Potentiometers

[leeranya]

what is the maximum thickness in a rear-routed solid body guitar of the wood holding the pot so I can put a knob on it and it'll hold well? or how are they installed if I got it wrong?

Edited August 14, 2006 by leeranya

[chunkielad]

I haven't done a rear routed yet but I'm pretty sure that if you put the washers, nut and locking nut on the potentioneter and measure the gap that's left, you'll have your answer.

On the Pot I have here, It's about 3.5 mm.

[mammoth guitars]

Rear route thickness is variable and can depend upon the pot shaft and bushing length.

[unclej]

a safe way to do it is to leave about 3/8" to begin with and then fit your pot into the cavity. if there's not enough of the shaft protruding to use the washer and nut then re-set your router to take off just a bit more until you find the optimum thickness for your particular pots.

i've never actually measured but i'm guessing that most of the rear routes that i've done have left 1/4" of wood or slightly less.

good luck with your project.

[mammoth guitars]

To add to unclej's info, you can use a forstner bit to recess the inside area for a pot versus using a router. A 1 inch or 26mm bit works well.

[leeranya]

alright thanks everybody

[KeithHowell]

I generally find it better to bolt all the pots to a piece of aluminium which is then fixed inside the cavity with a few screws with just the shafts sticking through the wood. The metal screens as well and you can solder everything together outside the guitar without having to scratch around in the cavity.

Keith

[al heeley]

Thats actually a really neat idea, only with my luck I'd probably screw the fixing screws right through to the front of the guitar.

[Setch]

I generally end up with approx .25"

Like others have said I tend to work to a safe figure (.25" is plenty strong) and the spot relieve any areas which need it, either with a router or forster bit. Youcan see an example of one wayto relieve the cavity here:

http://www.setchellguitars.co.uk/ant/blog/?page_id=30

[j. pierce]

I generally find it better to bolt all the pots to a piece of aluminium which is then fixed inside the cavity with a few screws with just the shafts sticking through the wood. The metal screens as well and you can solder everything together outside the guitar without having to scratch around in the cavity.

Keith

I've done this, but never screwed the aluminum in - I just hold it in place with the potentionmeters/jack, seeing as they're screwing through both pieces.

I used copper instead of aluminum because you can solder to it.