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Post by jdl on Dec 24, 2005 16:55:21 GMT -5
Hey;
There are three holes just underneath my pickup routing. they are about half an inch in diameter and maybe half an inch deep. I don't know how to post a pic, so if someone tells me how I can show you what they look like. I was thinking that they might be for installing some sort of switch, but i really don't know. Any help would be appreciated.
James
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Dec 24, 2005 17:30:26 GMT -5
There are three holes just underneath my pickup routing. they are about half an inch in diameter and maybe half an inch deep. I don't know how to post a pic, so if someone tells me how I can show you what they look like. I was thinking that they might be for installing some sort of switch, but i really don't know. I think you have to post the pic somewhere (like Fotobucket?) and then do an "IMG pointer" to it. (The IMG stuff is in the toolbar, above the smilies.) Failing that, let's get a little better oriented on where the holes are on the guitar body. First off, what's the guitar? Then give us some references to other parts of it, like "about an inch-and-a-half to the right of the bridge, looking at the string side of the body." Somebody else may already know what they're for, and I may not know even after you describe it better, but I'm trying to be helpful while Santa's still watching me. ;D
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Post by jdl on Dec 24, 2005 17:56:45 GMT -5
lol, Ok: 1st hole: 5/8" diameter, 1" below neck pup; 2nd hole: 3/4" diameter, 1" below and between neck and middle pup; 3rd hole: 5/8" diameter, 1" below middle pickup. 3/8" gap between each hole, 2nd hole is slightly deeper than others. The guitar is mexican standard strat.
thanks james
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Dec 24, 2005 18:53:32 GMT -5
1st hole: 5/8" diameter, 1" below neck pup; 2nd hole: 3/4" diameter, 1" below and between neck and middle pup; 3rd hole: 5/8" diameter, 1" below middle pickup. 3/8" gap between each hole, 2nd hole is slightly deeper than others. The guitar is mexican standard strat. Hmm. Okay, so not "under the strings" like the pickup wire routs in this photo www.provide.net/~cfh/stra5413.jpg, but more out toward where the volume and tone pots would be? Like how far below the lower corners of the pup routs, if we were looking at your Strat from this view? Hang in there, somebody who actually knows something may show up soon. (I think JohnH's side of the world is awake as I write this. Almost 11:00 a.m., Christmas Day, if my calculations are correct.)
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Post by jdl on Dec 24, 2005 19:16:43 GMT -5
k check out the pic at this link under step two (white strat, swimming pool route, pickguard off still connected to input jack). See the circlular hole under the swimming pool, mine has that hole and one on either side in that exact position. www.cocoatech.com/weblog/archives/2005/04/23/000142.php
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Dec 24, 2005 21:27:37 GMT -5
Nice axe, that. Never seen one routed quite like that before.
Well, I'spose that hole could've been for a switch. That "swimming pool" (good term) would allow for all kinds of options for pickups, so perhaps in a different incarnation, it might have had a coil shunt or something. Somebody might have to get in there with a right-angle drill to shoot a channel from the swimming pool to the hole, though, if that's what it's for. If in the early stages of manufacture it received some kind of "one size fits all" generic routing, maybe the holes are drilled at the same time, but wiring channels are left until it's determined what features that body will have.
Kinda an odd location, unless the idea was to avoid clutter around the knobs (pots). The CW (Conventional Wisdom) around GN seems to involve only making holes through the pickguard, and avoiding additional drilling/routing of the wood. (Even using existing holes in the pickguard, like putting mini-toggles where the five-way lever was.)
So, were you planning on adding some switches to yours? I can appreciate the "Zen" simplicity of that Tony Iommi one in the pics, but more controls and switches (up to a point, of course) are cool, too. I dunno as I'd have put the volume knob where he did, but I'll bet it really facilitates doing volume swells.
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Post by pollyshero on Dec 25, 2005 0:00:12 GMT -5
They are made by the CNC machine and serve no real purpose as to functionality. I have read they are "first" position markers for the CNC operator to line up the bits on multople bodies before they're carved. I've also heard that Fender puts them there on purpose - in different places and numbers on different models and then randomized for different production runs as a means of dating and verifying authenticity. Either explanation seems plausible.
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Dec 25, 2005 2:24:32 GMT -5
I have read they are "first" position markers for the CNC operator to line up the bits on multople bodies before they're carved. I've also heard that Fender puts them there on purpose - in different places and numbers on different models and then randomized for different production runs as a means of dating and verifying authenticity. Either explanation seems plausible. Makes sense. The real cornersewers coggersenti experts can often place (or at least aproxmate guess) the date of manufacture by little signs like that. The site where I found the photo linked to above is all about vintage guitars. The '54 Strat in that photo has nail holes inside the body, from a painting technique Fender used until about late 1964. Interesting stuff. www.provide.net/~cfh
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Post by jdl on Dec 25, 2005 17:47:53 GMT -5
hmm; ok, so basically they serve no purpose but to either guide the machine that makes the pickup routes, or to date the guitar. The guide theory makes sense; my strat does not have the "swimming pool" like the one on the link, but rather 3 seperate routes for each pu. So hear is my thinking; 1 of these holes is drilled to make one big route or swimming pool, 3 of these holes is for 3 seperate routes. If anyone has a double humbucker strat (1 buck in the neck, 1 in the bridge) they could confirm this theory by checking if their guitar has 2 of these "guide" holes, and 2 seperate routes for the buckers. Make sense?
thanks for the help guys, hope we can solve this riddle! James P.S. Happy Holidays to everyone!!!
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servant
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Post by servant on Feb 3, 2006 16:10:03 GMT -5
I noticed these holes on my MIM Strat and Jazz Bass, and found none on my son's Squier. I emailed Fender tech support:
> On both, there is a hole drilled in to the top of the guitar, between the neck pickup and the floor, > about 3/4" in diameter. It is painted just like the rest of the body. What is the purpose of this hole?? > My son's Squier Strat does NOT have this.
To which they replied: > That hole you noticed in the bodies of your Fender instruments is where the hanger goes during the > spraying and drying of the finish. Squiers are finished using a different procedure, so do not have that hole.
There you have it.
Dean
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Post by jdl on Feb 3, 2006 16:41:00 GMT -5
hey servant; what does the routing look like on your strat and bass? is it a swimming pool(one big route for all pu's), or three seperate routes for each pu?
James
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servant
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Post by servant on Feb 3, 2006 21:36:12 GMT -5
hey servant; what does the routing look like on your strat and bass? is it a swimming pool(one big route for all pu's), or three seperate routes for each pu? James Hi James, First of all, where are you in Alberta? I'm in Calgary. My Strat has three, single-coil sized routes. My son's Squier has the proverbial swimming pool route. I think they do this to accommodate any combination of pickups. My MIM Jazz has routes not much bigger that the pickups. His SX "jazz" bass has a normal sized route near the bridge, but the neck pickup route is larger. I think this must be so that they can use one, mass-produced/routed body for jazz/jazz pickup combos, or jazz/p-bass (split single-coil) combos.
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Post by jdl on Feb 5, 2006 12:32:21 GMT -5
Hey servant, I live down in Medicine Hat, nice to meet a fellow Albertan! The reason for my question is that my mim strat with 3 seperate routes has 3 of these 3/4"(ish) sized holes. The hanging for painting reason makes sense, but my question would be why do they need 3 of these?
James P.S. Did you spend your Ralph Bucks yet? I just spent mine on a Simon & Patrick SP6. Thanks Uncle Ralph!!!
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