Les paul style toggle

[beetroot]

Im planning on routing out space for a les paul style toggle switch ,to be used for an mini toggle switch to turn on the neck, and i was wondering if anyone could tell me the process of routing out the space. like how big the space should be and how thick id have to leave the wood?

thanks, casey

[ChrisK]

Well, this all depends on the size of the switch (there are several versions from several manufacturers), what kind of guitar it is, how thick the body is, and how long the switch mounting bushing is.

It also depends on what kind of tools that you have.


MUCH more info is needed.

[sumgai]

beet,

chrisk said:

.........
MUCH more info is needed.

Or only enough to get the job done.

First: Make sure the switch you buy is specifically for a Les Paul type guitar. If you take a generic one, probably meant for a plastic pickguard, there'll be no joy in Mudville. A generic one will have what we call a short threaded bushing - there aren't very many threads. LP specific switches have longer threaded bushings, sometimes up to twice the number of threads available. Read on for why that is.

Second: Place any washers and the nut onto the switch. Measure how much thread depth you have left. That's how thick your wood should be, after drilling the hole. You don't want to remove any more wood than necessary, you want to leave as much as possible for strength. THIS IS IMPORTANT: If you try to use a short-bushing switch, you won't have enough wood left when you're done. The switch will break out of the hole after a short while, and you'll be looking at a hefty repair job/bill. Bad juju.

Instead of fighting with a router for such a small hole like this, you can drill it with a Forstner bit to get the job done. (Forstner bits leave a flat bottom in the hole - it's what the factories use for this kind of job.) My preferred method is to drill a pilot hole from the front, all the way through. I then use hole that to guide the Fortner bit as I drill from the back. Be sure to use a depth-stop fixture on your drill press, or you'll be singing the blues!

I finish off the hole from the top with the proper size bit for the diameter of the threaded bushing. By going from the top, I don't care that a few tiny chips will be split out from the underside of that hole - any such "dings" will be hidden by the switch itself.

Hint: If you're going for a recessed hole cover (like a real LP, not like most cheap copies), then you start with a larger Forstner bit, using the same pilot hole. Again, set your depth-stop to the thickness of the covering plastic. After that, complete the job as above.

HTH


sumgai

[Edit] After posting, I saw this thread here: Long Bushing Mini-Toggles. You want to pay attention, it addresses the very issue I raised above, with a better explanation. Plus, if you haven't yet bought your switch, then you'll learn where to go to the the right part(s). ;D