How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Guitar Toad

Guitar Toad

Toadily Stratologist
My JV strat is routed for a HB bridge pickup. Is it possible to fill in the excess routing to beef up the bridge tone? I've heard about the Fralin bassplate that will add beef to a pup and that's an option I am considering. I have considered dropping a Custom Custom in the bridge, but I think my next move will be to put in a Texas Hot Custom Bridge pickup to go with the Texas Hot neck which I presently have and love. I think I want to stay with the SSS configuration.

The Fralin bassplate is metal. What if I made a wooden baseplate to go on the back side of the pickup? Would that have any tonal effect? What do you think about that? I might try that.

Anyways, Has anyone filled in their excess routing?
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

If I'm understanding you correctly, why not just get a pickguard that's routed for the pickup configuration you want and leave the routing as is? I seriously doubt that there will be any tonal benefit to filling the extra bit of routing.

Ryan
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

rspst14 said:
If I'm understanding you correctly, why not just get a pickguard that's routed for the pickup configuration you want and leave the routing as is? I seriously doubt that there will be any tonal benefit to filling the extra bit of routing.

Ryan
Click to expand...

No, I'm talking about the guitar body. I have the pickguard.

The strat bridge pup is often described as thin and weak (and I agree although I kinda like my bridge pup) from all the tremolo routing and in my case extra routing for a humbucker when I have a want to keep a SC in the bridge. Can the void volume be filled to coax a bit more beef from this strat?

Probably not much can be done beyond getting a different strat body. But I thought I would inquire regardless.
 
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Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Guitar Toad said:
No, I'm talking about the guitar body. I have the pickguard.

The strat bridge is often described as thin, weak, un-appealing from all the tremolo routing and in my case extra routing for a humbucker when I have a want to keep a SC in the bridge. Can the void volume be filled to coax a bit more beef from this strat?

Probably not much can be done beyond getting a different strat body. But I thought I would inquire regardless.
Click to expand...


My strat's body is routed for a HB in the bridge, but I use a Twangbanger there (single coil w/ metal baseplate) and it's anything but thin or weak. I really don't think you'd notice much difference from adding such a small volume of wood back in, but the metal baseplate should do plenty to beef up the tone.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Todd...filling in that little about of space would never get noticed...plus it allowes you o do cool things...bridge buckers, you can put a real Telecaster in there...
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

the guy who invented fire said:
Todd...filling in that little about of space would never get noticed...plus it allowes you o do cool things...bridge buckers, you can put a real Telecaster in there...
Click to expand...

You're probably right. I will want try a HB (Custom Custom) in there at somepoint.

But, then again, I could always glue hacksaw blades to the back of my SC's for more beef, right?
 
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Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

There is no way you would notice if you filled up the space. The tone will be exactly the same.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

My best sounding strat has the swiming pool rout that Fender used to do on their USA Standards..... That guitar kicks butt for tone and it has a huge hole under the pickguard. That little bit of wood you want to fill in your JV Strats humbucker rout is a waste of time really...... It's a messy job as you have to remove the paint to get the wood to glue in place...... Sometimes we as guitar nuts get carried away trying to get every detail right and sometimes end up doing some crazy un-needed mods.... I know i have...

WhoFan
 
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Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Store u'r hooch in there!
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

WhoFan said:
My best sounding strat has the swiming pool rout that Fender used to do on their USA Standards..... That guitar kicks butt for tone and it has a huge hole under the pickguard.
WhoFan
Click to expand...

I believe you, But, doesn't that go against the tone purist's recommendations. You wouldn't order a swimming pool routed guitar would you? if you are an SSS guy then the order would call for the least routing you could get away with.

Are some of the purist's (a la Ed Roman) who speak against swimming pool/ excess routing...how do I say it...wrong on this.

I don't think that I'll actually be doing anything fill in the excess routing.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Ed Roman: I discovered that G&L was no longer routing their guitars in the original way.
In fact they were using the same horribly unacceptable swimming pool route that Fender used throughout the 80's and 90's.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

i had an idea to cut a mahogany block the same size & shape as the trem routing on the back, take out the trem, and bolt everything down

i think that would make a significant difference

theres also pickguards made out of pretty much every material you can think of, a wood one may help, since your pickups are mounted directly to them i think it'd make a big difference

i could be wrong though, prolly am
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

drew_half_empty said:
i had an idea to cut a mahogany block the same size & shape as the trem routing on the back, take out the trem, and bolt everything down

i think that would make a significant difference

theres also pickguards made out of pretty much every material you can think of, a wood one may help, since your pickups are mounted directly to them i think it'd make a big difference

i could be wrong though, prolly am
Click to expand...

According to another thread yesterday (https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=37960) Clapton likes his strats with the tremolo and all intact even though he doesn't use the trem. Apprarently he sees it as part of the strat's over all tonal character. But, It seems to me that a solid body without the trem routing would only improve the strat's tone and sustain. Robert Cray seems to think so. His sig strat is a hard tail.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

a WOOD PICKGUARD???

The trem thing works though. The wood that you can stuff in back between the trem block and the routing helps increase the contact area to the body.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Guitar Toad said:
I believe you, But, doesn't that go against the tone purist's recommendations. You wouldn't order a swimming pool routed guitar would you? if you are an SSS guy then the order would call for the least routing you could get away with.

Are some of the purist's (a la Ed Roman) who speak against swimming pool/ excess routing...how do I say it...wrong on this.

I don't think that I'll actually be doing anything fill in the excess routing.
Click to expand...

You need to stop listening to Ed Roman. He doesn't say anything that isn't intended to make his stuff seem superior and has nothing to do with truth. He is the poster child for stating his opinion as fact.
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

TheArchitect said:
You need to stop listening to Ed Roman. He doesn't say anything that isn't intended to make his stuff seem superior and has nothing to do with truth. He is the poster child for stating his opinion as fact.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right . I have been learning that very thing about him. :rolleyes:
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

Why mess around with gluing some wood in? Once wood is removed, gluing another piece in often isn't going to be the same (e.g., laminate necks). If you're that eager to have a body done "right", get a new body made that's routed the way you think it should be done. IMO that's the only course of action if you're gonna be dogmatic about it (which I'm definitely not).

As for Ed Roman, he's much more a snake oil salesman than a "tone purist". He doesn't even friggin' play guitar!
 
Re: How To Fill Excess Strat Routing?

I don't think it'll help the tone but you can fill in the area with acraglas. Its made to bed rifle stocks. You can get it from Brownell"s, I believe they have a website...Joe
 
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