How to Route the perfect Humbucker Pickup Cavities (Tutorial)

Pickup placement and routing the needed cavities can seem challenging.
In this video I explain as much as possible how I position the pickups and show you that routing the pickup cavities isn't that hard to do.
Learn how to use a single template, a pillar drill with a forstner drill bit and a router with 2 router bits to get the perfect cavity for your Humbucker pickups every time.
The same techniques can also be used to route the cavities for single coil pickups.
Interested in more guitar building related videos?
Check out my channel for more tips and tricks, tool reviews and guitar builds for the (beginner) luthier in a small workshop.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:13 Things you need
1:23 Pickup placement
5:10 Attaching the Template
9:13 Drilling the neck pickup cavity
10:44 Routing the neck pickup cavity
15:02 Bridge pickup template
16:00 Drilling the Bridge pickup cavity
17:02 Routing the bridge pickup cavity
19:20 Finishing touch.
19:38 Outro

[@waynepalumbo8917]

This guy has forgotten more about guitars than any of us will ever know :) Amazing watching a master at work!

[@djoyce777]

Daniel, two things: 1) I love your channel. 2) You are awesome.

[@6105jakeusmc]

I was scrolling KZbin tonight and thought to myself, "you know, I haven't seen any Unquendor Guitars content in a while." I was wanting to see how to layout Humbucker spots on my first build so I searched and lo and behold, your content popped up to the top. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us.

[@johnr.b.murray3417]

Excellent work through. Particularly helpful with the choice of the two router bit sizes and operation. Cheers.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Agree about humbucker rings, metal ones make any guitar look great

[@Averageteam8]

Fantastic information! Much thanks!

[@byggloket2590]

Underrated channel

[@pierredesaintfront6424]

Thank you so much, it is realy complete, precise, exacteley what I needed.

[@kevinjackson4237]

A magnificent video! Thanks for your generosity in sharing. I have nothing but admiration for you.

[@robertr4193]

I like the idea that Ewor uses when doing the super glue and masking tape trick. He uses a dark brown or black superglue and it makes it so you can be sure of where the glue is and therefore know for sure where the glue is at when putting the parts together.

[@JARottenHeart]

the masking tape and superglue tip has saved me a lot of cleaning. Great trick!

[@Dispatch_Master]

This video was so helpful. Thank you!

[@dustdevilz4771]

Outstanding instructional video with great detail. I’ll be routing my Telecaster body today for a new mini humbucker at the neck position. Thank you

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

I would love to see how you route the neck pickup and accommodate for the set neck.

[@HudsonCustomGuitars]

I've already learned a great deal from subscribing to your channel, so please accept my sincerest gratitude and admiration for your skilled craftsmanship! You're also quite adept at imparting that wisdom, so thank you for that as well! As I prefer hardtail/fixed bridges, I was hoping to learn the make/model of the bridge you featured in this video, please sir? Kindest regards, Terry

[@bradshannon862]

Very helpful! I do think Sasha Cohen stole this guys accent for Talladega nights. "Just say I like really thin pancakes, Ricky Bobby".

[@lydian2012]

Liked & subscribed. This help me a lot! Thanks a bunch!

[@sergeyt658]

Thanks, that was very helpful!

[@jklement87]

Thankyou very informative. As am amateur without a huge router and a drill press it's surely hard but this seems to traverse along fine with hand tools thanks for the measurements and template taping idea.

[@realitystudioscustomshop]

detailed as always, many thanks

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Reality Studios Custom Shop. Once again thank you very much.

[@thecappy]

13:00 is what I needed. I have to freehand an existing hb route for a lace dually red. I’ll use the 1/4 bit to make the corners rounder.

[@KMarieVermeulen]

I really like the addition of those graphics 👍🏻

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi KMarie, Thank you!!

[@j-dro6783]

Enjoying the series ty!

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi J-Dro Guitars, Thank you very much. Good to hear you're enjoying my videos.

[@triblemaster]

great video, thank you

[@geartweaker8518]

I wanna buy one of those double cut harley benton les paul juniors, but the prospect of only having one pickup bums me out. So here I am seeing if I think I could route the body for a neck pickup :P My dad retires in a few months, think I'll maybe rope him in for the project

[@tuxuuokeah8558]

I watched your video. I liked the 1/4-inch bit where the shank acts as a stop. ordering yourself 8mm D8 d8 h20 L58mm . Thank you for your advice.

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Tuxuu, You're welcome!

[@MyPROMOchannel]

I love u, that helped.. TY

[@GuilhermeDinizLZ]

Very!!! Good!!!!

[@ulis3082]

Best video i saw about that toppic. I get it. But can you explain and make a video about making a pickguard. How to line up that it fits the former made cutouts like Neckpocket, Pickup a.s.o. Thanks

[@illiaaverchenko7774]

thank you

[@DavidRodriguez-lu6xe]

Great description. I always had doubts about the position of the bridge pickups cavity...I dindt know if must be in a particular place or its as you like...thanks again

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi David, Thank you very much. The bridge pickup can be in any position you like essentially. There might be a mathematical optimal position, but I always go for what looks good.

[@peterharoldjanakjr2078]

Can you make a video on how to use a non fixed router to deepen existing cavities on finished bodies ? Squires never use Fender control harnesses as the cavities are not deep enough to house the switch and pots. I bought a vystum harness. But, I can't use it until I deepen the cavities little. I'd like it to look nice an not like some amatuer gouged out the wood.

[@paulsutherland6302]

Great video Daniel. Do you have any preference for a 2 flute 1/4" router bit vs a spiral upcut bit? (Like you, I use a 2 flute bit - as it's what I have - and it's only used for routing pickup cavities).

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Paul, I don't really have much experience with spiral bits and good quality 2 flute bits are much easier to get and a little less expensive so I stick with those for now. They seem to do the job just as fine. I'm however expecting one of those Infinity Router bits which is send to me by one of my viewers to arrive one of these days. They seem to be amazing.

[@adrienami8958]

Hi Daniel, since I started watching your videos, I have learned that people do things in a particular way, just like you, for technical or pratical reasons. So, can I ask you why the body template doesn't have neck pocket and humbucker pickup cavities in only one piece, even if the neck pocket will be done first?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Adrien, Good question. For one, I stick my template to the back of the guitar so I can route the control cavity with the same template as the main body outline. Secondly, and I mention this in the previous video. Using separate templates for the neck and pickups allows me to make adjustments if needed to for example the alignment of the neck, bridge and pickups and to make absolutely sure I get a tight fitting neck joint. Something you can't do with a 'all in one' template.

[@patrickb1872]

Thank you for this great and detailed video ! If I understand correctly, pickup cavities are 20 mm deep, but how deep are the extra cavities for the mounting screws ?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Patrick, Thank you very much and you're welcome. The extra cavities are about 4-5mm deep.

[@tooschaye2]

Super helpful. I watched for exactly this info. Great channel!

[@meteorsouldennis3676]

Nice Video ;) for the Small extra Cavities wouldn't it be easier to grind the whole Template just 25mm instead of 20mm down? (just a idea that came in my mind after a few seconds :) ) I learned Alot about Routing in this very Informatic Video, Thanks Alot for sharing your Skills

[@chogumchonsa]

I am loving this series. Did you enter the GGBO 2021?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Joe, Thank you... again. Yes I did enter the GGBO 2021 but haven't started the build yet. Still planning the build and how to do the video as I can only upload 6pc. 15 minutes long videos on the entire build.

[@chogumchonsa]

@@UnquendorGuitars Excellent I'm looking forward to seeing the build.

[@jogmas12]

Doesn’t it make more sense to center the template with the center of the neck?

[@krislap7366]

Zou je de hbm lintzaag aanbevelen? Is het de 300 of 350. Of is het beter om voor de iets duurdere record power gaan?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hey Kris, Ehm.... ik heb de 300, maar ik zou zelf geen HBM lintzaag meer kopen. Het is een redelijk goede 'Hobby' kwaliteit, waar met enige pijn en moeite van veel afstellen redelijk mee te zagen is. Fineer of afdek plaatjes zagen e.d. lijkt vaak meer geluk dan wijsheid. Als je zo af en toe een body o.i.d. wil zagen en tijd wil besteden aan het afstellen doet hij wat hij moet doen. Ik gebruik hem bijna dagelijks en teveel tijd kwijt aan het afstellen iedere keer en hij zaagt niet consistent genoeg. Ik ben dan ook aan het kijken naar bijv de Record Sabre 350 of de Laguna 14, maar die liggen in een hele andere prijsklasse. Ik kan helaas niets zeggen over vergelijkbare modellen in dezelfde prijsklasse als de HBM machine aangezien ik daar geen ervaring mee heb. Succes!

[@krislap7366]

Unquendor Guitars bedankt ik ga denk ik voor de recordpower bs 300e of 350 heb 1000 € budget alleen mijn schuur is misschien teklein voor de 350😂

[@RT-if2ij]

Is it still possible to route a existing cavity on a painted finished guitar without damaging the paint finish.

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi R T, Depending on the quality of the finish... Yes you can. I do recommend to score/mark the cavity very precise with a scalpel blade or very sharp knife to prevent the finish from chipping. And of course mask the rest of the guitar to prevent scratches from your router base.

[@edadpops1709]

I like 4-4.25” between pickup centers. What is yours?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Edad, The center to Center distance on these guitars is 95mm

[@joshh-23]

I’m going to be custom building a telecaster with a slanted humbucker but I don’t have a proper router could I use a dremel?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Josh, Although I strongly recommend using a 'proper' router it is possible to use a Dremel. However, a Dremel isn't powerful enough to remove a lot of material so be very careful not to overheat it and destroy the Dremel. Remove as much material you can using a forstner bit, chisel or something and the Dremel only too tidy up the cavities removing just a little material at the time.

[@tuxuuokeah8558]

Hi, from Ukraine. You very cool luthier

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Tuxuu, Thank you very much!

[@markwilliams8850]

That was good! Now... How did you make the template without a template??

[@MixingGBP]

I had the body template in mind for your question, but I think this would work for pickups and necks, too. Draw it by hand or by help of a CAD program (it's not as hard as it sounds). Then print it at full scale and glue it to 1/4" MDF with spray adhesive. Take that to the band saw, leaving about 1.5 mm (0.06") or so of stock outside the lines. Then use an oscillating spindle sander to get right up on that line while keeping a 90 degree edge. Do final sanding with sandpaper wrapped around something soft like an eraser or hard sponge. Then when satisfied with the sanding, use the router table and that 1/4" template to make a brand new template on 1/2" MDF. Call that template the master template. It should need little to no sanding. Use that master template to make another 1/2" MDF template (rough cut on band saw, super glue trick to keep them together, route on router table). That whole process allows, you to cancel out any little imperfections from your sanding on the 1/4" template. You can keep a perfectly good master template on the shelf in case you make a routing mistake on the second 1/2" template or simply want to keep the wear off of the master for later guitars. You can also coat the edges of the master template in either watered down wood glue, oil based wipe on poly varnish, or thin viscosity super glue. This keeps the edges stronger so they hold up to wear from the pencil markings. That's a lot of words, but it isn't that hard of a process! 😃

[@WillfulThinker]

Why can't the 3d print serve as the final template?

[@peterkettenis4665]

welke superglue gebruik je? en waar koop je het? thnx!!

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Peter, Ik gebruik de superlijm van "Ever Build" en "Zwaluw/den Brave" verkrijgbaar bij Toolstation. Maar ook de Bison, Locktite en Patex lijmen werken prima. Het voordeel van de "Ever Build" lijmen is dat ze duidelijk herkenbaar in verschillende viscositeiten verkrijgbaar zijn.

[@tuxuuokeah8558]

How do you feel about wood like pine as a guitar body?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Tuxuu, I don't have any experience myself using pine, but I have seen some KZbin video where people made Pine bodies with seemingly good results.

[@WW-1995]

Pine takes damages too easily so be careful using tool and protect it with a hard finish.

[@adamcramm]

How do you route the base of the neck to accommodate the pick up?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi adamcramm. I cut it with a Japanese saw and/or my bandsaw before I glue the neck in. No routing required.

[@adamcramm]

Unquendor Guitars ah that makes sense. I was trying to figure out how you could make that router template work with the fret board in the way lol. Thanks again for your response and this awesome videos!

[@Steinstra-vj7wl]

Kwart inch...hoeveel is dat in mm?

[@tuxuuokeah8558]

what body wood do you use?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Tuxuu, It's Black Limba.

[@Lloyd_Christmas11]

10:43 What kind of drill is he using? I can't understand the accent.

[@antonchilinski9729]

"pillar drill" aka drill press, forstner bit.

[@peterwaterhouse8326]

What happened to the neck joint extension into the pickup cavity? Did you just cut that off flush with the end of the fretboard or did you do some other significant routing that you did not put in your otherwise useful post? I do not understand what you did or intended to do with the neck.