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giantslayer · January 21st, 2008, 08:05 PM

I've been trying to wire that thing up. It is horrible. There's no space to do anything. With two pickups with their own volume and tones, I've got a grand total of nine connections to solder to ground. I'm trying to use star grounding to reduce the chance of damaging the pots by soldering fifteen billion things to them. That leaves me with 9 things to solder to this stupid ring terminal.

I'm praying that nothing goes wrong with this guitar because my control cavity is a MESS. It is horrible. I put in two push/pull pots to switch between series and parallel for the two pickups. The wires from the pickups are so flimsy. One snapped on me and I had to re-do it (fortunately that was early on). Some of the other ones I've ended up putting in angles where they're under a lot of stress. I am *this* close to throwing my guitar against a wall if one of those little suckers snaps.

I never used to think about how difficult it would be to implement a wiring scheme. I just thought up what I wanted and did it. I won't make that mistake again.

blacklinefish · January 21st, 2008, 08:12 PM

A way around this would be to make a template out of cardboard that fits the dimensions. Pole a hole and cut a slot for any pots and switches that fit through. Then, wire up 80% of it that can be done outside the guitar, like tone caps, pot-to-pot wiring, pot-to-switch wiring, and the leads to the output jack. Then, take it off the cardboard, mount it in, and make the last few solder connections.

--gh

MulliganChebichev · January 21st, 2008, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blacklinefish

A way around this would be to make a template out of cardboard that fits the dimensions. Pole a hole and cut a slot for any pots and switches that fit through. Then, wire up 80% of it that can be done outside the guitar, like tone caps, pot-to-pot wiring, pot-to-switch wiring, and the leads to the output jack. Then, take it off the cardboard, mount it in, and make the last few solder connections.

--gh

+1 It also reduced the risk of singeing the body.

sean79 · January 21st, 2008, 09:02 PM

What's a kidney-routed guitar? Does that mean it's routed from the back so you won't need a pickguard or control plate?

jwells393 · January 21st, 2008, 09:03 PM

What is a kidney-routed guitar ?

giantslayer · January 21st, 2008, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean79

What's a kidney-routed guitar? Does that mean it's routed from the back so you won't need a pickguard or control plate?

Yes. If you want to do your own wiring, those can be really bad ideas, especially if you throw in a couple push/pull pots.

6942 · January 21st, 2008, 10:21 PM

I've done some work on a couple of Ibanez guitars like that.
Not much area to work in.

Steve

Mark Davis · January 21st, 2008, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

What is a kidney-routed guitar ?

Thats the 1st time Ive heard it called that the way I usually heard these are called back routed.

e-merlin · January 21st, 2008, 11:06 PM

How about doing the majority of the wiring outside the cavity? I also like to use a magnifying visor when I'm working in a tight area.

Mark Davis · January 22nd, 2008, 12:12 AM

The way to do these is wire it all up outside the guitar and fish the shafts of the pots thru the holes in the body with dental floss.

giantslayer · January 23rd, 2008, 12:31 AM

Got it done last night. Good grief. I stand by my statements. Eventually, I got it all done and plugged it in, only to realize that I wired the bridge vol the way i meant to wire the neck vol and vice versa (I set it up so that the neck volume is independent in the middle position and the bridge funtions as a master - very nice setup). DOH! So I had to go rewire both of them. It was very difficult. I had to solder extra bits of cable onto a few of the wires to make them long enough. Then, when I was trying to pull the volume knob off on the bridge volume so I could rotate the pot, THE DANG THING BROKE!!!

The shaft came straight out! I had to pull that out and put one of the original volume pots back in.

All-in-all, I spent about 8 or 9 hours wiring that guitar yesterday.

Fortunately, it all works now, and, most importantly, it's over.

And it also sounds good, too.

robrohdeszudy · January 24th, 2008, 01:20 PM

You've discovered why Leo designed his guitars the way he did! Working in a back-routed cavity does indeed test the patience. Such instruments lend themselves to simple electronics and external soldering.

One way is good for mass production and the other way is good for MESS production.

--Rob

January 21st, 2008, 08:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
giantslayer Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Age: 23 Posts: 510	I'm never going to get a kidney-routed guitar ever again. I've been trying to wire that thing up. It is horrible. There's no space to do anything. With two pickups with their own volume and tones, I've got a grand total of nine connections to solder to ground. I'm trying to use star grounding to reduce the chance of damaging the pots by soldering fifteen billion things to them. That leaves me with 9 things to solder to this stupid ring terminal. I'm praying that nothing goes wrong with this guitar because my control cavity is a MESS. It is horrible. I put in two push/pull pots to switch between series and parallel for the two pickups. The wires from the pickups are so flimsy. One snapped on me and I had to re-do it (fortunately that was early on). Some of the other ones I've ended up putting in angles where they're under a lot of stress. I am this close to throwing my guitar against a wall if one of those little suckers snaps. I never used to think about how difficult it would be to implement a wiring scheme. I just thought up what I wanted and did it. I won't make that mistake again.

January 21st, 2008, 09:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 65 Posts: 14,282 101 Photos	What is a *kidney-routed guitar* ? __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person.

January 22nd, 2008, 12:12 AM	#10 (permalink)
Mark Davis Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bakersfield Ca. Age: 59 Posts: 17,162	The way to do these is wire it all up outside the guitar and fish the shafts of the pots thru the holes in the body with dental floss. __________________ I'm so blind my seeing eye dog needs glasses.

January 21st, 2008, 08:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
blacklinefish Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northwest Missouri Age: 41 Posts: 1,554	A way around this would be to make a template out of cardboard that fits the dimensions. Pole a hole and cut a slot for any pots and switches that fit through. Then, wire up 80% of it that can be done outside the guitar, like tone caps, pot-to-pot wiring, pot-to-switch wiring, and the leads to the output jack. Then, take it off the cardboard, mount it in, and make the last few solder connections. --gh

January 21st, 2008, 09:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
sean79 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: northcentral/western Pennsylvania Posts: 2,766 8 Photos	What's a kidney-routed guitar? Does that mean it's routed from the back so you won't need a pickguard or control plate?

January 21st, 2008, 10:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
6942 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Western Maryland Posts: 1,938	I've done some work on a couple of Ibanez guitars like that. Not much area to work in. Steve

January 23rd, 2008, 12:31 AM	#11 (permalink)
giantslayer Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Age: 23 Posts: 510	Got it done last night. Good grief. I stand by my statements. Eventually, I got it all done and plugged it in, only to realize that I wired the bridge vol the way i meant to wire the neck vol and vice versa (I set it up so that the neck volume is independent in the middle position and the bridge funtions as a master - very nice setup). DOH! So I had to go rewire both of them. It was very difficult. I had to solder extra bits of cable onto a few of the wires to make them long enough. Then, when I was trying to pull the volume knob off on the bridge volume so I could rotate the pot, THE DANG THING BROKE!!! The shaft came straight out! I had to pull that out and put one of the original volume pots back in. All-in-all, I spent about 8 or 9 hours wiring that guitar yesterday. Fortunately, it all works now, and, most importantly, it's over. And it also sounds good, too.

January 24th, 2008, 01:20 PM	#12 (permalink)
robrohdeszudy Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA Age: 38 Posts: 263	You've discovered why Leo designed his guitars the way he did! Working in a back-routed cavity does indeed test the patience. Such instruments lend themselves to simple electronics and external soldering. One way is good for mass production and the other way is good for MESS production. --Rob

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