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Step 9Pocketing for Pickups and Electronics
The pickup pockets are much simpler than the neck pocket. The easiest and cleanest way to do them is to drill them with a forstner bit and then clean up the pocket with the mill.
Measure the height of your pickups. They should be about 3/4" or so. Since they will protrude from the wood surface, we can drill the holes to about that depth, and still have room for wiring. Put a 3/4" forstner bit in the drill press and drill a series of holes around the perimeter of each pocket. Leave the two bits on the side for the mill. Most of the material should be removed. Repeat for the other pickup.
Flip the body over and drill out the big pocket for the electronics. Drill it about 1" deep. Don't drill quite to the pencil line so that there will be a ledge for the cover plate to rest on. See below image for more info. Also drill two deep holes to fit the potentiometers into. Take care to not drill right through. Your drill press should have a depth gauge that will help you know how deep you are. See below image for visual explanation. Drill a shaft hole for the pots all the way through the guitar, too.
Head on over to the mill and put on a 1/4" cutter or so. Clamp the body back on the mill with the plywood beneath. Check that the body is level. Move the cutter into the first pickup pocket and raise the bed until the cutter touches the bottom. Run the cutter around the perimeter, to clean the pocket edges. Get into the two tab sections on the sides.
Once the pickups are done, flip the guitar over to the back side. If you wish, you can mill the inside of the pocket, but if not, just mill a ledge around along the pencil line thats as deep as the thickness of your back plate. Mine was about 3 millimeters.
Measure the diameter of your tail piece and bridge mounting inserts, and drill slightly larger holes for their marked locations.
The next step is drilling the wiring hole.
Measure the height of your pickups. They should be about 3/4" or so. Since they will protrude from the wood surface, we can drill the holes to about that depth, and still have room for wiring. Put a 3/4" forstner bit in the drill press and drill a series of holes around the perimeter of each pocket. Leave the two bits on the side for the mill. Most of the material should be removed. Repeat for the other pickup.
Flip the body over and drill out the big pocket for the electronics. Drill it about 1" deep. Don't drill quite to the pencil line so that there will be a ledge for the cover plate to rest on. See below image for more info. Also drill two deep holes to fit the potentiometers into. Take care to not drill right through. Your drill press should have a depth gauge that will help you know how deep you are. See below image for visual explanation. Drill a shaft hole for the pots all the way through the guitar, too.
Head on over to the mill and put on a 1/4" cutter or so. Clamp the body back on the mill with the plywood beneath. Check that the body is level. Move the cutter into the first pickup pocket and raise the bed until the cutter touches the bottom. Run the cutter around the perimeter, to clean the pocket edges. Get into the two tab sections on the sides.
Once the pickups are done, flip the guitar over to the back side. If you wish, you can mill the inside of the pocket, but if not, just mill a ledge around along the pencil line thats as deep as the thickness of your back plate. Mine was about 3 millimeters.
Measure the diameter of your tail piece and bridge mounting inserts, and drill slightly larger holes for their marked locations.
The next step is drilling the wiring hole.
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Oct 4, 2010. 11:06 AMwondermeat
says:
i think you should of used a plunge router it would of done a cleaner job and it wouldnt have went through your guitar
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Oct 4, 2010. 3:56 PM
mattthegamer463 (author)
says:
mattthegamer463 (author)
says:
I decided against it because I have no experience with them, and they don't offer the go-as-slow-as-you-want approach that a mill offers. Time is free, material isn't.
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