routing a lp junior for a neck pickup

Strangefan

Hi all, does anyone know the approximate cost of doing the above? I'm really starting to enjoy playing again, thanks to an LP Jr, however for it to compete with my other electric which is a d'angelico when we finally start rehearsing again I could really do with a neck pickup, would the above be a right faf? 

Caffeine_Vampire

Nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooo!

Ahem. Sorry about that, sacrilegious thing.

Philly_Q

Singlecut or doublecut?

Careful you don't weaken the neck joint too much, if it's the latter.

ICBM

It depends...

Single or double-cut?
What type of pickup do you want to fit?
Where do you want the switch?
Two knobs or four?

Or try an EQ pedal. Not the same obviously, but you might be able to get closer than you expect to an approximation of it.

PhilKing

If it's a double cut, think about putting it in the middle position, or at least behind the neck joint like a later special.  It will make the guitar a lot more stable.  Also, what pickup do you want to fit?  There are thinner ones that you might be able to get away with minimal routing (gold foils are quite shallow).

Strangefan

 thanks for the replies guys 
I know I could get a les paul special but it would mean putting this up again.for trade and tbh I'm cutting down on that faf now it's too much hard work, so I thought it would be best to look at modifying this as it's not paticually desirable  it's a 2007 

@ICBM I'd be happy with another p90 or a single coil,  knobs would be the same and the switch next to the knobs thankyou  your reply is appreciated 

Strangefan

PhilKing said:

If it's a double cut, think about putting it in the middle position, or at least behind the neck joint like a later special.  It will make the guitar a lot more stable.  Also, what pickup do you want to fit?  There are thinner ones that you might be able to get away with minimal routing (gold foils are quite shallow).






Gold foil..... That would be cool! 

TeleMaster

No no no no no no no no no NO

Strangefan

TeleMaster said:

No no no no no no no no no NO

Heeheh its not exactly a desirable or old model..... Its ripe for modification.! 

ICBM

Strangefan said:

@ICBM I'd be happy with another p90 or a single coil,  knobs would be the same and the switch next to the knobs thankyou  your reply is appreciated 

A second dogear P90 would probably be the easiest - you can get away with quite a rough rout since the cover will hide it. You can get low-height ones, they're used for the neck pickup on something like an ES330.

If you can accept a switch in between the knobs - maybe a mini-toggle, although a full-size one should just fit - then that reduces the work considerably.

Strangefan

ICBM said:

Strangefan said:

@ICBM I'd be happy with another p90 or a single coil,  knobs would be the same and the switch next to the knobs thankyou  your reply is appreciated 

A second dogear P90 would probably be the easiest - you can get away with quite a rough rout since the cover will hide it. You can get low-height ones, they're used for the neck pickup on something like an ES330.

If you can accept a switch in between the knobs - maybe a mini-toggle, although a full-size one should just fit - then that reduces the work considerably.

I'd be happy with all that how much do you think it would cost? 

Philly_Q

You could even use a push-pull for switching if space for a switch is tight - but then you wouldn't have a both-pickups-together setting.

monoamine

Don't do it. If it isn't doing what you need it to do, find a different guitar! Honestly, that is sacrilegious!!

Winny_Pooh

Do a tele neck pickup, that way you can still cover the route later with a slightly bigger pick guard. Plus if you take the cover off, it can get much more stratty sounding.

Strangefan

monoamine said:

Don't do it. If it isn't doing what you need it to do, find a different guitar! Honestly, that is sacrilegious!!

Selling and trading is just not  worth it at the mo, plus as I said not exactly  rare or valuable, so no ones gonna cry over a modded junior 

Strangefan

Winny_Pooh said:

Do a tele neck pickup, that way you can still cover the route later with a slightly bigger pick guard. Plus if you take the cover off, it can get much more stratty sounding.

I do love a tele pickup n all, 

Strangefan

Philly_Q said:

You could even use a push-pull for switching if space for a switch is tight - but then you wouldn't have a both-pickups-together setting.

2 push pulls? One for switching another for both... 

ICBM

Strangefan said:

I'd be happy with all that how much do you think it would cost? 

I'd guess about £100-£150 plus parts, based on 2-3 hours work or so. It's not a huge job but there's still a reasonable amount to do when you add it up.

The trickiest part of the job is drilling a wiring hole for the pickup, but you can do it with an extra-long bit via the jack hole, which is how Gibson did the Specials.

gazrichards

My suggestion 
get a slightly modified pickguard made that still fits in the same screw holes or that any holes you make for it will be covered by the original. That’s easy £30 job
get a humbucker  or a single coils sized humbucker  or at a push a very high output single oil pickup. A p90 will be too long and make the pickguard huge to cover it. 

 Get it routed so it’s as small and neat as possible (this will still likely be larger than the original pickguard. Place the new pickup in and under the new pickguard but so it has a millimetre clearance. Remember you’ll also need channels drilled for the cables - this is the tricky bit I think. 

If it’s achieved you still have the look of the junior ish and can pretty much remove everything and return to standard without affecting the value of the guitar. 

If you slap a neck pickup in that thing you ain’t ever selling it for more than a couple of hundred quid I’m afraid 

gazrichards

For switching I think you could give one of those pots to a 3 way switch, it would need an sg flat type switch and maybe some back routing to fit. 

The volume could be a dual centric pot with volume and tone master. 

Having said all that, I wouldn’t bother. Either get used to not having the neck pickup (look at what Phil x does, there are ways) or get a new guitar. 

Fishboy7

But it looks so perfect as is