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router

Mini to full size humbucker conversion :: 2012 Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute [9.0 lbs]

August 29, 2016

A local player wasn't digging these mini humbuckers and wanted to install full size humbuckers in his Gibson 1970's Tribute Les Paul Studio. This involves enlarging both pickup cavities with a router. I used a straightedge to guide my cuts.

Next is installing corner blocks in order to mount the pickup rings.

The player supplied a Gibson PAF for the neck and a WCR Icebreaker for the bridge. New cream pickup rings were fit to the top before the pickups could be mounted. Making the solder connections at the pots finished off the mini to full size humbucker conversion.

I used this video from the Youtube channel of Paoson WoodWorking for inspiration on this project.

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New custom Alembic bridge :: 1999 DeArmond Starfire Bass [9.7 lbs]

August 5, 2016

A 1999 DeArmond Starfire bass in for a custom Alembic-style bridge and tailpiece installation.

The tricky part of this installation requires routing the tone block of the bridge into the arched top. The photo above shows my custom saddle slotting jig modified with guides sized to rout the mating pocket in the top.

You can see the original DeArmond factory routs extending outside of the new bridge. The player and I considered various cosmetic options to hide them. In the end we decided to just let them show as they are not that much of an eyesore and fit the vibe of this player-grade workhorse.

This bass is decked out with a crazy amount of wiring ala Phil Lesh. The pickups are Fred Hammon "Dark Star" pickups that are based on the Hagstrom BiSonics. These pickups are recreations of the originals that were popularized by Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) and Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) in the late '60s. Note if you are interested in these pickups, check out Curtis Novak as Fred has stopped producing them.

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Bridge pickup rout :: Chubbuck Mousa 003

May 7, 2016

Here is the Mousa 003 hollowbody build on the bench last month getting it's bridge pickup cavity routed out for a humbucker. Check out the video below from the vlog.

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Neck pickup cavity :: Chubbuck Mousa 003

May 7, 2016

Here is the Mousa 003 hollowbody build on the bench last month getting it's neck pickup cavity routed out for a humbucker. Check out the video below from the vlog.

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Hollowbody neck pocket :: Chubbuck Mousa 003

March 19, 2016

Easily the most nerve racking part of my hollowbody builds is routing the neck pocket. This is where hours of hard work spent getting to this point can be thrown away in a second should something go wrong. Since I build by hand without a pin router (or CNC), above is my funky jig for laying out the pocket. It is pretty much just two supports to hold / align the neck and a flat platform in which to support a plunge router over the body.