How can I extend the depth of a humbucker pickup rout?

[kgk9000]

Now it's time for me to work on putting pickups in my Nomad body!  It is routed for two humbuckers, but the problem is that I ordered unusual EMG pickups (bridge=81TWX, http://www.emgpickups.com/guitar/humbucking/dual-mode-x/81twx.html, neck=89XR) that are extra-thick.  So, for the neck pickup, I need to cut a wooden ramp out of the wood to make space for it (it fits at a slight angle, as it is an Explorer copy), and I'm looking for advice as to how I should address this cut....

Would you suggest a Dremel tool?  A wood chisel?  Coarse sand paper?  Something else?

And after I cut the wood out, should I put some kind of finish on it to stop the flow of moisture in/out of the body?  (The body is black limba.)  If so, what would you recommend?  (This area won't be visible, it will be covered by the pickup.)

Thanks again for all of the help!  arty07:

 

[Cagey]

None of those solutions are solutions. But, that's ok. It's fairly easy to do. You just need a router and the right template follower bit...

That type of bit has a bearing on the the top of the cutter that rides the edge of a template, or in your case, the walls of the existing cavity. Since the walls of your cavity are already vertical, the vertical cutting edges won't cut anything, but the bottom will. So, you set the bit so it'll cut slightly deeper than what the cavity is now, and just ride the router around the cavity until the whole floor is lower. If you need it lower still, extend the bit some more, and do it again. Takes no time at all - routers are wicked tools. For extra fun, they make a pretty good mess in the process, so don't do this in the living spaces. There are gonna be wood chips everywhere.

Here's a video of a guy cutting a pickup cavity where one didn't exist at all before. Your job will be somewhat easier, but it's the same tool and procedure, just without the template or the pre-drilling with a Forstner bit.

[youtube]RJtnlKt63Ec[/youtube]​

 

[kgk9000]

None of those solutions are solutions. But, that's ok. It's fairly easy to do. You just need a router and the right template follower bit...

Hello Cagey, I see that I need to do it the right way, with a plunge router... OK, I'll get one, thanks!

It seems that the interesting part will be finding the perfect bit... I see your point about having the ball-bearings on top of the vertical cutter, it will be self-guiding.

Thanks again!  More relatively soon....  :headbanging:

 

[Cagey]

Finding the right bits is a little tricky. One, I think only Whiteside makes. It's 1/2" diameter, which is pretty common, but the cutting height is only 1/4". It's an odd size, but it allows you to do shallow holes and still have the bearing able to follow a template. It's Whiteside's part number 3000, and apparently you can get them at Amazon. Not likely to find them around town, as there's probably not much call for them.

Eventually, you'll want more like it but with longer cutting lengths to reach deeper in the hole, but they're more common and you might even be satisfied at Lowe's or someplace like that. You can't always use the short bit because when you extend the router motor down, eventually the collet will start hitting something, which is NFG.

Next, the 1/2" bit won't let you make very tight corners, so you need another bit for doing pickup cavities. It's also hard to find because of its small diameter, but StewMac sells them. Actually, you could probably use the 1/2" bit they sell too, since your router cavity already exists and you won't need the super-short version. But, I don't particularly like their bits. Any time you can manage it, you'll want to go with Whiteside, Freud or Bosch bits, and always buy the carbide-edged ones if you can. It's false economy to get the HSS versions - you'll just have to replace them early on and as soon as you have to buy two, you've paid for the carbide version which will last longer than two of the HSS versions. Anyway, I don't know who StewMac gets their bits from, but the bearings on them are crap. Buy a spare. Also, they don't have a positive retention ring for the bearing. You're expected to use a piece of plastic tubing on the shaft to hold the bearing against the cutter. Pretty schlocky if you ask me, but here again, I can't find that smaller bit anywhere else.

As for routers, you can probably do just about anything you want to a guitar using Bosch's "Colt" router. It's not a plunge router, but you rarely need one and if you do, they make a plunge base for that unit.

If you don't want to mess around, for not much more than the combination above you could kill a lotta birds (and maybe a few cats) with one tool in this Bosch unit. It's a beast. I have one of these, and it's far and away the best router I've ever had. You can route corian countertops with that rascal.

In both cases, I'd recommend looking around for factory reconditioned units. They're very high-quality tools, so there's little or no risk in the reconditioned units, they still carry the full warranty, and they're usually 15%-20% less money. That puts you down in the price range of the DeWalts and other disposables.

Porter Cable is also a good router maker, if you see something from them you like.

 

[bagman67]

You could also create a pickup template with a bit that has the bearing at the bottom,  and then use that template with a longer,  more readily available bit wits the bearing at the shank.  Then you get to have a reusable template and two common bits,  instead of the one specialty cutter.

 

[kgk9000]

I ordered a Bosch router kit and one Whiteside bit (to easily solve the "I want to to put dual-mode EMG pickups into a Warmoth humbucker rout" problem), and now I'm looking at various additional bits, they're quite interesting...  but I can see how people would want a router table for many non-guitar applications.

Naturally, I have to protect the guitar body's paint from scratches created by the router's base...  Is blue tape enough?!  (That would be really embarrassing, to screw that up!)

Many thanks!

:headbanging:

 

[AirCap]

Is blue tape enough?!

It's the choice of luthiers everywhere.

 

[Cagey]

Blue tape is fine. Sometimes I use that to tape down sheets of paper, but you can also buy it  pretty wide. I also use some low-tack tape here and there designed specifically for that kind of use. It has a slippery face and also won't try to pull your finish off. Finally, if I'm going to be handling the body a lot, like on a complete assembly, I'll use this "art mask film" like you get on the face of large LCD panels or other high-gloss surfaces that they don't want to get abraded during handling. You don't always need to go to those extremes, but sometimes...

 

[fdesalvo]

Shortcut: Bare Knuckles Miracle Man set.  :icon_biggrin: