So I bought this body from Guitarbuild...

lovestrat74 · December 2022

It's a T-style with an LP control layout...

Question is, how am I supposed to get the 3 braided wires from the switch and then the pickup wires through these measly sized holes??? Am I missing something here?

Jonathangus · December 2022

Is it a four-knobber (VVTT) where it goes pickups > pots > switch > jack, or a two-knobber (VT) going pickups > switch > pots > jack?

Winny_Pooh · December 2022

It is small yeah. Assuming 2 pots, it probably goes pickups x2 wires to switch. Single shielded wire from switch output to master volume.

If really too small you could strip back the ground from the pickup wires before the access hole and in the neck pickup cavity solder them to the braid/shield on the wire carrying the hot signal to the master volume.

WezV · December 2022

Yiu can do it with 4-conductor wire, but i would redrill all the wiring holes before proceeding.

The pickup may also be an issue since it looks to be quite a tight fit

lovestrat74 · December 2022

Sorry that pic was rubbish. It is a 2 vol, 2 tone layout. The switch will require 3 braided wires and another braided for the neck pickup and a live and ground for the bridge. There is no way I am getting all those wires through holes that size. Shouldn't GB know that and drill bigger holes FFS?

LastMantra · December 2022

I don't know, but it looks nice!

TTony · December 2022

It's certainly a looker!

Jonathangus · December 2022

You could heatshrink the braided wires together to make them easier to push through the hole. If they still don't fit, some 4-conductor-plus-shield for the run from control cavity to switch as @WezV suggests. (I've got several feet here, if you need some.)

WezV · December 2022

I would still redill that, I think.

Try the pickup with it's wire going to the switch... the height of the wire in the pickup cavity is going to be a problem.

Ideally they should have routed channels in the mahogany before adding the top, but they can still be redrilled easily... no less than 10mm for braided wire, and that may still be a struggle for the last bit from bridge pickup to control cavity

WezV · December 2022

I am also worried that the pickup ring screw could go straight through that channel

lovestrat74 · December 2022

I doubled the braid up and that goes through okay but I still need 2 more braided wires on top of that.

They drilled through the neck face straight through for the neck pickup and straight through again into the bridge cavity. So I would need to do the same with a larger bit to enlarge the hole... Annoying!! Going to need a really long drill bit for that...

I agree @Wez they should have channeled the mahogany before putting the cap on.

andy_k · December 2022

It looks like a very nice body, but a very badly thought out wiring scheme??
At this point, if it were my project, I would be widening out the hole from pickup cavity to switch, and introducing some form of channel around the pickup cavity, to ensure pickup will have a clean fit. Then I would be allowing that channel to intersect the hole for the wiring into the switch cavity, which will get complicated, and lastly, I would be checking any pickup surround screw did not go into any of these channels / holes.
Clearly, they didn't use a Deluxe / tele custom type of wiring route, or you would have a whopping great pickguard to contend with, neither did they use the usual LP style routed channel into the back before the top got glued on.
Really nice top on that, so a carefully thought out fix would be a good save, and some form of 4 conducter wire, plus ground and a bit of extra routing will be the neatest solution, look forward to seeing the progress.

WezV · December 2022

I have a long 10mm auger bit that will do from jack socket to switch on an LP. It's how the old solid mahogany customs were done

Drilling from neck pocket to bridge pickup is an acceptable method. Probably just needed to be bigger and lower in the cavity.

lovestrat74 · December 2022

Jonathangus said:

You could heatshrink the braided wires together to make them easier to push through the hole. If they still don't fit, some 4-conductor-plus-shield for the run from control cavity to switch as @WezV suggests. (I've got several feet here, if you need some.)

That does sound like the best option @Jonathangus I'll give it some thought. That usually means a few months of procrastination for me

lovestrat74 · December 2022

WezV said:

I have a long 10mm auger bit that will do from jack socket to switch on an LP. It's how the old solid mahogany customs were done

Drilling from neck pocket to bridge pickup is an acceptable method. Probably just needed to be bigger and lower in the cavity.

I should know by now these builds are rarely straight forward

davros · December 2022

I'd definitely drill them out, probably to 12mm. You can get cheap long bits on ebay/amazon. They won't be up to heavy use but go slow and pull the swarf out every couple of centimetres and you should be ok. That is a lovely looking body though, looking forward to see it with some finish.

Funkfingers · December 2022

Another vote for the pots to selector switch run being made using 4-con + shield cable.

I recently performed this wiring task on my project Höhner L60 LP Special lookalike. I copied the idea directly from my Gibson LP Junior Special.

Danielsguitars · December 2022

10mm is big enough for a wiring channel, original specials are about that, I go through the jack hole normally right to the switch.

normula1 · December 2022

Surely the humbucker will foul all the cables going to the switch even if you use 4 conductor cable

andy_k · December 2022

normula1 said:

Surely the humbucker will foul all the cables going to the switch even if you use 4 conductor cable

My suggestion would be to to rout some wood away inside the pickup cavity to allow the wires to pass under / around the pickup.
It looks like there is to be no pickup ring, so the rout currently looks very tight / neat, wood will need to be removed under the pickup to make some space.

BillDL · December 2022

What depths are the shallowest and deepest parts of the neck pickup rout?

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So I bought this body from Guitarbuild...

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