Covers and Switches

[The Dude]

I'm in the process of rebuilding an old beater guitar of my own and am looking for a few things.

1) A switch to be used for coil tapping. It only needs to be a SPST two position, but a SPDT three position would work also as long as the middle position was open instead of closed like pickup selector switches are. It can be rotary or toggle type. The hitch is that I would like it to fit where the tone control was without additional routing. This guitar has no pickguard, so the threaded part of the switch has to get through a hefty chunk of wood. Also, the hole size is for a pot, so a mini toggle would require some washer stacking and routing to get it through.

2) Pickup covers. The guitar has one cream colored Dimarzio Super Distortion and a black Duncan PAF type "thingy". When this thing was a beater, I didn't care about them matching. Now it's all repainted and I'd like to have it look decent. My preference is something like the Gretsch style covers (pic below) or something with 12 holes.

[big_teee]

What kind of guitar are you talking about?
A strat type, LP type, Pickguard, or rear body cavity?
For Pickguards I like small mini DPDT switches.
Push pulls, are harder for me to use, and the knobs can pull off.
One DPDT switch will split 2 humbuckers.
Either with ground or with output.
Or one pickup split with ground, and one with output.
The covers you are looking for are hard to find, and Gretsch type pickups are in different sizes.
T

[The Dude]

First off, thanks for chimin' in......much appreciated.

It's a strat type Ibanez from my 80's road days. As I said in the initial post, it has no pickguard. If that were the case a mini toggle would be an easy solution. It has a rear cavity which presents a couple of problems. One, the existing hole is too big for a mini toggle. Two, the cavity would need to be routed so that the switch would stick through the top and be able to hold a nut.

I've removed the tone control (I do on all of my axes), so I'd rather not have a push/pull pot. Sure I could and just not hook up the pot, but I'd rather not have unused parts on the thing. I'd like to just find a switch that will fit that hole be it a toggle, rotary, or whatever. It's only the neck pickup I want to be able to tap, so a SPST would be all I need.

As far as covers, My primary goal is to get the pickups to match. I've looked into different ways to color the cream bobbins black, but haven't found a great solution. Paint wears off and the cheesy "bobbin toppers" (stickers) don't last either. I'd go for 12 hole covers if I could find them, but even that seem difficult at a reasonable price. I can buy new pickups for the cost of some of the more expensive covers, which may be the way to go.

[big_teee]

Sorry I missed the no pickguard.
I just scan read it, my bad! lol
T

[g1]

I must be missing something. I would think you would just mount a mini SPST on a round plate that is large enough to cover the hole where the pot was. It could be metal or pickguard material. Is this not feasible?

[big_teee]

For the switch, you can use a Carling amp type switch.
You may have to enlarge the hole a bit with a tapered reamer.
you could probably sand and blue the handle, if you want it dark.
Mojo Switches » Fender Style Carling 110-63 Toggle SPST Power Stand Switch

[The Dude]

I must be missing something. I would think you would just mount a mini SPST on a round plate that is large enough to cover the hole where the pot was. It could be metal or pickguard material. Is this not feasible?

The problem is g, that I'd have to route the cavity out to get the switch to stick through because of the thickness of the body. I was hoping to avoid that.

Anyway, I found a switch that should do the trick on eBay. It's on the way and I'll let you know how it works.

[big_teee]

When You get it all finished, can you post some pictures?
We would like to see it after it is all refinished.
T

[The Dude]

When You get it all finished, can you post some pictures?
We would like to see it after it is all refinished.
T

I'll give it a shot, T. In recent months, however, I have not been able to post pics on the site for some reason.