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  #1  
Old 04-04-2017, 12:11 PM
kingofamerica kingofamerica is offline
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Default Arch top Wiring...Ugghh!

I've had this Gretsch Archtop (g100ce, nothing fancy) for about 3 years. I really like the way is sounds live. I can get a nice variety of tones out of it going through my pedal board. But, I digress.

The one thing that has always bugged me about this guitar is the positioning of the volume and tone knobs. They are mounted on a flimsy plastic pick guard, which is raised up above the lower f-hole, with the wiring going from the floating pup, up through the f-hole. This poses several problems. First, the plastic pick guard gets static built up in dry weather, which creates an audible "crackling" through the amp. Not a huge issue. I usually just wipe it down with a dryer sheet throughout the gig. Second, I tend to strum pretty hard on up-tempo rockers and the proximity of the knobs to the strings causes me to move the position of the volume knob inadvertently. Finally, I recently noticed that the pick guard has become warped down at the tail. Because the tone knob is mounted near the tail piece, the pot taps against the guitar's body anytime I even brush the pick guard with my hand.

What I would like to do is mount my controls to the body, similar to the Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin. My question is, how the heck do I get in there? The f-holes don't leave much room to work with. Is this something that a hobbyist can do with a little internet guidance, or is this a job that I should leave to the professionals? Is this something that an accomplished luthier could do with relative ease? Advice please.
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Old 04-04-2017, 12:22 PM
Bax Burgess Bax Burgess is offline
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If Stew Mac were to offer an archtop specific tool kit with customized forceps and exotic probes, I'd sure consider it.
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Old 04-04-2017, 12:45 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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you might consider keeping things on the pickguard and going the "thumbwheel" route. At least solves the issue of hitting the knobs when you strum.
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Old 04-04-2017, 02:59 PM
kingofamerica kingofamerica is offline
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Hmm. These replies are a little discouraging. Would this be a big undertaking for a pro luthier?
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Old 04-04-2017, 05:33 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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When working on hollow bodies, you generally do the wiring work externally first, you feed it in place vee a pickup cavity.

To get the items into the locations they need to be, you can tie string, I use fishing line around each control and feed that down and up through your location mount, and then pull them into place.

Steve
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:32 PM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
When working on hollow bodies, you generally do the wiring work externally first, you feed it in place vee a pickup cavity.

To get the items into the locations they need to be, you can tie string, I use fishing line around each control and feed that down and up through your location mount, and then pull them into place.

Steve
Yup, and surgical tubing works well too, you can slip the tubing over the pot shaft and pull it through. If you use string then tie a square knot. A tool I made about 25 years ago that is worth it's weight in gold is a 1/4in jack epoxied to a long stiff wire, a coat hanger would probably work good, so that you can insert it into the jack, unscrew the jack, and then bend the stiff wire as needed to feed it through the F-hole or if you are lucky the pickup cavity. Then once again return it to it's position when you are done wiring.
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Old 04-07-2017, 12:09 AM
Howard Klepper Howard Klepper is offline
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Yes, it is not hard for someone experienced in wiring hollow and thin body electrics.
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Old 04-07-2017, 06:04 AM
B. Howard B. Howard is offline
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I use a variety of surgical tools....forceps and clamps to get into these things. Just takes patience. This is why I played Operation so much as a kid....LOL
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