Fill Pickup Route?

[FunkMetalBass]

I'm looking to fill in the hole from a Precision pickup route and install a Jazz pickup in its place. Is there a good epoxy (or something of the sort) for filling it in? I've seen someone here use something that was either blue or orange (can't remember which) and he seemed to have good results.

 

[voodoo92]

good choice on dumping the P for a J (haters begin hating)
as for your question i dont know what your going to do but for a body i have where i need to basically do the same thing just with different pups, i was going to get some random timber, shape it, then glue it in and re-route. its going to be a 6 string Guitar, so who cares about tone wood lol.
good luck with finding your answer

 

[berwick63]

Is this going to be under a pick guard? You may even just want to route a J through the P route, so you can switch back and forth if you ever decide to put the P back in

 

[Meatrus]

I would think filling it with a tight fitting block of wood would be the way to go. Not that I have ever done it though .

 

[roberthabraken]

I would think filling it with a tight fitting block of wood would be the way to go.

+1

 

[voodoo92]

just to clear up any possible confusion, the one i will be doing will be painted gloss black all over, so you wouldnt see the new timber inserts. with a natural finish, keep searching

 

[SurferJoe46]

On the off chance that you may change your mind - I've successfully filled areas that needed filling with insulation foam and then put a small wooden cover and some Bondo over that and painted it as I wanted.

I imagine a PG could cover it all, so you may not have to put a wooden cover over it - but it can't hurt.

.........besides, you get to keep the weight down a tad too. THAT can't hurt either.

 

[anonymous122511]

What would be the benefit of filling a route that's under the pickguard? When I put Jazz p.ups in my Pre I didn't do it...it never even occurred to me.

 

[voodoo92]

What kind of bass is it anyway? Does it even have a pickguard. All you said was is has a P, not it is a P.

 

[grendle]

I filled one on a guitar with body filler. Put a few screws in the hole to give the filler something to anchor too also. Worked great. Filled a few knob holes too. I'm happy with the result.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Sorry for the delayed response. To answer your questions, it is an older Squier P, but some sort of special model that didn't have a pickguard and had a rear-routed control cavity. It will not be covered by a pickguard.

It will be painted a gloss black color.

 

[hover]

Bear in mind, because it is wood and will shrink and expand due to climate, if you just fill it with wood and paint it over, no matter how well you level the surface, you will see that repair eventually. It will show up through the finish.

If you fill it and re-route, it would be best to skim coat the repair with bondo or red putty imperfection filler, and sand and re-apply and build up a bit of skin, and then spray color.

No guarantees, but if you blend over and blend out the seams, it might help.

H

 

[FunkMetalBass]

That's an idea. I've been reading about various epoxy fillers because they apparently expand and contract with wood better than bondo does. I guess I'll just cut wood to size and fill it. I might try an all-over surface skim with the filler to try to take out any other imperfections and dings in the body wood.

Thanks for you suggestions, guys.

 

[berwick63]

Someone said something about putting screws in the cavity beforehand to help it bond.. just seems like a bad idea, because you're about to run a router through the same place for another pup

 

[Cinquez Griffin]

I would think filling it with a tight fitting block of wood would be the way to go. Not that I have ever done it though .

+1 here great idea

 

[anonymous122511]

Am I just being dumb thinking adding a pickguard would be the easiest, best looking solution?

 

[Matthew_84]

That's an idea. I've been reading about various epoxy fillers because they apparently expand and contract with wood better than bondo does. I guess I'll just cut wood to size and fill it. I might try an all-over surface skim with the filler to try to take out any other imperfections and dings in the body wood.

Thanks for you suggestions, guys.

Hey, did you ever find a good way to fill the pickup and have it not show-up later? I'm debating changing a P pickup into a reverse P pickup, but I would need to fill in the old pickup route, and I don't want to use a pickguard... I'm just curious what you ended up doing. Thanks.

 

[reverendrally]

You know, there's almost every conceivable PU now offered in P PU shape. Why not check some out? Alumitones come to mind. Would save hours of work...

Also, no matter how well you fill/sand paint it, after a while, the seams will be visible again and it'll be ugly.

You're other alternative is to find a way to place the new PUs in a way that machines the old routes out or puts surrounds or a ramp around them.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Hey, did you ever find a good way to fill the pickup and have it not show-up later? I'm debating changing a P pickup into a reverse P pickup, but I would need to fill in the old pickup route, and I don't want to use a pickguard... I'm just curious what you ended up doing. Thanks.

It was a few years ago and I no longer have the body, but if memory serves, I just cut out a piece of wood to fit as tightly as possible and wood glued it in. I didn't spend much more time trying to fill the grain for a better finish and ultimately ended up just scrapping the body for some reason.

 

[Matthew_84]

It was a few years ago and I no longer have the body, but if memory serves, I just cut out a piece of wood to fit as tightly as possible and wood glued it in. I didn't spend much more time trying to fill the grain for a better finish and ultimately ended up just scrapping the body for some reason.

Thank you... Do you recall if the seams of the piece of wood became visible?