Is it sacrilegious to take a drill to the body to make my bridge slot big enough for a humbucker? Any reason why i shouldn't do that?

Thanks for your time.

Hi ex_spcgwood, welcome to the Forum.

No reason at all in principle. Though if you are planning to use your Dremel as a router I strongly recommend you buy their router base to use with it. Or better still, Stewart-MacDonald's "precision router base" for Dremels, which is ideal for this kind of work, top of this page:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... uting.html

I'd also recommend you take a few minutes to make yourself a humbucker cavity template out a piece of thick ply wood and then use the right sized baring collar on your router bit to follow it: you can then make a perfect cavity very easily.

Without that template I sooner use old fashioned chisels for the job, myself. You'd make a horrible mess if you just try and use the Dremel as a hand-held excavation tool.

BTW: it has been my endless experience that Dremels are good for a whole lot less than their promotional material suggests. All kinds of cutting and sanding jobs are usually much easier to do by other means. For certain tasks the Dremel is an absolute life-saver. But it is a lot more limited than they'd have us believe...

Cheers - C

I wouldnt use a drill. Orvilleowner has a guitar that looks like its been modded to house a bucker. I would of thought a chisel and mallet would be the way to go as a substitute for a router.

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No no and no

I recently took a Rotozip with the router base to my sons Jazz bass so we could add active circuitry. Take your time and do a neat job and things will turn out fine.

Personally, I love customizing guitars. Ease of modding is one of the great things about Fenders.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Make or get a template. Use a plunge router with a pattern bit. Done in no time, and looks professional.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Make or get a template. Use a plunge router with a pattern bit. Done in no time, and looks professional.

Also I am just saying it because I saw it happen.

A friend of mine wanted to do the same thing as you. So he went out and bought a router(don't know why he didn't just ask to borrow mine,), and bits. Bought a template online. After he bought all that he removed his pickguard, and the body already had the H-S-H pickup routes.
So I hope you already checked

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Dremeled many a strat for a HB. go for it. In fact, i have a body arriving this week and am planning to do it to that. I router base could be good, but i've done it with just coarse drum sander dremel bits. years ago i did as mentioned above and used a chisel and hammer ! Sloppy, but the pickguard covers it anyways so it can be done. Not very highly recommended tho.

Really? I'd rate a chisel over a hand-held Dremel every time. Depends how you handle 'em I guess, though...

As Twelvebar said, do it the right way: route through a template.

Cheers - C

The absolute best looking pickup cavity I have ever seen, done as an after market mod, was done with a chisel (well, several i think,) and hammer, by a very experienced wood worker. it was the first time he had done anything on a guitar. It was a friends dad, that did it for him on an old electric.

Router and template make it so any ham fisted monkey (like me,) can do a pro-esque job. If you use the dremel, do everything you can to make the job easier. Template, and try make it stable, so the router attachment thing is a plus. I find it is way too easy for me to mess up with power tools to try free hand that stuff.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

The chisel in the hands of a professional could be very precise. In the hands of an enthusiastic amateur . . . . . . scary.

How bout a pair of P90s in a Strat

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Hhmmmm, none of my Strats have been modded to house a humbucker.

You must have me confused with someone else, mate!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

A Dremel tool is not the right tool. Heed the advice. Use a router with a template and a bit with guide bushing.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
Fender Blues Jr.
SWR California Blonde
Pedals Pedals Pedals

Sorry mate. Seen so many strats here i cant remember who's got what.
I do remember seeing it on a 70's sunburst, made me think of you. Thinking about it now your 74 isnt sunburst is it?

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No no and no

I don't know how anyone could remember all of our guitars!

You are right, sir, my '74 isn't a sunburst, it's that "walnut" color, but I do have a sunburst, my very first Strat!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I am pretty much a perfectionist, I would have to go with a router and pattern guide.