How Do Get Wires Out Of Neck Pocket & Into Cavity?

[Daniel Sorbera]

ok so I read somewhere that you drill from the neck pocket down to make a hole so you can pass the wires from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup cavity and into the control cavity. But I dont have any drill bits long enough... Do they make super song drill bits that dont have a huge size? How do ya'll get this job done?

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unclej put wxatly what I need to do in words so all of you can understand

drill straight from the end of the neck pocket into the neck pup pocket and then into the bridge pup pocket and stop.

Edited April 5, 2005 by Godin SD

[Devon Headen]

Just go to Lowes, I'm pretty sure they carry them. They're called aircraft bits I think.

[Maiden69]

yes they do have them at Lowes, Home Depot and even the HF. But why not drill straight from the pup to the control cavity, like Jackson and others do. This is what I have done and it is way easier than drilling from the neck pocket down to the bridge pup.

[bluespresence]

Yep, Home Depot, etc......as was said. I picked mine up at HD for about $6.

A word of CAUTION (!) when using these long bits they tend to bend and wander off course....not a good sight when you look and see the bit poking out of the BACK of the guitar instead of in the control cavity. Go slow and be patient and it works like a charm.

[GregP]

My plan is to simply rout a channel before gluing the top.

Greg

[Devon Headen]

That only works if you're using a top. I usually measure and route down the center glue joint on bodies without tops.

[GregP]

That only works if you're using a top.

←

Naturally.

[Daniel Sorbera]

I'm not using a top....

I guess I'll just try the long bit.

But why not drill straight from the pup to the control cavity, like Jackson and others do.

I'm not sure I understand I need to get the wires from the neck pickup to the control cavity somehow. If I can get the wires into the bridge pickup rout I can get them in the control rout. But I dont see how I could go strait from the control cavity to the neck pickup if thats what your talking about.

[marksound]

Try this:

Google - drill bit 1/4" 12" long

Maybe that will help?

[unclej]

if you go with the long bit take your neck off and drill straight from the end of the neck pocket into the neck pup pocket and then into the bridge pup pocket and stop. take a smaller bit and drill at a downward angle from the top half of the bridge pocket to the control pocket. just eyeball the angle and you'll be able to see where it will come out in the control pocket. a hint about using the long bits and avoiding the wandering that was mentioned: drill just a little then pull the bit out and knock the shavings out then go back in and go a little further, etc. until you're where you want to go. the shavings heat up the bit and make it bend.

[Daniel Sorbera]

drill straight from the end of the neck pocket into the neck pocket and then into the bridge pup pocket and stop.

Thats EXATLY what I had in mind. I wont need to drill from the bridge into the control cavity as my routing for the control cavity will go into the bridge cavity a little bit (and I mean a little bit, they butt up aganist each other but I will make sure it goes through so I can pass wires...)

[frank falbo]

I like to go from the neck pickup cavity at an angle right into the control cavity whenever possible. I know lots of times it isn't possible. But that way if I'm using the same brand of pickups I'm never wondering which wire is which. I can also remove the neck pickup for servicing or replacement without having to remove the other pickup(s) Sometimes you can do it with a long drill bit by starting inside the neck pocket, but instead of going straight up into the bridge pickup route, you drill at an angle, toward the control cavity. So you still have the hole drilled at the back of the neck pocket, but its at the correct angle to go through off to the side of the neck pickup route and make it into the cavity.

[unclej]

good idea..i'm gonna give that a try.

[Sparky]

My plan is to simply rout a channel before gluing the top.

Greg

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Holy crap...how have I never thought of this before?

[frank falbo]

If you do that, just make sure it's a really deep slot. You don't want the wires to have to come up and around the pickup chassis to get into that hole.

Another trick I've used whether I'm routing a "pre-top slot" or drilling a hole is to take a dovetail router bit, and run it along the edge of the cavity that has the hole. That gives the wire some relief too. Especially when doing direct mount pickups, it makes it so the wire doesn't get squashed under the pole pieces, because now it can go to the outside.

[Maiden69]

Here is what I meant by going from the pup routs to the control cavity.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Mai...modDSC01599.jpg

this way the distance is shorter and much easier to do. I would have posted a pic of my green guitar, but my camera broke.

[frank falbo]

That works well too, but some electronics cavities don't even extend past the volume knob. So it's too long of a run to make from the neck pickup route to the electronics cavity. You can't get a flat enough angle so the bit would come out the back of the guitar before reaching the cavity. Plus that seems like a 24 fret guitar, putting that neck pickup even closer to the cavity. It's all logistics. Sometimes you can get the hole you want by entering from the output jack hole, and going from the electronics cavity to the neck pickup route. Then everyone will be wondering how you got the drill in there at that angle, when looking at it from the pickup cavity! It depends on where your output jack is. Usually that hole is pretty big that you can still get a wide variety of angles coming from there, even with a 1/4" bit.

BTW I like to use a larger bit than necessary. No need to put stress on the wires trying to stuff them through.

[Maiden69]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01098.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01769.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01768.jpg

This 2 are 22 and 21 fret, I do understand the angle thingbut I still think it is better to do it like this, but everybody got their taste and choice. I just posted an option, and it doesn't NEED to be done that way, thats the beauty of this thing we call building guitars

[Daniel Sorbera]

the way my routs are it would not allow me to go strait from the neck to the control cavity. I dont really like the volume knob being right next to the bridge so I put it back some. So the rout doesent even go to the bridge and I dont think I would be able to drill strait through.