hacking up a warmoth body

[UCSDBoy]

Hi guys,

I really want a Hum Sing Hum Strat body to fit scratchplates with various pickups I've collected over the years. Warmoth has some good painted showcase bodies for about 270 bucks. My question is, given that they're nearly all HSS or SSS, do you think it's ok to buy one, dremel out larger cavities for HSH, and somehow paint over the open wounds or what? Will it affect he paint or the wood?

[Robert Delahunt]

Hi guys,

I really want a Hum Sing Hum Strat body to fit scratchplates with various pickups I've collected over the years. Warmoth has some good painted showcase bodies for about 270 bucks. My question is, given that they're nearly all HSS or SSS, do you think it's ok to buy one, dremel out larger cavities for HSH, and somehow paint over the open wounds or what? Will it affect he paint or the wood?

Just ask 'em, they can probably open up the body for a small charge.

As for doing it yourself: unless you're good at it, don't. I did that with my Ibanez and wish I could go back in time and do it better.

[theodie]

Just ask 'em, they can probably open up the body for a small charge.

As for doing it yourself: unless you're good at it, don't. I did that with my Ibanez and wish I could go back in time and do it better.

Yup, take it to a pro or, ask warmoth if they could do it. I do not see why they wouldnt.

Macgyverized cavitys

Between dremals and drill and chisel techniques, it just flat out makes me ill when someone has done that to their guitar.

[Zerberus]

Yup, take it to a pro or, ask warmoth if they could do it. I do not see why they wouldnt.

Macgyverized cavitys

Between dremals and drill and chisel techniques, it just flat out makes me ill when someone has done that to their guitar.

Or the ever popular "I didn´t have a chisel so I used a flat bladed screwdriver"

[theodie]

Or the ever popular "I didn´t have a chisel so I used a flat bladed screwdriver"

Damn, I forgot that one! I knew I left something out!

[junior]

Or the ever popular "I didn´t have a chisel so I used a flat bladed screwdriver"

I've done that before

[Captain Tightpants]

I've done that before

I'm going to guitar hack hell, then. I used a pair of pliers to yank the wood between the middle and bridge cavties on my Strat, got tired of having to fight the wiring harness in. And yes, I made a humbucker route with a Stanley screwdriver. I'm a bad bad man.

[JacksonMIA]

Or the ever popular "I didn´t have a chisel so I used a flat bladed screwdriver"

Ahh yes, the EVH approach. The hacking helps the tone, man!!




Depending on the wood types you want, you could pick up something like an 80's Peavey Predator. The ones I've seen have swimming pool or universal routes, so you'd be pretty unlimited in combinations. They're great playing guitars and usually $150 or less (I got one for $60 that would have been perfect for that).

[Robert Delahunt]

Yup, take it to a pro or, ask warmoth if they could do it. I do not see why they wouldnt.

Macgyverized cavitys

Between dremals and drill and chisel techniques, it just flat out makes me ill when someone has done that to their guitar.

Yeah. I will try to take a picture of my guitar with the pickguard off soon. If the guitar were worth something, it would make you cry lol. I used a hand-held electric router on mine

[MikeS]

Between dremals and drill and chisel techniques, it just flat out makes me ill when someone has done that to their guitar.

How do you feel about dremels with the router base from stewmac? I've considered buying one just to putz around on cheapo guitars to see what I can and cannot do. I've got a 1.5 HP craftsman fixed router and table, but the thing is at least 15 years old and using the big old router on a little guitar body seems akin to using a chainsaw to conduct brain surgery. Better off using that, buying a dremel base from stewmac, or flipping the cash for a new 1/4" plunge router? Which would you use for routing cavities on new bodies?

I'm not sure if my fascination with modifying that guitar has more to do with wanting to make it better or seeing how far I can go before I screw something up so badly that it is no longer playable and I have an excuse to replace it.

[JacksonMIA]

How do you feel about dremels with the router base from stewmac? I've considered buying one just to putz around on cheapo guitars to see what I can and cannot do. I've got a 1.5 HP craftsman fixed router and table, but the thing is at least 15 years old and using the big old router on a little guitar body seems akin to using a chainsaw to conduct brain surgery. Better off using that, buying a dremel base from stewmac, or flipping the cash for a new 1/4" plunge router? Which would you use for routing cavities on new bodies?

I'm not sure if my fascination with modifying that guitar has more to do with wanting to make it better or seeing how far I can go before I screw something up so badly that it is no longer playable and I have an excuse to replace it.

I'm sure Dave's got more experience with it, but I would think a Dremel with a router base would be ok for something like widening a pickup cavity from single coil size to bucker size (I've acutally used one freehand to widen the cavity for buckers that were a little bigger than usual). But with such a small motor/blade it probably wouldn't handle something like a full routing of all the cavities. Even if it did it would take you a long time. Kinda like using a fine tip paintbrush to paint a house. I would think a 1/4" plunge would be much better, though there's no reason your table router couldn't do the job with fresh bits and a lot of care.

[theodie]

How do you feel about dremels with the router base from stewmac? I've considered buying one just to putz around on cheapo guitars to see what I can and cannot do. I've got a 1.5 HP craftsman fixed router and table, but the thing is at least 15 years old and using the big old router on a little guitar body seems akin to using a chainsaw to conduct brain surgery. Better off using that, buying a dremel base from stewmac, or flipping the cash for a new 1/4" plunge router? Which would you use for routing cavities on new bodies?

I'm not sure if my fascination with modifying that guitar has more to do with wanting to make it better or seeing how far I can go before I screw something up so badly that it is no longer playable and I have an excuse to replace it.

I have that router base and it will not reach the depth to do cavitys and such. A Dremal and that router base are very light duty peices and should be used to do something like cavitys. They are best if used to do precise things like inlay work, cleaning a fret slot, or maybe small binding channels but, I still think its a little too wimpy for binding.

[WhoFan]

i have a router set and humbucker template from stewmac and i'd still ask Warmoth to cut the body for me... let them do it....

[MikeS]

They'll probably rout it that way if you ask them. Some of their showcase pieces are often "your choice routing/bridge/etc" for that very purpose. I'd have them do it.

[WhoFan]

i can go one worse.... my first good strat was a parts body and neck... i wanted to angle the humbucker pickup like all 80's Kramers had... so i used my hunting knife.... the body was basswood so it just flaked out... i still have that body and it still holds my shame....

[ratherdashing]

I've used my Dremel to widen pickup cavities and shave a few mm of wood off a control cavity. I would never use it for anything serious, and I template everything I do.

[MikeS]

Cool, thanks. I've used a Dremel with the cheapo plastic base to clean up an import trem rout enough to fit a wilkinson, but I always wondered how far you could go with it.

Dremel not deep or stout enough to rout cavities? Sweet, now I have an excuse to buy more power tools.

[ErikH]

I have a Dremel and the router base from Home Depot. Not sure if it's the same as the one from Stew Mac or not. It goes deep enough for pickup cavities though the depth is a few millimeters shy of the existing cut. I had to use it once to open up the bridge humbucker cavity so the pickguard would fit properly. There was just a tad too much wood on the neck side of the cavity. I wouldn't use it for a fresh cavity route but for some cleanup and minor removal, I don't see why not.

[theodie]

I have a Dremel and the router base from Home Depot. Not sure if it's the same as the one from Stew Mac or not. It goes deep enough for pickup cavities though the depth is a few millimeters shy of the existing cut. I had to use it once to open up the bridge humbucker cavity so the pickguard would fit properly. There was just a tad too much wood on the neck side of the cavity. I wouldn't use it for a fresh cavity route but for some cleanup and minor removal, I don't see why not.

Yeah, clean up and minor mods are cool but, if its a whole cavity or anything other than something small, get a router, some flush trim bits, and some templates.

[WhoFan]

Yeah, clean up and minor mods are cool but, if its a whole cavity or anything other than something small, get a router, some flush trim bits, and some templates.

speaking of which... i own the Stew Mac flush router bit set for templates.... but i also bought some extra bearings for the smaller 3/8 cutter and use them on a a few 3/8 bits i bought at Sears... besides Stew Mac i can not find a source for those small bearings... Need the small 3/8 to get the tight corners routed of a humbucker or Trem template set

Anyone have a source for those cutters or bearings besides Stew mac.... smallest template cutters i can buy locally is 1/2