How do you install electronics on an ES335-style guitar?

[LeftyStrat]

My daughter brought home an ES335-style body in bad shape, but her and I are going try try to restore it an use a neck I have laying around.

How in the heck do you work on the electronics in this style of guitar?

[martin manning]

Fishing through the F-holes. http://mojoshout.com/technical/installi ... phone-dot/

[randalp3000]

slip knots in dental floss around pot shafts fished through with solid core wire first. Long or curved hemo's are very helpful also.

I've done about a 100 and it never gets any easier.

best of luck

[martin manning]

I seem to recall reading that vinyl tubing, sized for a snug fit over the pot shafts, can be used too.

[Teleguy61]

If removing the pickups, obviously the pickup mounting holes can also be used for access.
Make sure the guitar's finished surfaces are protected so they won't be damaged when you start throwing things in frustration.

[Reeltarded]

All good tips. Jacks are fished with a broken off 1/4" plug welded to a coat hanger. Also helpful are long curved forceps. Long curved. Protect the holes with painter's blue tape in maybe 3 layers.

No coffee. Relax. This is going to take a few minutes. Hold your breath.

335 has center block. No PU hole access.

Also, build the kit on a cardboard mockup.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

+1 on all the above.

I just replaced the pots and jacks in a Fender Coronado I and I'll say this: If I did this every day, I probably could have come-in pretty close to the time estimate I gave the customer. Took me MUCH longer than I thought, though I only charged the customer for the time I estimated.

[LeftyStrat]

I suppose it would be easy considering the current state of the guitar, but I kind of want to see if I can re-glue the top before I buy pickups and hardware for it.

[Reeltarded]

haha use screws no fair. Way too easy.

[LeftyStrat]

haha use screws no fair. Way too easy.

Yeah, I know it's pretty much a lost cause. But my daughter is in to restoring it. It was given to her by the high school wooding working teacher.

She's into music, playing guitar and teaching a friend how to play bass. I don't want to do anything to dent her enthusiasm.

Hell, I'll pull out my West Systems epoxy and by pure accident it will make this crap guitar sound brilliant, my daughter will go on to be a rock star and I'll be taken care of for the rest of my life. Or not. Maybe some sentimental value for her when I'm long gone.

[billyz]

335 controls are fed thru the bridge pickup cavity. I use surgical tubing to suck the controls up thru the control holes. Nuts and washers slip over the tubing. You can do some work thru the f holes but use blue painters tape around the edge as it is too tight. If making a new harness I use a cardboard template to make it up outside the guitar.
Z

[Teleguy61]

335 has center block. No PU hole access.

Right.
Forgot that.

[Reeltarded]

Lefty, I would use wood glue. titebond II.

So, one of my things is converting short neck F style Gibson mandos to long neck Loar period specs. The tops are also regraduated from the inside. It's the second hardest thing I know how to do, probably.

I can tell you that top is going to be HARD to refit, unless.. I would use laces and wood glue, rerout a new binding shelf and there ya go. Start at the neck block and take up the slack at the tail block. You will be surprised at how a puzzle doesn't fit when it is sticky with glue. hehe torque is your buddy.

[mr_hankey]

I've done it through the F-hole (does the pickup rout even connect to that cavity?). I used a cardboard template to wire as much as possible before installing, leaving a lot of slack in the wires. Then I (poorly) tie strings to the pot shafts, which keep coming off when I try to pull them up through the holes. It always happens to the third or fourth pot, which means I have to pul everything out and start all over again. Eventually I get so angry I have to leave the room for a bit so I don't get tempted to put a few hammer-sized access holes in the guitar; or that anyone who asks what all the swearing is about doesn't end up wearing the guitar.

All in all, I think my method works quite well.

[Phil_S]

This is probably heresy. Given the state of that guitar, maybe you should cut an access panel in the back and be done with it. I doubt it will have a meaningful affect on the tone. Seriously, it is not a valuable piece, though it is quite nice looking from the pics.

You might also consider whether you want to convert it to a semi hollow by adding a block down the middle. Hollow body guitars tend to be good for jazz, but when played hard and heavily amped, it may squeal like a stuck pig. I have heard of people putting a balloon (better, a blown up <an unlubed> condom for durability[1]) inside to control noise and then, what's the point of having a hollow body? The consideration of a block is in context of the intended use, which I don't know.

[1]Time for the sex talk?

You might also think about whether you can wire the pots and harness without the pickups before you glue the top. Dump them inside and then fish the pots into their respective holes, which avoids cutting the access panel and I can understand why you'd rather not. I suppose that means you'll have to splice in the pickups and maybe you'd rather not do that.

BTW, I have the same kitchen floor!