Methods For Routing Trem Cavities

[Hughes]

hi, i was wondering if my method will work for routing for my tremolo (kahler 2500).

i traced the cavities of the guitar i got the bridge off of and i made templates for both front and back. i noticed one thing that is throwing me off.

1. the top smaller cavitity is obviously not centered to the body for a perfect reason -- the tremolo block is more to the right of the bridge.

so would it be 'logical' to stick the bridge in the template, mark the center of the bridge saddles (in my case its right in between the 3rd saddle)? also, whats the best way to make SURE its square?

not sure if thats clear or not haha so yeah thanks

Edited January 20, 2006 by Hughes

[Mattia]

Pretty much, yeah. Locate the midpoint of the bridge itself (do Khalers have evenly spaced posts somewhere? If so, midpoint between those two would be a good double-check).

To make sure it's square, well, line up the template on your guitar blank, and use the centerline to square up the front edge of the route, which I'm assuming is a straight line.

Most importantly, considering this is a homemade template for a fairly critical part: make a mockup piece of wood (pine, whatever, doesn't really matter), mark a centerline, lay out your template, and route with it. Install the bridge and check the fit. If the bridge lines up how you want it, good, use the template on your actual guitar. If it doesn't go back to the drawing board.

Edited January 20, 2006 by mattia

[RAI6]

Mark out the centerline on the "donor guitar", measure the cavity's position in relation to that line. Draw out the centerline on your new body, and duplicate the position from the donor.

Problem solved.