of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.