Control Placement Philosophy

[Rick500]

As I approached the step of drilling holes for the controls in my Strat(ish) project, I realized I hadn't put much thought into where I should put them.

I figured I could either:

1) Put them where they usually are in a body of similar shape and size

2) Put them where they usually are in a different guitar altogether (i.e., LP or PRS on my Strat-shaped body)

3) Come up with something completely different

First I decided that in my 2-humbucker Strat-shaped body, I would not use a 5-way blade pickup switch, since I don't need to split the humbuckers and only need 3 positions. (I also just like the larger 3-way LP type toggle switch better.)

Then I determined that I wanted the pickup switch farther away from my picking hand than a Strat-type blade switch would be (I'm a little sloppy and I hit the switch sometimes when I don't mean to, in its standard Strat position).

I wanted one volume and one tone control, so I needed a total of two knobs and one switch.

I decided that the best place for everything was pretty much where it is on a PRS, so I took that placement and scaled down the space between all the controls by one eighth (since my guitar's body is a little smaller than a PRS).

Just wondering how you guys determine control placement, or if there's a general philosophy that's useful to follow (or at least know).

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

I usually just put the knobs on the body in random orientations and stare at it for a bit. Once I find one I like I run with it

[j. pierce]

I usually do what dotcom suggests, although usually on the template. While I like to design them asthetically pleasing, I also try and take into consideration how I strum so I don't hit toggles etc., and so I can reach the volume knob easily when needed.

I have (from experience) found it makes life easier if you plan out control placement as early in the process as you can - preferably at the template stage. It's easier build around planned controls than have to deal with re-working your body around controls you end up adding after the fact. Okay, usually it's not *that* bad adding after the fact, but I have had some not-so fun experiences with it.