Help! Hole cover needed Custom pre amp (faders in custom wood panel wanted)

[jarfly]

I've seen a custom guitar that had the eq sliders and controls mounted right to the guitar side, or on a wood panel to match the guitar side. I can't for the life of me find anything except plastic assemblies. I can't imagine those would fit the exact curve I need to go around so I'm in desperate need to find the product that made this possible!

Some of you may know that my Dad and I had two builds going on (our first attempts). He had some pretty deep burns in the quilted maple sides and before he knew it it was paper thin in an area. Infact, a hole has actually been poked through it now. It was a horrible day and many possibilities have been thought of. I've got my batteries charging for the camera now but here's the situation:

The hole is in the lower bout so turning it into a soundhole isn't a possibility
we also tried to fit a patch on the inside and use some go bar type sticks to put pressure and clamp it but it just wasn't going tight so we came in from the shop tonight to get some opinions. I'm thinking a built in preamp is probably the best option so we can cut out the problem area where the side is paper thin.

thanks!!!
Alex Thompson

[BuckMahoney]

I have a guitar repair book that shows how to repair a hole like this,I've never tried it but heres a brief description of the process:
You need to find the same type of wood and try to match the grain(impossible with the quilted side)as close as possible.Cut an oval shape around the original hole to make the repair flow evenly and match the sides(the instructions were for a rosewood b/s guitar)and cut the piece of matching wood to the same shape and bend it to shape with a bending iron.Make some kerfing like you did to glue the top and back onto the sides,this will be what holds the patch in place,you'll need to match the patch as close as possible to the cutout hole,try using a razor blade and scrape the patch until it just sits on the kerfing and very snug against the sides of the hole you cut into the side.Glue it on,sand it flush and hope for the best.
You want to reinforce the side where it was sanded too much with a veneer of the same type of wood.From what I've read the sides don't have as much effect on the overall sound as much as the back and top,although if you leave a big enough hole in the side it will make a difference.
Hope this helps.
The book these instructions were from was: Guitar Repair a manual for guitars and fretted instruments by Irving Sloan.
You can glue the patch and the vaneer reinforcing plate on by using the go bar rods on the inside of the box,use them as clamps pushed up against the waist bout as leverage,tape the ends so they don't mar the wood.
Hopefully someone with much more experience will chime in and correct me,in theory it should work.
Good luck.

[martinedwards]

aw man that sucks.

been there, done that, (on a mando)

So, what to do.......

here's what Frank Ford did........

http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/...e/pothole.html

different, but a view at least!

the hole is the centre of a thin area.

no doubting it you CAN'T just stick a treamp there and expect it to be fine without building up some support underneath.

ONE way of clamping the support patch is to drill micro holes through the side and patch, then thread an old E string through the hole from the inside. then use a tuner as a tightener on the outside.fiddly but it works really aell, and you can then cover the tiny holes (like 0.5mm) with your newly made preamp cover.

you also wont get a perfect match for the side, so it's going to have to be a "feature"

the sliders you talk of are out there with plastic plates.

either accept the plastic or make a wooden plate to replace the plastic one. undo the screws lift off theplastic use it as a template to cut the slots in whatever piece of wood you decide to use. You can bend the new wooden plate to match the curve of the bout, but I'd laminate a couple of layers for added strength.

good luck!!

[jarfly]

Thank you for the responses!
We had actually tried with a 1/32 bit and some string to pull the support into location before the go bas were put in. I believe it was hitting the X brace. Or perhaps it wasn't curved well enough to fit as flush as it should. I believe just one hole and string isn't enough and it would probably work better with one or more pin holes and strings to pull it up with.

Thanks for the advise about the plastic plates. I wasn't aware they came apart to be able to use a wooden one. Much appreciated info!