Rear rout control cavity questions.....

[Johnny Roastbeef]

    Hello,
                   My question is about the position of the 5-way switch, the volume, and the tone knob when doing a rear rout control cavity.

                      My plan was to go with two tone holes because the strat volume hole appears way to close to the bridge pickup ring area.

                      But now, when I look at the computer image, it looks like the 5 way switch is very close to the wall of the route- the same with the second tone knob.

                      Can anyone tell me if there is enough room for the 5 way switch and the second tone pot in a rear rout control cavity from Warmoth?

                     Would I be better off drilling my own holes rather than going with the strat locations Warmoth shows?
                          Thanks in advance for any help on this   :icon_scratch:

 

[Cagey]

The controls are in the same positions on a rear route as they would be for a top route. The switch is close to a cavity wall either way, you just don't notice it on a top route because the switch is mounted to the pickguard while you wire it. Rear routes are tougher to wire for all guitars because the parts are often mounted first, then wired, so they're sorta buried in the cavity where access is a bit more limited. An easier way to do it is to mount the parts to a dummy surface for wiring, then transfer them in, but the benefit of doing that is limited since most of the wires you have to connect come from outside the cavity.

 

[Johnny Roastbeef]

The controls are in the same positions on a rear route as they would be for a top route. The switch is close to a cavity wall either way, you just don't notice it on a top route because the switch is mounted to the pickguard while you wire it. Rear routes are tougher to wire for all guitars because the parts are often mounted first, then wired, so they're sorta buried in the cavity where access is a bit more limited. An easier way to do it is to mount the parts to a dummy surface for wiring, then transfer them in, but the benefit of doing that is limited since most of the wires you have to connect come from outside the cavity.

      Thank you.  I emailed them about the volume knob and the reply I got was- yeah it does look close to the bridge pickup/ring- I don't know if it will hit or not.

      That was when I decided to go with just the two tone holes and use one as a volume and one as a tone (this body will have a neck and bridge humbucker).

      I thought "problem solved" even though I didn't really like the positioning of those holes. A perfect solution would be to let the customer choose the volume/tone/switch locations within a designated area they know 100% will work.

    The cavity is massive so making someone choose the stock locations for a top route for a bottom route seems strange. I understand from a manufacturing standpoint but it is called Custom Body Builder.

    I think I will go with no holes and go with a regular 3 way switch instead of a blade style switch. It sure would be nice to have it done prior to clear though.....

 

[frown]

You could do what I did and request Tele controls instead...

While I only wanted the holes drilled for pots, if you're using a switch it seems worthwhile to consider this as a feasible option?