Routing new pickup cavities on Ibanez SR500?

Hi all,

I'm thinking about changing the position of the pickups in my Ibanez SR500 (mounted next to each other similar to a Dingwall) but I'm worried about the structural integrity of the body since it is so thin. If I did route another cavity next to the bridge pickup, it would be directly over the battery compartment so I would have to glue in a block of mahogany to cover the hole. Even then, that might not be an ideal solution and the body might still be fragile. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions on whether or not the body would be able to cope with the string tension?

Thanks.

 

The battery sits on its flat side but it definitely won't fit - the actual pickup cavity will go through the body into the battery cavity as the body is only about 45mm thick. I'm planning on running it on 18v so I might put the two batteries in the original neck pickup position.

 

I'm not too fussed about how it looks - more about the stability. I suppose a solid block of wood in place of the battery cavity will help a lot.