how to best add neck pickup to guitar?!

[ccoleman]

hey guys, I need your opinion on this....

I would like to add a humbucker pickup at the neck position on my guitar (like on the gibson les paul).

Currently, there is NO hole to mount the pickup near the neck. And there is NO wiring conduit for pass the pickup wire from the neck area to the control knob area (at the bottom corner of the guitar).

My guitar (Japanese made Ibanez Roadstar II) has only one pickup: a humbucker on the brige position, with a coil-cut push-switch on the volume control.

I assume I have to route out a hole for the pickup and a conduit for the wire.

I would like to minimize the risk of damaging the guitar.

Have you ever added a neck pickup hole AND wiring channel ??

What is the best / safest way to do this modification ??

Any pictures / advice to share ??

[UnklMickey]

hello Ccoleman,

Welcome to Guitarnuts2.



there are only 3 possibilities that come to mind.

1 -- rout a trench for the wiring on the front side, covered by the pickguard.

2 -- rout a trench on the backside, covered by a backplate.

3 -- drill a hole with a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG bit, starting from the jackplate region, or the strap button location.



unk

[ChrisK]

I actually don't know what a Roadstar lookes like since I've only had a couple of Ibanez gits in my life (a GhostRider set neck and a S2020X bolt-neck). The necks are too wussy thin fer my front paws to use well.

If the neck is a bolt-on, you can drill a hole from the aft wall of the neck pocket, thru the new routed pickup location, into the wiring cavity. You want this hole to start flush with the neck pocket floor, and very gradually slope down to the control cavity. I would use a slope of about 1/2" in total.


You could also drill a hole from the aft wall of the neck pocket, thru the new routed pickup location, into the bridge pickup route.


Caveats:

Ya gots to drill real straight.

Measure 4,384 times and drill only once!

Use what's called a "jobber bit", these are usually about a foot long. I'd use a 1/4" one.

[UnklMickey]

good point Chris, i looked right past that one.


but of course,

chrisk said:

If the neck is a bolt-on,....

real men don't...................(no, i'm not gonna go there, not this time anyway.)

lol

[ChrisK]

Yes they do, 'cuz one size doesn't.......

[UnklMickey]

best fit is.

adapt, lesser men must.

[ChrisK]

As well as greater (and kinder).

[UnklMickey]

as if.

Now, now.

[ChrisK]

see above............

[UnklMickey]

like i said,

as if.

a better toolbox does not a greater man make.

[ChrisK]

I KNEW that I made this simulation too capable.

[ccoleman]

ChrisK: thanks. The Roadstar body is strat-shaped with NO PICKGUARD. It has a plate on the BACK for accessing the voume pot. So I guess it is a rear-route body like the warmouth.

Unklmickey: thanks.. good ideas.

Now:

Can I get away with NOT routing a pocket for the neck pickup?? And instead, surface-mount the neck pickup...

I measured from the body to the top of the fingerboard, there is enough space there for a neck pickup that is 10mm tall max.

Are the minibuckers OR the blade humbuckers 10mm or less in height ??

[RandomHero]

I wouldn't count on it. You might be able to get away with a P-90, though.

If your Roadstar has a pup mounting ring on the bridge, you're set. Just buy a new ring to suit, place it on the neck position where you want to rout, masking tape STRAIGHT AND FLUSH with the edges of the ring, as these are the places you MUST NOT ROUT BEYOND. Also remember to leave a good deal of meat in the four corners of your new rout for the screws on your new ring to go into; it may be a good idea just to drill the holes and screw the ring onto the top of your guitar before you even rout, to have a sure visual reference of how much wood the screws will need.

A router is ideal for this, but a dremel tool will work in a pinch if you have good eyes, a steady hand, and some patience. Measure the depth of the bridge cavity and tape off the dremel bit at that height so you don't accidentally go too deep.

I converted my H/S/S into an H/S/H using the above techniques, and was very careful with all my alignment/measurement. It turned out wonderfully. I don't imagine it will be too much harder just cutting out the entire hole.

Any more questions, be sure to ask!

[UnklMickey]

good thinkin', RH.

P-90s have a much lower profile than HBs.

Dog-ears were intended for surface mounting.


Ccoleman,

you might find a specialized HB that has a low profile, but be careful.

when you said you had room for a pickup with a height of 10mm, did you measure when the strings were fretted at the 20th (or thereabouts) fret?

you give away much of the clearance then.



unk

[UnklMickey]

chrisk said:

I KNEW that I made this simulation too capable.

your assimilation is not TOO capable ................ it's "just right".

[ccoleman]

thanks randomhero. I just ordered a standard humbucker for the neck position.

I will take unklmickey's advice #2 and route the new wire channel for the neck pickup on the back.

I'm looking at the dremel's different cutting wheels and discs...

How deep do you normally have to make that pocket for the pickup ??

[ccoleman]

unklmickey... I'm resigned to routing a pocket for a standard humbucker pickup, because when fretted at the 22nd fret, the strings are about 11mm off the body, leaving only 1mm of clearance, this is too close, because it would cause the magnets to pull on the strings, detuning them and reducing sustain..

[UnklMickey]

the depth depends on the pickup and the location, existing clearance, etc.

often 1/2" is sufficient, sometimes it takes 3/4".



you might find it easier to work with a spiral saw (kinda looks like a drill bit),




or use a router bit with your dremel.


www.dremel.com/en-us/attachments-and-accessories/attachment-accessory-group.htm?H=188567&G=66532


to keep the bit square to the surface, you could use a plunge router attachment:



www.dremel.com/en-us/attachments-and-accessories/attachment-accessory-detail.htm?H=188575&G=69679&I=69793

or just the simple shoe that comes with the multipurpose cutting kit.



www.dremel.com/en-us/attachments-and-accessories/attachment-accessory-detail.htm?H=188575&G=69679&I=69795

[ChrisK]

Resistance is futile,

You will be simulated!

[ChrisK]

A P-90 is a good idea, but the Gib$on neck one that I have requires some shallow routing.

The Fender Jazzmaster pickups are fairly shallow also (no under coil magnets).

Both of the above are not humbucking.


Have you considered the end-of-neck-heel mounted Jazz pickups used on, well, acoustic electric Jazz guitars.


My approach to routing involves the fabrication of a routing guide out of steel that is mounted to the body in the desired location and used to prevent "accidents". I'll use this approach when I have to. I usually just use a mill (which unfortunately is city-location dependent).


I shy away from plunge routing due to the "rickety" nature of the plunge structure. These things are designed for carpentry and not cabinetry (which this effort is).

[UnklMickey]

Chris, you really had me worried there, but then i realized it was just my lysdexia kicking in.

i thought you said:

"Resistance is fertile,

You will be stimulated!"

[ChrisK]

Gee, you must be a prevert (born this way).

After all, I represent that remark (too).

[UnklMickey]

you must be perturbed preturbed.

[ccoleman]

ok guys... so if I catch what you're saying.... I must route a hole EXACTLY the right depth for my pickup... because if I route it TOO DEEP, then because my pickup attaches to the base of that pocket, the pickup may be TOO FAR from the strings to have the tone that I would like.

In other words.. is it true that my new neck humbucker pickup DOES NOT mount to the surface of the guitar body... instead, it mounts to the base of its pocket that I am going to route for it. ?!!?

[UnklMickey]

i'm not sure what led you to that conclusion.

although a dog-ear P-90 is mounted directly to whatever is underneath it,

in the case of a HB, the routing is just providing the needed space beneath the pickup.

the bezel (rectangular plastic ring) is surface mounted to the front of the guitar.

the HB has 2 screws and 2 springs that connect it to the bezel.


instead of re-inventing the wheel, there is some good info and pix here:

www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/tips/humbrout.htm

[ccoleman]

thanks unklmickey... this is my first ever pickup installation so I am trying to figure out what I am doing here. The guide at the link you gave is really helpful.

Are the two spring-loaded screws used to adjust the height of the pickup ??

[UnklMickey]

yes they are, and i'm glad you asked.

the screws go thru the bezel then through the springs, then are threaded into the flanges at the bottom of the HB.

tighten the screws to raise the pickup. loosen the screws, and the springs push it down.

there are cases, when the pickup will always be adjusted high, that the rout can be shallow. but clearance holes need to be deep enough so the ends of the screws don't hit the wood. most people would just do a deeper rout for the entire cavity, but if you're doing it with a dremel.....

[ccoleman]

Thanks again unklmickey...I'll be sure to drill long enough clearance holes for the height adjustment screws.

The other major concern I have is that when I route out this hole, it ends up reducing the stiffness of the body in this area of the guitar, since the rout is right near where the bolt-on neck attaches and so the neck will have less of a solid place to attach to, and so that base with four holes where the neck attaches may end up flexing a bit more under the load of the strings...

Is there any easy remedy to this that you guys have tried before, like gluing a metal box into the rout, to reinforce the four walls and bottom of the rout ??

[UnklMickey]

not that i recommend this, but...

you could probably get away with cutting a hole completely through the guitar, instead of just a rout for the pickup.

even with a deep double cutaway body there will probably be enough "meat" left behind to have a reasonable structure coupling the body to the neck pocket.

i haven't heard of anyone taking steps to reinforce the rout for a neck pickup.

to my knowledge, the only time metal has been used, has been in the form of foil, for shielding.



if you still feel uncomfortable, you might consider adding the pickup to more of a mid position rather than at the neck.

i've always liked a tighter spacing between pickups than neck to bridge.

this does, however alter the "pick lane(s)".



unk

[ccoleman]

Thank guys for the help,

For the first time ever, I routed a pocket for the neck pickup. And it came out really awesome !!!















Now I just gotta install a multi position switch... because it's the only way to take advantage of all my new tone combinations.

Cheers !
CC