Guitar build advice

[NoOnesFang13]

So something like 5 years ago I bought this body off eBay. It was an ash firebird with telecaster routing. I remembered that warmoth used to sell the but for some reason they stopped so I resorted to eBay. I figured I would just rout the neck pickup for a mini humbucker like I wanted. Had the pickups wound by zhangliqun. Went with an a5 Paul Bunyan at 9.5k with a tap at 7.2k, and an a5 Waylon at 6.2k. If I recall correctly I went with the true handwound option but I honestly can't remember.

I finally got to working on it and I had to rout the neck pickup out, like a dummy I picked up the router while it was still running and hit the edge of the cavity and took a big chip out of my template. After about a year I finally ordered a new template and got to working again. I have to mount the mini humbucker like a deluxe because I couldn't find the correct size template for the firebird style. Ended up having to offset the template 1mm on either side because the pickup ring I got from stewmac was slightly too large for the cavity. I also drilled the holes for the jack and pickup wires. Sanded it to 320 grit and I'm reordering the grain filler and paint because I don't trust 5 year old paint.

Now for my issue I have a couple places where I'm.not sure what to do. In the neck pickup cavity where the router got away from me is a section on the top left that is slightly uneven and will be visible since the pickup ring sits inside the cavity rather than over it. Also on the pieces around the neck pocket they are really thin and chip very easily and I don't know how to even it out without messing it up more.

TLDR: how do I fix the uneven pickup cavity and pieces around the neck pocket.

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[AlexR]

Re: Guitar build advice

What finish are you planning on.....opaque or translucent???
The easiest fix for the areas is sawdust + glue. Say titebond + some white sawdust. It won;t make for quite the same colour but is will be close, and is sandable, and if you are planning on doing a burst (like a vintage firebird tobacco type idea) then the outer dark colour will most likely hide most if not all of the repaired areas anyhow.

What paint type did you buy 5 years back??? If its not been opened then the chances are the filler is wholly unaffected. The 'paint' too should be fine......hell in some of the garden touchups I've done for clients I've used 10+ yr old pre-opened tins and it is surviving quite fine outdoors.

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Guitar build advice

I'm planning on doing a blonde finish. So you can see the grain but its not com plenty translucent. I bought some stuff from reranch and its not very expensive. I can definitely do sawdust with glue, I just don't really understand what exactly I need to do

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[Mincer]

Re: Guitar build advice

What a cool project! I am looking forward to more in-process pics.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Guitar build advice

What kind of mini humbucker pickup ring mounts INSIDE of the rout?!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Guitar build advice

The neck pocket chips are an easy fix. File and sand the edges back until the chips are removed.

If you fill the chips on that very thin edge either the filled area will chip out, or the thin edge will chip after your project is painted. You don't want THAT to happen...it will be 10 times more work to repair after paint than to just bullnose it now. Those thin edges don't provide any function at all, they are only a potential accident waiting to happen.

 

[mistermikev]

Re: Guitar build advice

So something like 5 years ago I bought this body off eBay. It was an ash firebird with telecaster routing. I remembered that warmoth used to sell the but for some reason they stopped so I resorted to eBay. I figured I would just rout the neck pickup for a mini humbucker like I wanted. Had the pickups wound by zhangliqun. Went with an a5 Paul Bunyan at 9.5k with a tap at 7.2k, and an a5 Waylon at 6.2k. If I recall correctly I went with the true handwound option but I honestly can't remember.

I finally got to working on it and I had to rout the neck pickup out, like a dummy I picked up the router while it was still running and hit the edge of the cavity and took a big chip out of my template. After about a year I finally ordered a new template and got to working again. I have to mount the mini humbucker like a deluxe because I couldn't find the correct size template for the firebird style. Ended up having to offset the template 1mm on either side because the pickup ring I got from stewmac was slightly too large for the cavity. I also drilled the holes for the jack and pickup wires. Sanded it to 320 grit and I'm reordering the grain filler and paint because I don't trust 5 year old paint.

Now for my issue I have a couple places where I'm.not sure what to do. In the neck pickup cavity where the router got away from me is a section on the top left that is slightly uneven and will be visible since the pickup ring sits inside the cavity rather than over it. Also on the pieces around the neck pocket they are really thin and chip very easily and I don't know how to even it out without messing it up more.

TLDR: how do I fix the uneven pickup cavity and pieces around the neck pocket.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

nice body... lot of potential coolness there.
if this were mine I would not be happy with sawdust and glue. I've found it's really difiicult to get enough sawdust saturation that the area will take a stain well. Maybe in an inconspicuous place, but it would really bother me right there -out in the open. If it wouldn't bother you then go for it. If I was going this rout I'd make a tape border for the area... pack sawdust in there, then fill it with ca glue. ca won't take stain at all... but it's clear and very thin. it will seep down into the dust. once the stain is on I've found ca will reflect the color of the wood dust and look much better than yellow glue. jmo.

I can think of about 5 thousand alternative solutions.
put binding around the pickup hole(s).
route the pickup hole a little larger - as long as there is an even space around the pickup no one will know. (make your own template using mdf and screwing down straight stock on top to form a square, then follow with router)
make it a feature: add a cool inlay right there. "Firebird Custom" if yer not good with inlay you could do a nice waterslide decal.
put a cool oge, chamfer or other figure to the edge of the pickup rout.
make your own custom pickup ring that hides it.
add a pickguard.
fill it with bondo/epoxy and add a veneer to the top. maybe even just a strip down the middle?
go with a reg sized humbucker
if you filled it with sawdust/ca you could probably hide it with some darker stain, or perhaps a burst/antigua finish with dark burst around the pickups

ok, ok... I don't have 5000 solutions (really over shot that) but where there is a will there is a way. The one thing I would advise is to not do anything until your head is clear. When I make mistakes I force myself to walk away for a few days before I decide on a solution. It's easy to get emotional and want to cover up the bad right away... but I've found that is where I will typically do something I'll regret later. Force it out of your mind for a while but go back and daydream on it here or there. You might surprise yourself with what you come up with.

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Guitar build advice

What kind of mini humbucker pickup ring mounts INSIDE of the rout?!

The ones on the led Paul deluxe. They are made out of p90 covers withe the mini humbucker size cut out. There's a metal bar screwed into the bottom of the cavity that have 2 threaded holes that are for pickup screws. The pickup screw goes into the ring then there is a spacer then it goes into the pickup (the holes in the pickup are drilled out) then a nut is placed below the pickup tangs and soldered to the pickup. When you adjust the screw the whole assembly moves up and down.

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[AlexR]

Re: Guitar build advice

I'm planning on doing a blonde finish. So you can see the grain but its not com plenty translucent. I bought some stuff from reranch and its not very expensive. I can definitely do sawdust with glue, I just don't really understand what exactly I need to do

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Make a paste and smear it in the areas that are chipped or dented/routed beyond where they need to be. Once dry simply sand the stuff back to where you have a straight line. Its like fixing plaster sheet really.
A blonde finish should mask the area enough so that the filled bits look less obvious (more like the dark grain streaks).....but you will always know they are there of course.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Guitar build advice

The ones on the led Paul deluxe. They are made out of p90 covers withe the mini humbucker size cut out. There's a metal bar screwed into the bottom of the cavity that have 2 threaded holes that are for pickup screws. The pickup screw goes into the ring then there is a spacer then it goes into the pickup (the holes in the pickup are drilled out) then a nut is placed below the pickup tangs and soldered to the pickup. When you adjust the screw the whole assembly moves up and down.

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So it's just mounted essentially as if it were a P-90, inside a plastic P-90 cover.

If you're concerned about the routing goofs, just mount the mini in a mini mounting ring to cover them all up.