Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

[JacobTM]

Hey guys,

I'm in the market to build a new guitar, and I was thinking of a semi-hollow tele made of mahogany, with a maple-ebony board.

Thing is, I can't decide what kinda pickups I want in it ultimately. HBs, P90's, SCs, they're all on the list. So I'm thinking of getting swimming pool route so I could just pick up several pickguards and make it happen.

But would the swimming pool route affect the sound much? And is it a good idea to drill holes for a pickguard into a semi hollow?

I'm thinking of this bad boy:


Love,
Jacob

[drpietrzak]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

There is a rout that accepts P-90's and humbuckers. Someone posted a picture of it recently with an SG. Gibson appears to do it to give them options with some of the SG's anyway.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

I am building a mahogany T-style (ish) guitar with a neck and middle "swimming pool" rout, and a maple / ebony neck right now.



First off, holy crap, talk about a coincidence.

Second off, I haven't finished it yet, it won't be semi hollow, but so far, the body sounds and feels great, just knocking on it and such.

I would not do a full swimming pool, but that's because I love the Tele bridge assembly and Tele bridge pickup sound. If you're not married to that like I am, then hey, why not?!

[tone4days]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

gorgeous slab of tele-wood there, jacob - i hope it sounds as good as it looks ... i'm seein' faded butterscotch and a black (or no) guard ... mini-hum in the neck, tapped tele bridge

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

gorgeous slab of tele-wood there, jacob - i hope it sounds as good as it looks ... i'm seein' faded butterscotch and a black (or no) guard ... mini-hum in the neck, tapped tele bridge

I don't think that's the particular guitar body he's getting - just a stock photo of a Thinline from USACG.

[blueman335]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

My issue with swimmimg pool routes is that you have a big, cheap piece of plastic acting as a soundboard. Not my idea of quality tone. I want as much contact between wood and PU as possible, and huge routes go in the opposite direction.

[JacobTM]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

Bluesman, to you is the issue of the pickguard acting as a sounding board mainly an issue with unplugged acoustics, or does it affect the sound much when plugged in?

Thing is, I really just can't decide if I want a P-90 or a mini hum or what in the neck! Also, I'm not at all married to ''classic tele'' anything, and was seriously considering NOT having a traditional tele bridge or bridge pickup.

Maybe I'll just make a choice and say like P-90 neck, strat SC mid and tele bridge. Or something like that, something so that I won't even need a pickguard and can just mount pickups straight to the body....

Immortal Six, what kinda pickups are you thinking of throwing into your tele? I have an alnico II pro strat SC and a5-2 that I'd be thinking of putting in the middle, with maybe a Vintage P-90 neck and a hot tele bridge.

Or maybe something completely different. Whatchu thinking? I'm imagining all the mahogany SGs, double cut LP's etc that had P-90's and how great that sound was. Maybe I'll do it with Black Korina just to not be copying you :P

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

Thing is, I really just can't decide if I want a P-90 or a mini hum or what in the neck! Also, I'm not at all married to ''classic tele'' anything, and was seriously considering NOT having a traditional tele bridge or bridge pickup.

Maybe I'll just make a choice and say like P-90 neck, strat SC mid and tele bridge. Or something like that, something so that I won't even need a pickguard and can just mount pickups straight to the body....

Immortal Six, what kinda pickups are you thinking of throwing into your tele? I have an alnico II pro strat SC and a5-2 that I'd be thinking of putting in the middle, with maybe a Vintage P-90 neck and a hot tele bridge.

Or maybe something completely different. Whatchu thinking? I'm imagining all the mahogany SGs, double cut LP's etc that had P-90's and how great that sound was. Maybe I'll do it with Black Korina just to not be copying you :P

I think a mini humbucker in the neck, or a P90 is a great idea. P90 gives you a little bit of a Stratty option. Mini him gives you a bit of a Gibsony option.

P90 - S -T is just what I had in mind at the outset of my guitar designing adventure.

In my guitar, I am going MiniHum - P90 - QuarterPounderTele.

I picked mahogany because it's got the low end and the growl that I like --- and I think that a 25.5" scale guitar with a Tele pickup won't have any problem getting some good highs. I would stick with mahogany if I were you - at USACG, it's GREAT stuff (that's where I got my plank, and it's super light and resonant - it's begging to become a guitar).

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

Oh, and for Blueman --- I am doing a guitar with a decent-sized pickguard, but all the pickups under it will be mounted directly to the body.

I went with a swimming pool rout because I know I am a pickup slut and may not want MH-P90-T forever. If I want to throw some PAFs or something in there, no big deal --- just make a new pickguard!

[blueman335]

Re: Swimming pool route on a semi-hollow mahogany tele affect sound much?

Bluesman, to you is the issue of the pickguard acting as a sounding board mainly an issue with unplugged acoustics, or does it affect the sound much when plugged in?

It's all about the amplified sound; what happens acoustically with an electric won't be heard once the amp is on. On a hollow or semi-hollow body, the top is the soundboard. On a solid body, the entire body acts as a big, thick soundboard. Either way, string vibrations resonate thru the wood and that impacts how a PU sounds, like the sigificant tonal differences between the average piece of maple, and the average piece of mahogany.

When a PU's mounted on a piece of plastic, suspended over a canyon of open space, I can't see much of the wood's tone coming thru. Not saying it can't sound good with the right PU and amp combination (and the right hands), but that's not how I'd choose to do it. If I'm building a guitar, I'd direct-mount the PU's to the wood.