Can Someone Help Me Check My Stewmac Order

[DreamSeller]

OK here what I want to do.

Replace the saddles on the bridge of my Epiphone Special II, Which ones do I need?

I also have a new EMG H4 which I want to fit, I want to have it so that I have a volume pot, A blend pot and a pot that will switch the coils of the H4 from series to parallel operation.

This is what I have in my cart so far:

Mini DPDT On/On Switch - Replacing the pickup selector switch, For the series parallel selector (Will this switch fit throught the body of an Epiphone?)

500Kohm Long Shaft Pot - For volume, (Long shaft for an Epiphone. Is this neccasery?)

500Kohm Blend Pot - Blending the pickups together (Will this pot fit through the body of an Epiphone?)

Thanks In Advance

-Dream

[j. pierce]

Only thing I'd be careful about is the mini switch - check the size of the hole it needs, (it should be listed somewhere on the project page @ Stew Mac) and check what you've got for a hole in the guitar already (you're putting this in the hole where the pickup selector on the upper bass bout is, if I understand correctly? This is an LP style guitar?) If it's anything like the Epiphones I've had, that switch will be too small to fit in the hole you've got, which means you'll have to fill that whole and re-drill, and possibly make a new plastic ring around the switch to cover the unsightly plug. (Although using a larger washer may also be an option? Or use a rotary pot, and cover it with the knob)

Not a huge deal, but it'd be easier to use a switch that fits the hole you've already got. I did something similar once, and found an appropriate switch at Radio Shack. Sometimes hardware stores have them as well, although the lugs are usually the screw type designed for mains wires. Actually, this was an SG, so looking at it now, you might need to slightly enlarge the hole in an LP-style guitar. It looks like it would fit, but not having an LP style guitar, I don't know the exact measurements - I have one of those circular back plates here, and the switch I have definetly fits inside of that, but I'm uncertain of the how much "lip" there is in that cavity, it might not fit exactly in there without a little tweaking.

Another option, which I helped do for a friend, was to put the blend pot where the pickup switch normally is on the upper bout. Still had to plug and re-drill the hole, we just put a little clear over the new fresh wood, the knob on the pot hid the un-painted portion of wood where the plug would have shown had we used a switch. We then got some toggle switches that fit the old pot holes, and wired the guitar with one vol. and one tone, and one toggle for the p'up selector, and one for splitting coils. Kind of an odd set up, but he likes it.

As far as replacing saddles, the few times I've needed to do it, I've just gone down to my local music store, and they've kicked me a few on the cheap. It's nice because you can just bring in the bridge and make sure what you get works. But usually, I don't bother replacing the saddles, and just get a new bridge, which costs more, but usually by the time I *need* saddles replaced, the bridge is pretty chewed up too.

As far as whether a long-shaft is needed on the pots - I believe the Special is a flat top guitar, right? All the flat-top Epihones I haven't had a problem with regular-shaft pots, as long as there's a decent amount of thread on the them. (I do have a few pots in my electronics bin that I ordered for pedal builds that are useless through anything thicker than the FX boxs I use.) Easy way to tell? Pop out one of the pots you have, and measure the depth of wood through the hole, and then check stew mac and see how deep their pot goes. I believe their standard pot has a 3/8" shaft, which should get you through a 1/4" of wood easy, so I wouldn't worry about the long shafts. I know I used their standard shafts through my SG, and their blend pots worked fine as well.

EDIT - I just realized the Special II has the pickup selector switch down at the bottom. What I still said applies.

Also, the blend pots are a smaller diameter than a regular pot - the last cheap epi I worked in had smaller pots and pot holes as it was, so it might not be a problem, but if you plan on putting the blend pot in a standard pot hole, you may need to re-plug and re-drill that hole. Also, the knurling on that blend pot was different than that on the pots that came on my Epiphone SG, so it might be worth picking up and extra knob while you're making your order if you want things to match.

You know what might look good and make this job easier? A pickguard. With all the controls down there, it wouldn't be hard to make something that looked nice and was rather functional.

[DreamSeller]

Thanks, After reading that and checking my guitar I have decided on the following.

Leave the volume pot alone, Replace the pickup switch with a blend pot and place a rotary switch where the pickup switch is currently. As long as I have measured right this should all fit (although I think the pickup selector hole may nedd some adjusting). While wiring all of this up would it be worth it to change the wire to shielded wire?

-Dream