jlarremore

I'm looking for a wiring diagram for a hum and SC pup's and volume ( no tone pots ) and a 3 way switch. Any ideas where I need to look or can find one?

Are there any issues mixing a SC and a hum together I need to be aware of?

Thanks,

Jef

There is always debate on if you really need to or not. I'm on the side that you don't need to. It won't cause any feedback and is extremely unlikely to make a noticable tone difference. Cosmetically, with it being under the pickguard, it'd never be seen. If you ever want to use the space in the future, you'd then have to open it up again. My suggestion would be to leave it alone.

But...

If you're set on doing it, you'd be best served by making the cavity square. That would make it a LOT easier to plug the hole with a piece of wood. Imagine making a square piece, then making a rounded-corner. Which will be easier to get exact? You'll want as tight a fit as you can reasonably manage. Cut the fill-in piece to the dimensions of the cavity to be filled. Unless you mean to refinish the body, you might want to consider cutting it just shy of flush with the surface - maybe 1/16". This will give you a small margain for error. If you leave it even a little proud of the cavity, you'll need to level it down somehow, which is very likely to monkey up your finish.

Simple version: cut the hole square, the glue in an appropriately sized piece.

Your work on the crackle finish is what inspired me to start this project. I never saw how your guitar turned out.

Jef

Ahhh, good questions by all.

I want to fill it for aesthetic purposes. I know it won't make any tonal differences. I am having a hard time with the balance between the pic guard and the finish. The finish is crackle so the pickguard will probably end up covering a large amount of the finish I want to come through.

If I fill the cavity I can make a smaller pickguard. But it sounds like you will always see something around the old cavity.

Hmmmm, At this point I think I'm going to go the easy way and just go pickguard, but I'll spend a little time seeing if I can make the plug to fit the shape. Good exercise for a long weekend I've already traced it and I have the spare wood ( thikness is 3/4" ).

Finding a pickguard that matches a H/S/Blank configuration might be tougher than the blank. Going pickguardless was an easy solution and just using pickup mounts.

Oh the conundrum!

Jef

How do I fill in a cavity in a solid body I'm not using. I'm using the bridge and the middle of a strat. The bridge is a hum and the middle is a single coil. How do I fill in the unused cavity?

Thanks,

Jef

I was inspired by a reader to make a solid body guitar with a crackle finish. I've found a solution for using plain spray cans of enamel to create the crackle in whatever color I want.

I'll post pictures soon.

However, I'm having a planning issue with the pickguard. Originally, the guitar was a Peavey Raptor or Predator with two single pups and one hum pup. I'm going with one hum pup so I'll need to get a new pickguard. No big deal, however I have two questions.

1. I remember seeing a DIY on how to make a pickguard out of trash can plastic, anyone remember this?

2. Any suggestions on crackling pickguard plastic? I think this might be tricky and not possible as crackle finishes are rather delicate if unfinished.

Anyone have any other suggestions on a pickguard to match a crackly finish?

Jef

I'm going to try a sunburst for the first time. I figure I've read plenty to know not to do the template over the body.

Anyway, my questions are as follows.

1. First coat is going to be amber. Once I seal the bare body, can I apply an amber poly stain to the bare wood and how will this affect subsequent coats of lacquer?

2. Will a coat of clear lacquer between each burst color of lacquer help "fade" the colors so that I don't have hard lines between each color transition?

3. Is there any type of sealer or treatment that will work best on the bare wood BEFORE I start this whole process?

Jef

I need to mount a single coil pickup in a tele (neck) without a pickguard. I remember seeing a graphic illustrating this but I can't find it. Can someone give me a hand finding it, please? It's my last step before finishing a project guitar.

Thanks,

Jef