charic Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 What equipment is needed to learn how to route? To begin with I would want to route for pickups (I have a real thing for MM style pups atm, actually considering modding my beloved fender P again... MM pickup just behing the scratchplate would look so goooood!). Then with enough experience I would like to go onto modding inlay on necks. Tbh the fact that fender have put plastic dots on such a nice bass REALLY annoys me. Kinda seeing these in their place (i think) [url="http://www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/shop/Inlay-Dots/New-Zealand-Paua-Dots/p-118-443/"]http://www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/shop/In...Dots/p-118-443/[/url] what you think to those on an all black p bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Couple of separate questions really. If your going to be routing for pickups, you'll need a fairly high powered plunge router and either the time/inclination to accurately make your own templates or a set of templates from say StewMac in the states (although the good ones aint that cheap, hence why I make my own). Routing for inlays etc requires a smaller router, as the big ones are just too akward for small / shallow work such as inlays. Again, to get repeatable accurate results you'll be best of working with a template of some description, freehanding especially straight lines around block inlays etc almost always results in some waveyness no matter how steady your hand is. Also, you will probably need a reverse template to actually cut the inlay material to finished size. When selecting your router, pay attention to the diameter of the templating collar. The bigger the collar, the bigger the hole in the template will need to be. The bigger the collar also means the bigger the corner radius of the routed hole will be. Generally, american made templates assume you will use a 3/8" diameter collar, but the bigger black&decker & makita routers tend to come with a 1/2" collar which means they won't work with the templates. Finally, router bits are not cheap, but like most things you get what you pay for. The more money you pay, the better, sharper and hence cleaner cutting bit you will get. But expect to burn a straight cutter out by the time you've routed one complete bass body (i.e. router cut the body from the blank, routed for the control cavity, pickups, neck pocket, bridge etc). Also, cutters come in a range of shank sizes so make sure you buy cutters that fit your router. Other than that, practice (a lot) before you attack your favourite bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Interesting advice, thanks... I'm thinking of fitting a MM-style pickup to my latest project bass, so this info could come in very handy! I'd best get practising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 The templates your talking about. How do you mean about making your own? Also whats the best size router to get then? For neck inlay work would a dremel multi-tool do the job or would this be bass suicide? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 [quote name='charic' post='52818' date='Aug 30 2007, 03:05 PM']The templates your talking about. How do you mean about making your own? Also whats the best size router to get then? For neck inlay work would a dremel multi-tool do the job or would this be bass suicide? lol[/quote] I make my own templates for pickups neck pockets etc from 6mm MDF. I simply draw (accurately) around the pickup directly onto the MDF then cut out the rough shape with a jigsaw before spending many happy hours filing the thing to finished size until the pickup fits neatly in the template. For Fender style pickups I drill the template for the mounting screw blisters first and then jigsaw the outline. Once your pickup fits neatly inside of your template..... Take your router, set it up with a straight cutting bit and the template collar and measure the distance between the edge of the cutter and the outer edge of the template collar. This is your offset dimension. Then, go back to the template and mark a line from the edge of the newly finished template hole that is the offset dimension away from the edge (best done using callipers). Now file your template to this new line! When you have done this, you can fix the template to the guitar, and route out the pickup by letting the router collar follow the inside egde of the template. Your local B&Q will have a range of routers available. For pickup cavities / neck pockets etc. I would recommend something greater than 1300w. As to using a dremel to do neck inlays, thats a definate yes, providing you have the router style stand for your dremel. Remember, the edges of your route for an inlay need to be at 90 degrees to the fingerboard otherwise your inlay will either fit but be loose with an unsightly gap around the edge or it won't fit at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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