Who to fill a pup route and touch up paint job?

[ashbass]

I want to make my donnie knock-off guitar a two humbucker instead of a HSS. So I need the middle pup route filled and the neck routed for the hb. It is very important the fill in the middle not rise later on down the road.



Then of course the paint job will need to be fixed where the middle pup was. Also to be touched up, there are some places on the horns where the paint job has been covered up by black marker after some scrapes and dings.

Who's good?

[TommyGuitar]

That's a hell of a job my friend.

[Ibateur]

My unsolicited advice would be to get a HH body instead of filling the single-coil route, because chances are that the fill will rise or drop over time. And as Tommy mentions, that's a hell of a job anyway.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by Ibateur

My unsolicited advice would be to get a HH body instead of filling the single-coil route, because chances are that the fill will rise or drop over time. And as Tommy mentions, that's a hell of a job anyway.

+1 - I am the victim of such a thing, the fill notices more and more under the paint.
if you do fill the route, I would use a 'dead' material that is not subject to the expansion and contraction that timber is - nylon 6 or delrin perhaps.

[ashbass]

I already have two HH versions of this guitar and another HSS. It's this one with this paint job that I want HH. I think even with a dead fill material, the rest of the guitar can change as well so there could still be a noticeable line. That's why I'm asking for advice on professionals who can do it best.

[stratoskier]

There is some helpful info at Project Guitar about how to fill a trem route so that there is no joint line or lifting later. If I recall, they used a Bondo-like epoxy-based filler. I've used Bondo to fill a pickup route with no later problems, but there are other products specifically made for wood working that are probably better.

Still, it is a bit scary, isn't it? I would think that the biggest challenge would be that the top would have to be sanded smooth outward for some distance (maybe up to an inch) away from the patch zone in order to get it to blend perfectly. That means that the disturbed area will be larger than just the single coil route. Also, you may find that you need 2 different people to get this just right -- one to do the patch and another to do the painting.

Good luck with it!
Bert

[horstausmforst]

I think lgmguitars.com once did a very similar job - converting a guitar's neck humbucker route to a slanted single coil route and then extending the existing finish over the filled areas...
but I can't find that particular guitar in his gallery anymore, and also don't know if he still does work like this or is now fully concentrating on pure custom guitars. But he'd still be one of the first persons I'd ask for work.

[Lord Lemons]

Make it a 3 humbucker!

[ohioplayer]

I did that using bondo. I will find a photo of the guitar in question. had no lines at all and was easy to drill the hole through for the hum wire.

[jemplayer55]

How about making it a H-S-H layout..... and building another that's H-H??

[courtney2018]

Originally Posted by ashbass

I already have two HH versions of this guitar and another HSS. It's this one with this paint job that I want HH. I think even with a dead fill material, the rest of the guitar can change as well so there could still be a noticeable line. That's why I'm asking for advice on professionals who can do it best.

This may seem like a screwy solution to some, but a good furniture maker could do this. Do you have anyone that makes custom furniture near you?

If you use the same wood to stick in the hole and growth rate will be the same and you shouldn't ever see a line in the paint where it's filled in. If you use a different wood then you could possibly see a line depending on the difference in wood density.

I think the best way to go about it would be to square off that hole and make a plug of the same wood as the body and stick it in there.

[Salamander In The Sun]

Originally Posted by whatisshredding

+1 - I am the victim of such a thing, the fill notices more and more under the paint.
if you do fill the route, I would use a 'dead' material that is not subject to the expansion and contraction that timber is - nylon 6 or delrin perhaps.

Delrin is prone to swelling. I don't know if that would make it rise up, but it does expand and contract.

[PatrickSimsCustomShopUSA]

No matter what you do its going to show in time.

[frankfalbo]

There's your answer right there. I mean, if you look at an older guitar you can see the split line where the body joins together. That's not only the same wood type, but sometimes it's a flip or bookmatched piece. The fill will show eventually. The best way to hide it is with an ultra high quality sealer/basecoat like the one Patrick uses. But that's more suited for a total refin.

My absolute answer here would be to first fill the single coil route with a well cut piece of Basswood. Next, route your humbucker. Now, route a shallow "swimming pool" route, about 1/2" deep from the outside edge of the neck humbucker route to the bridge humbucker route. No you have new wood going across the entire mid section. Over time, your tell lines will only show between the humbucker mounting rings, going in the direction of the strings. They will also kind of look like body joint lines. Whenever possible you only want to fill in the direction of the grain, and have your fills terminate somewhere hidden. That's my opinion.

Also I thought your title said "How to fill" not "Who to fill" thus my bloated rant. My appologies, but maybe it helps.

[ashbass]

thanks for all the replies. I figure I'll just drop the middle pup down as low as it'll go and put a solid black cover over it ala emg. The humbucker routing is getting down now.