DeArmond Jet Star - mod time

[neepheid]

10 hours ago, Mediocre Polymath said:

I do simple routs like this with forstner bits and chisels – I could easily adapt one of my existing humbucker cavity drill templates if you want to go down that route. Just give me the dimensions.

 

That's very kind of you to offer, thank you. I think I'll give it another go myself and see if I've learned anything from my first go. If it's another mess then I'll be in touch.

[Hellzero]

You can do it perfectly with your router and simple guides locking the motion on the left and right to the desired length of the said router, in just six passes.

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

You can do it perfectly with your router and simple guides locking the motion on the left and right to the desired length of the said router, in just six passes.

 

Reading your message, I just realised my mistake - I was operating the wrong way round.  I should have had my rails/fences/guides on the opposite side, so if I wandered, I wandered into the material I was removing anyway, not the stuff I wanted to keep.

 

FFS!  What a moron.  I really am living up to my username.

[neepheid]

I think I've redeemed myself.  Start again then...

 

 

Made a better jig which actually works the correct way round...

 

 

First cuts...

 

 

And then changed the jig to do the short sides, et voilà

 

 

That's more like it!  Crappy first attempt above for comparison.  Then I guess when you write on it with a Sharpie, it becomes official...

 

 

The only thing I have to consider is that my top bearing router bit is a bit fat for the corners of the pickup (it's OK for the mounting lugs), had to cut them out after the fact on the template, so going to have to figure out how to solve that.  But progress is progress, and I'm much happier with this second attempt at the template.

 

One final piece of paranoia - I checked that the neck fits when the pickup is mounted - it has a 21st fret overhang...

 

 

Phew!  That is approximately where the neck pickup of a Peavey T-40 goes with regard to scale length.