Cutting a strat pickguard for...

[Slobrain]

Hey folks,
Hope everyone is doing well and had a good holiday.

I wanted to ask about cutting a humbucker mounting hole in a a strat pickguard.

I have a strat pickguard that has the three single coil cuts but want to drop a humbucker in the bridge position and need to cut the single coil hole into a humbucker hole.

I done this years ago but it never really looked all that good so I wanted to see if any one has really good suggestions for doing a pro job to get the Humbucker hole cut in and not have to use a pickup ring over that hole? I really like this pickgaurd and don't want to have to go the way of a new pickgaurd.

Thanks

SLO

[daz]

I have done this many times. I have it done several ways. I've ended up with a single pickup screw hole which i then plugged with a plug made of the same material glued to the end of a dremel madrel and lathed round. I've also worked it out so that the screw hole on one side side matched where the screw for the humbucker would be, then on the other side I did a 2 screw setup like they do so you can tilt the pick up to be nice and parallel to the strings. I'd make a little plastic rectangle out of a piece of pickguard material and screw that to the screw hole on one side of the pickup and drill holes on it's outer sides for the 2 height adjustment screws. The screws would tap themselves in the plastic.

Thing is, i cant recall if i did the double screws on the top or bottom side. If top like most guitars have, i must have had the pup very close to the bridge, tho i cant remember. In any case, the best way to go is get a nice new one or better yet if you don't mind spending the time, make your own. Put your old guard on top of the blank material and put a coule holes where 2 of the pickguard screws are and screw them together. then you can trace it out perfectly and use a dremel to do the work, assuming of course you aren't a klutz at that kind of thing.

[Slobrain]

Hey Daz,
Thanks for that outline of your work you did, pretty cool too. What did you use to cut the large rectangle in the pickguard for the humbucker? did you use a old pickguard witha humbucker cut to trace from or did you use that as a guide when cutting?

Thanks

SLO

[daz]

I have done it that way, but i have also done it by measuring a humbucker then tracing a rectangle that size. Then when i cut it out i did NOT cut the corners as per the tracing. I used a dremel small size drum sander or other such round tip to make the corners rounded.

[blaise]

seems to me the easiest way, would be find a drill bit diameter that matches existing corners, drill out your two new corners, then cut to them.
using cutout material to make plugs for any unused screw holes.
as suggested by daz.
gluing to the mandrel on a dremel is a great idea.
because you can turn to size and match the bevel of the screw hole.

[David Schwab]

If you use a router, then you only need a rectangle for the template, and the diameter of the router bit will give you nice round corners.

I just make a rectangular cutout in plywood or MDF using a table saw and use a router with a pattern bit. Just attach the template with double stick tape (the thin kind, not the foam kind).

[Slobrain]

Thanks David
I do have a router and I even have a small bit with the roller bearings for doing the recessed floyed so that should work.

Cheers