Heh. I think I just expelled some clam sauce out my nose laughing over that one....
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Special Edition build-off: OctoPhoenix
- Thread starter ctmullins
- Start date
If you'd a had that clamp on your nose, it would've gone back down yer throat. Just sayin'...
I was gonna say "Maybe a Viking ship?" but yours was way better!Whatever the #@$% he wanted to
- Apr 18, 2008
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Y’all crack me up! 
Moving right along today. Neck pocket done.
Moving right along today. Neck pocket done.
- Apr 18, 2008
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Not the end of the world though right? Hole from neck pocket through pickup routes, hole from cavity to bridge pickup route, and problem solved?I am such a dolt.
I forgot to route for pickup wiring channels in the sapele before gluing the maple top on.
- Apr 18, 2008
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I, also, have a few old rusty C-Clamps, including one that is so bent it almost boggles the mind contemplating, "How?"
I'll see if I can get a pic... Busy times at work.
That body is looking good.
I'll see if I can get a pic... Busy times at work.
That body is looking good.
- Apr 18, 2008
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Looks like it’s time to break out the Aircraft drill bit for the pup wires. Can you drill right through the neck pocket into the pup route, and just keep going to the control cavity? I just saw somebody do that on a build video. That always makes me really nervous trying to eyeball the angle from pup route to cavity, hoping you don’t come out the back! (I have, in fact, drilled out the back. A painful memory). Yeaaahhhhh..... I MEANT to do that.
- Apr 18, 2008
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Something like that.
This really pisses me off. Now I have to jump through some risky hoops to use the long drill bit, and hope that nothing goes off the rails while I do it.
Dammit.
After routing the pickup cavities, let's take one last look at the body, just in case I poke a drill bit through the top...
The first phase of this needlessly tricky operation is to drill through the neck pocket, into the neck pickup cavity, and continue on to the bridge pickup cavity. Here's my trajectory.
First step done - so far so good.
Push on through and hope the exit hole is at the right level.
That'll work.
Now the really tricky bit. Phase two involves connecting the bridge pickup cavity to the control cavity. My usual way to do this - I mean my usual way after I've forgotten to do it the preferred way, grrrrr - is to drill through the jack hole. So now I need to actually drill the jack hole. I wasn't really ready to do this just yet, but needs must. A 3/4" spade bit and a steady hand, and it's done.
So far so good. Now to line up the angle of the bit so that it will pop out at the corner of the pickup cavity, and not right under where one of the pickup mounting screws will go (been there, done that), or way off into the other direction, or down too low, or up too high. After lining it up, we start the hole, so the drill bit gets a good start.
It's at this point that we realize that we have a looooong way to drill blind to reach the pickup cavity from here.
Not feeling good about this.
Time to reconsider the approach.
There is actually not a lot of wood separating the pickup cavity from the other side of the electronics cavity. Maybe this would work? We can't drill from the pickup cavity itself; there's not enough room to get a shallow enough angle on the bit. We'll have to go from the electronics cavity to the pickup cavity. So we carefully line it up, mark an entry point and a trajectory with pencil, say a prayer, and hope for the best. I have to drill from the bottom, which means I won't be able to see the tip of the bit as it exits the top. So much can go wrong here, but we have no choice, do we?
Did it work? Did I just punch through my pretty top? Did I come out too high, or too low, or too far off to one side?
Wow. I couldn't have gotten any luckier. It came out exactly where I was aiming. That is a relief. There was every chance this could have ended in disaster, but it seems my aim is true. Whew!
Last step for the night - clean up the corners of the pickup routes with the 1/4" bit, and drop the pickups in to make sure they're snug. After a tiny bit of filing, they're good!
Please, everybody, learn from my hasty mistake - route those channels before gluing that top on!!
Watching your careful operation there reminds me of the time I was drilling a new jack hole in the side of my brother's vintage Gretsch. I was so extra careful in the planning for it. Then in the end, I turned on the drill press, lowered the bit, and the guitar was thrown across the workshop because I had not tightened the clamps on the jig holding it in place. 
I made a guide block that I clamp onto the body and it keeps the drill bit at a preset angle.... that way I can easily drill from pickup cavities, under the bridge, etc..
Ill try to remember to take a pic tomorrow.... I used a 2x4, drilled a hole, and then used my miter saw to set the angle
Watching your careful operation there reminds me of the time I was drilling a new jack hole in the side of my brother's vintage Gretsch. I was so extra careful in the planning for it. Then in the end, I turned on the drill press, lowered the bit, and the guitar was thrown across the workshop because I had not tightened the clamps on the jig holding it in place.
Ouch !!!
- Apr 18, 2008
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- 1
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Watching your careful operation there reminds me of the time I was drilling a new jack hole in the side of my brother's vintage Gretsch. I was so extra careful in the planning for it. Then in the end, I turned on the drill press, lowered the bit, and the guitar was thrown across the workshop because I had not tightened the clamps on the jig holding it in place.
Oh my.
What happened next?
My Dad was standing there when it happened and he said "not sure what your brother's gonna think about that". Nothing was broken but there were several dings and scratches. It was the first time I tested the limits of steaming out dents. You can do a lot with a little rag, a dish of water and a soldering iron.Oh my.
When I finally showed it to him to discuss a complete refinish, he inspected it decided to just leave it as is, as part of it's war history. That was back in about 1992, so it's seen many hundreds of gigs since then, and it shows. I saw it back in December and it was impossible to tell what dents were from that accident versus roadwear.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
