Advice Needed - Enlarging Oval Pickup Cavities...

[TriumphRider99]

Hi -

I have an Ibanez SRF706. It came with Bartolini MK-1 pickups. I intend to replace these with Lace Alumitone soapbars, which I have received. They are a bit larger than the Barts.

What is the best way to have the cavities enlarged? I sent inquiries to a few local people who claim to be luthiers. The first guy to get back to me freaked me out. He doesn't have a router (too expensive, he says) and offered to do it by hand using hammer and chisel. I don't see how in the world that would look good. I think he thought the pickups had surrounds, which they do not. There is no room for a surround for the neck pickup as it butts up against the end of the neck. I suppose it would be possible to create a custom surround that would cover the pickup on three sides.

He thought two hours at $50 an hour would get it done. The thought scares me to death.

Would a quality cabinet maker be able to do this type of thing? I'm in Eugene Oregon and my choices seem to be pretty limited.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I would even be willing to send the bass (it is neck through) somewhere to have it done.

Bud

 

[Square]

Don't do the hammer and chisel thing. It's possible to do it and make it right, but I wouldn't trust anyone to do it unless they had stellar examples of hand tool only projects

A router is not that expensive and a simple pattern bit is not either. That's all you need except of course the jig/pattern... and attention to detail... and patience. Any competent woodworker should be able to do it. Does your high school have a wood shop? Maybe hit up the wood shop teacher.

 

[Alex Xander]

Hi -

I have an Ibanez SRF706. It came with Bartolini MK-1 pickups. I intend to replace these with Lace Alumitone soapbars, which I have received. They are a bit larger than the Barts.

What is the best way to have the cavities enlarged? I sent inquiries to a few local people who claim to be luthiers. The first guy to get back to me freaked me out. He doesn't have a router (too expensive, he says) and offered to do it by hand using hammer and chisel. I don't see how in the world that would look good. I think he thought the pickups had surrounds, which they do not. There is no room for a surround for the neck pickup as it butts up against the end of the neck. I suppose it would be possible to create a custom surround that would cover the pickup on three sides.

He thought two hours at $50 an hour would get it done. The thought scares me to death.

Would a quality cabinet maker be able to do this type of thing? I'm in Eugene Oregon and my choices seem to be pretty limited.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I would even be willing to send the bass (it is neck through) somewhere to have it done.

Bud

If the luthier has examples of his work, I would not be uncomfortable with a hammer and chisel approach. Properly skilled people can do things with hand tools that some with power tools cannot.

 

[TriumphRider99]

Don't do the hammer and chisel thing. It's possible to do it and make it right, but I wouldn't trust anyone to do it unless they had stellar examples of hand tool only projects

A router is not that expensive and a simple pattern bit is not either. That's all you need except of course the jig/pattern... and attention to detail... and patience. Any competent woodworker should be able to do it. Does your high school have a wood shop? Maybe hit up the wood shop teacher.

Thank you! I actually own two routers, a regular one and a small trim router. I haven't gotten brave enough to use the large one, and the one time I used the trim router does not bring back fond memories.

What you said about avoiding the hand method was my gut reaction upon first reading his email. I just couldn't imagine anyone being that good with no prior experience and no examples. Way too scary.

I really like your idea about contacting the wood shop teacher. There's a h.s. not far from my house. Excellent suggestion, thanks for that!

I appreciate receiving supportive comments from people who actually know what they are doing.

Bud

 

[TriumphRider99]

If the luthier has examples of his work, I would not be uncomfortable with a hammer and chisel approach. Properly skilled people can do things with hand tools that some with power tools cannot.

I appreciate your reply, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. He said that he had never done anything like this before. Strike 1. Strike 2, no examples of anything. Then, he followed up and said that the pickup surrounds would cover up the enlarged area. Strike 3, the bass does not have surrounds. So, it's pretty clear this guy does not do stellar work. He's just too cheap to pay for relatively inexpensive power tools.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Thank you! I actually own two routers, a regular one and a small trim router. I haven't gotten brave enough to use the large one, and the one time I used the trim router does not bring back fond memories.

What you said about avoiding the hand method was my gut reaction upon first reading his email. I just couldn't imagine anyone being that good with no prior experience and no examples. Way too scary.

I really like your idea about contacting the wood shop teacher. There's a h.s. not far from my house. Excellent suggestion, thanks for that!

I appreciate receiving supportive comments from people who actually know what they are doing.

Bud

Come on, Bud. If you are going to continue messing around with basses, and you already have a router, then you should learn how to use it. Enlarging a pickup opening is a simple basic operation with a router. It's not difficult or risky, if you get some instruction on how to do it. Rout a couple of cavities in some scrap wood first, for experience.

We have many, many threads here on Luthier's Corner that go over the use of a router to cut pickup openings. Including different ways to make the routing template. We'll talk you through it.