IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Filling A Pickup Hole
2. Wiring: A Beginner's Tip
3. Become A PYOG Affiliate
4. SPECIAL OFFERS FROM PYOG

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1. Filling A Pickup Hole

Hey John - I have a body that's cut for two humbuckers, but I wanna paint a hot rod guitar and just use the bridge humbucker. How do I fill the front pickup hole? And, what do I use to do this?

I get this question A LOT.

If you have one of my books, you know that I talk about Bondo for filling small holes and dents. But when you're talking about filling a large hole such as a pickup hole (front humbucking pickup hole or front single coil), you don't want to use something like Bondo - it's not made for jobs of this nature; it's meant for fixing minor blemishes. What you need to use is something that was designed for this sort of purpose.

Over the years, I've experimented with several products - to try and accomplish filling a hole and making it look undetecteable once it was filled. After trying several products, I did arrive at one that I found to do an excellent job - better than everything else. Before I tell you what it is, let me first explain the problem with filling a pickup hole.

As most of you know, wood expands and contracts due to temperature and humidity. If any of you have a door that gets somewhat stuck in the doorframe during the summer months, that's why - the wood has expanded, making the door a much tighter fit.

So, when filling a pickup hole, the problem is that, no matter what you fill it with, and no matter how great a job you do, eventually, the line around the pickup will become noticeable as the wood expands and contracts.

Q: So, how do you fill the hole and make it appear undetecteable?

A: Marine Epoxy.

Marine epoxy is used to SEAL the wood on boats. Once sealed, it can then be painted over, so not only is it sealing the wood, it's not allowing ANY moisture to get through.

Epoxies consist of two components that react with each other, forming a very hard, inert material. Part A consists of an epoxy resin and Part B is the epoxy curing agent, sometimes called the hardener.

Let me explain how I used the marine epoxy to fill a pickup hole:

I would mix up a very large portion of the resin into a mixing container, add the appropriate amount of hardener, then stir it until it changed color which would signal that it was properly blended. (The brand I used would change color. The one you use may not.)

When I was ready, I would lay my body down on a flat surface and use some styrofoam padding underneath. I'd poor enough of the epoxy to fill, not only the pickup hole, I'd let it overflow onto the body, and coat the entire top of the guitar with it. For spreading the epoxy over the surface of the body, I'd use one of those inexpensive foam/sponge brushes like in FIG 2.

Once I had the body coated and fairly even, I'd let that dry for a 48-72 hours.

The coat you apply to the top of the body doesn't have to be too thick, but you want it thick enough so that when you sand the body flat, you don't end up sanding back down to wood. That would defeat the purpose.

Because you're applying the epoxy in one application, it's going to cure/harden all at the same time, so the chances now of the top expanding and contracting are lessened.

I did several guitars like this, and honestly, it was the closest product I used to getting the pickup hole to "disappear" forever.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, "Can't I just fill the pickup hole with a piece of wood instead?" You could, but each piece of wood will expand and contract differently, so no matter how good a job you do on cutting a custom piece of wood to fill the hole, the hole will eventually "appear" again... much to your dissatisfaction.

However, you could use a combination of a piece of wood and the marine epoxy. I also did that a few times as well. You'll get the same results, but you'll obviously use less epoxy.

Three last things I want to mention:

1. Marine epoxy is pricey.

2. After having done these kinds of mods for several years, I eventually learned that it's just best to buy a body that's cut the way you want it rather than having to do all of this filling and coating. But, I did learn a heck of a lot of stuff doing it this way. So, if you're the curious type, have fun!

3. Please don't email me to ask where you can buy marine epoxy. Go to Google and do a search, or go to your local hardware store.

Finally, if you want to give marine epoxy a try, make sure to read the instructions very carefully, make sure you understand how to use the product, and make sure you have all of the accompanying products on hand before you begin.

Now, go to it!

(NOTE: Take extra precaution when using solvent-based products. Wear protective masks and eye wear at all times.)

 

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2. Wiring: A Beginner's Tip

1. When wiring ground wires to a pot, I take every ground wire (sometimes 3 or 4 wires) and wind/twist them around eachother. Then, I heat that twisted wire up and apply solder to it so it's covered in a light coat of solder. (I use this same technique whenever more than one wire has to be soldered in the same location. I prefer to twist the wires together first rather than solder each one separately. It makes for a cleaner, more efficient job.)

2. Then, I heat up the pot. When it's hot enough, I apply solder to the pot - just a light coat.

3. When I'm ready to solder the ground wires to the pot, I place the twisted wire onto the pot where I've applied the solder. I hold the wire onto the pot (using needle-nose pliers) and place the soldering iron onto the wire. When it's hot enough, it'll loosen the solder that's already on there, and then loosen the solder that's on the pot. When they both melt and bind together, I remove the soldering iron and continue to hold the wire in place until they've hardened. If it needs more solder than what I've applied, I hold a roll of solder with my left hand while still holding down the wire with the needle-nose pliers in that same hand (Yes, you'll have to multi-task a bit).

4. I place the solder underneath the tip of the soldering iron (which is resting on top of the wire) until it melts what I consider to be enough solder to hold the connection. I remove the soldering iron and continue to hold the wire in place until it's hardened. (By the way - for those of you who are left-handed, SWITCH HANDS!)

There are so many more things I will discuss in future newsletters with regards to wiring, but this is just one tip to keep in mind when you're ready to start learning how to wire your own guitars.

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3. Become A PYOG Affiliate

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