Doing More With Less

Let me just say now that it's getting harder and harder to come up with catchy 'Less' titles for these entries...Wednesday, June 24.

Today I achieved some pretty remarkable successes at things I had never done before.

I needed to find a way to get the toggle switch and volume knob to sit inside the guitar at angles. Usually, they are done vertically, or the big companies like Gibson have the machinery to rout these things with computers, etc.

Well, as we know, I ain't got it like that.All I had was a few hand-held power tools and ADHD. So I had to rely on good old American ingenuity.

Along with some typically American blind optimism: "I think it'll work if I do it this way..."

Add a dash of that essential Americanism "Hold my beer a second... now watch this!"

Which, by the way, are the last words most Americans say before the event which precipitates their going to the Emergency Room. Or the morgue...

But, as my mother always said, "F@#$ it."

So I got down to the weird business of figuring out how to do something I didn't know how to do. If I did it wrong enough, I'd ruin the project.

Good thing there was no pressure.

As we saw in our last entry, I drilled the angled holes after drilling straight ones. I think I was better off doing it this way as I had a better view of the proceedings (and problems).

So with a small router, very small drill bits, and a Dremel tool, I managed to create a cavity that held the control mechanisms at the correct angle for them to poke through the carved top and be (mostly) straight up and down on the carved top. You'll see why this is important later.This is the volume control cavity. It has been widened to allow for the angle of the volume pot as well as the input jack. It's a close fit, but there's not a lot of room to work with here anywayHere are the volume pot and the input jack put in place. You can see that the pot is at an angle. You can also see how close the jack and pot are.Don't worry about that hole. I have a cover for it:Same thing for the toggle switch hole. Here it is enlarged:

And with the switch in place. Note how it is angled.

Here you can see the input jack on the side of the guitar and a better view of the angled volume pot :

Here's a shot of the top of the volume pot sticking through.

And the toggle switch:

The latest mock-up: It's definitelya guitar!

Now I can start finish sanding it in preparation for staining!