Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

evh_slash

evh_slash

New member
Was just wondering if it is possible to route a battery box on the back of a finished guitar without ruining the paint job or wood ?? Somebody told me it is not recommended to route a battery box in a finished guitar but I really need them as I want to install active midboosts.
I have a purple quilt top ibanez and a neon pink ibanez and I'd like a 9v battery box routed in the back for easy battery access. 1 doesnt have a pickguard so I need some sort of routing done. I really don't want to ruin the paint or basswood body, even if it is only the back. Is it something a luthier could do easily or would they shy away from doing this on a finished guitar ??

p.s I use my tremolo alot so I wont be using a trem-block to fit the battery in the trem spring cavity. An extra battery box routing is the only option for me.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

If you have no previous experience with routing and don't feel confident, take it to a luthier. Otherwise, the job is fairly simple if you do it smart.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

Yes, it can be done by someone who know wtf they are doing. :) The best place given your guitar's configuration is on the back of the body about 2 inches behind the tremolo cavity. You'll also need to swap your output jack for a TRS jack and wire the battery clip like you would for active pickups.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

ErikH said:
Yes, it can be done by someone who know wtf they are doing. :) The best place given your guitar's configuration is on the back of the body about 2 inches behind the tremolo cavity. You'll also need to swap your output jack for a TRS jack and wire the battery clip like you would for active pickups.
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Hey, why the TRS jack ?? In the wiring diagram on the Demeter website it says solder the -ive battery wire to the ring .
 

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Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

That diagram shows RING, which is the middle of a TRS jack. A mono jack has a tip and sleeve only. You want the TRS jack with the negative lead wired to the ring or the battery will continue to drain even when you unplug the guitar. The sleeve pole is denoted by the ground symbol at the bottom of the jack diagram.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

Hahahaha, D'oh. Of course mono jacks are TS!! !!! My bad. Just realised how stupid that was on my part ! Cheers for the heads up... Its been a long day. :P
 
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Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

nightfall said:
If you have no previous experience with routing and don't feel confident, take it to a luthier. Otherwise, the job is fairly simple if you do it smart.
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+1 Without a doubt take it to and experienced luthier. My guy did this post finish and even reassessed it so the top was flush. I would have hacked it.

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Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

Is there something stopping you from just putting the battery in the electronics cavity? You really don't need easy access to change the battery, you should only have to change it once a year or so.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

I love the whole ''you have to take it to a professional''

Seriously man its childs play. Make your template out of plywood. Drill out majority of the wood, Run your template bearing bit around. Whats hard about that?

I should of got a bravery award for doing it on this sabre.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

Not everybody is proficient with a router. It's not exactly child's play. One slip of the router and you're screwed. Go too deep with the drill and you're through the top of the guitar. Not everybody is comfortable doing this kind of work. Seriously. Don't belittle those who want someone to do it for them. This isn't the first time I've seen you reply like this in someone's thread. Maybe take it as an opportunity to do the work for him and help someone out.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

ErikH said:
Not everybody is proficient with a router. It's not exactly child's play. One slip of the router and you're screwed. Go too deep with the drill and you're through the top of the guitar. Not everybody is comfortable doing this kind of work. Seriously. Don't belittle those who want someone to do it for them. This isn't the first time I've seen you reply like this in someone's thread. Maybe take it as an opportunity to do the work for him and help someone out.
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No i am encouraging people to do things for themselves. It is easy anyone with half a brain can do it. At least in this case anyway.

As for helping people. I help people all the time with guitar stuff so if you dont know what you're talking about you might as well be quite.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

kramersteen said:
No i am encouraging people to do things for themselves. It is easy anyone with half a brain can do it. At least in this case anyway.

As for helping people. I help people all the time with guitar stuff so if you dont know what you're talking about you might as well be quite.
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I was working on guitars while you were still in diapers so whatever. I may not know everything about it but that's besides the point. If someone is not comfortable doing it themselves, that's fine. There are plenty of competent techs out there that can do it. I've seen enough, "oh, I can do this" attempts that have gone totally wrong that when someone says they want a luthier to do it, I point them that way.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

ErikH said:
Really? This isn't high school. I don't have to show anything. Just chill.
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ErikH said:
I was working on guitars while you were still in diapers so whatever.
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You can talk Like whatever!!. What did you honestly expect me to say to you? You have been bolting on necks and raising saddles since i have been in diapers.
 
Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

LOL. You have issues.

You call using a router on a guitar child's play and anyone can do it. Really? OK, give your router to a 10 year-old with no experience with one, hand him your best finished guitar and tell him to route a hole in the back for a battery. You can give him a template even. Then watch in horror as it goes horribly wrong.

Encourage, yes, but telling him to just go do it is not the right approach. Have a luthier do it, possibly watch him do it, and learn. It may seem easy to you because you've done it enough. It's not that way for everybody.

I've only built a few guitars, done tons of wiring, setups, made nuts, neck finishes, painted a few. Everything but fret work. I don't have the tools for that and have great techs here that do great fret work.
 
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Re: Routing a battery box in a finished guitar ??

ErikH said:
LOL. You have issues.
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Yeah typical.

No i just get tired of people like you thinking they know it all. If you have a problem with my advice PM me otherwise i am going to speak my mind publicly.
 
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