How to fill in ex-pickup holes

[Roobubba]

I'm no luthier.

I have ripped out the "S" and "H" of my HSH ibanez - I only ever use the bridge pickup anyway. This guitar is likely not to be sold ever - It came to me very very cheap with some structural damage, which I've since fixed, but nonetheless, it's hardly "as new"!
So, I'd like to fill up the holes left by the single coil in the middle and the neck humbucker.
Unfortunately, the finish is a rather hard colour to match

The guitar is as in the picture below:


What would be a good way of dealing with this cosmetic "feature"?


Thanks in advance!

Roo

[noodleplugerine]

How about putting some pickups in there?

Don't see how ANYONE can live without a neck pickup - I love them.

[hooglebug]

without respraying the whole thing anyway (or at least the front) i doubt any tip will get you a finish you'd be happy with.

best thing i guess would be to make the pickup routes into squares and cut some wood to fill them (easier to cut a square bit of wood than a pickup shaped one) then get any gaps with epoxy.

but like i say, you'd be better of respraying the whole thing rather than just painting over the repair

[Philly Q]

Plugging the pickup routs and respraying will be hard work, and possibly expensive.  And once the wood/paint/glue has settled, you'll probably be able to see the outlines of the old cavities anyway (like on Dave Gilmour's black Strat, you can see where the Kahler used to be).

I'd make a scratchplate, similar to a Yamaha Pacifica one - it would cover up the pickup routs and switch slot, but you could leave the bridge pickup and controls just as they are:

[Will]

or put pyrotechnics in it and do an Ace Frehley :P

[Mr Ed]

Personally, I'd have them in - even if I wasn't using them now because you may at some point in the future.

Maybe to keep up the cosmetics, just buy some cheap-ass pickups and install them but don't have them actually wired up?

[WezV]

maybe a funky mirror pickguard or something else suitably guady (hooglebugs presence has me thinking about mirrors again )...  Like philly says - any fill will eventually show and at least with a pickguard you can add pickups back in if you change your mind

[Catalyst77]

I'm sure you can by plastic style blanks that cover the pickup holes and screw in to the wholes left by the pick-up rings.

That guy from the darkness had them on his LP

[Twinfan]

I'd go with either un-wired pickups kept away from the strings or a pickguard.  However, you'll have the issue of extra holes in the body if you ever decide to refit the pickups.

Dummy pickups are you best bet I think.

[Sollophonic]

I, d go with the scratchplate idea, you can buy scratchplate blanks in all kinds of colours, and there may even be a standard one that will fit easily anyway.

I know that there are some folks who have converted Teles into Esquires, and Epi Les Paul Specials into Juniors, by just covering the empty pickup holes with a scratchplate.

Filling holes with timber is a difficult one to get right, and matching the finish is another science in itself. I think your guitar would look awesome with some colours that scratch plates are made in.

Looking at your guitar, could you not use a smaller rounded plate to just cover the cavities, a bit like the old Music Man basses had? That may save all the shaping of one, round the horns of your guitar.

Good luck with it anyway, and post pics of the results.

Sollophonic

[Orkestra]

seeing as you're not re-spraying i'd either suggest a pickguard OR dummy pickups, just get some cheap ones from axesrus or something.

[Mr Ed]

I'd go with either un-wired pickups kept away from the strings or a pickguard.  However, you'll have the issue of extra holes in the body if you ever decide to refit the pickups.

Dummy pickups are you best bet I think.

I like when people agree with me.  8)

Yeah, pickguard is the easiest option but it's permanent unless you want unsightly screwholes in the future if/when you decide that you might wanna use the pickups again.

I suggest getting some GFS pickups - http://store.guitarfetish.com/pickups.html - they're from the States, cheap and I know a lot of people who've used them and been very happy with the results, don't let the price lead you into thinking they're shite and unusable but when you're talking about £20 for a bucker, you can't go wrong even if they aren't wired up.

[Ratrod]

Just leave it like that, Malcolm Young style.

[WezV]

Yeah, pickguard is the easiest option but it's permanent unless you want unsightly screwholes in the future if/when you decide that you might wanna use the pickups again.

the screw holes wont be to bad - certainly easier to fix and make look good than filling a pickup hole.

but if in doubt the pickguard could be fixed with something other than screws as long as its designed so you dont need to get under it regularly.  stew-mac sell pickguard adhesive sheets for acoustics but  there is no reason it couldnt be used on an electric

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Pickguards/Pickguard_adhesive.html

or alternatively normal double sided tape would probably do fine - its pressure sensitive so as long as you push it down good and hard it will probably never move - infact you might never get the pickguard off in one piece

If you did decide to go back to stock you would have some adhesive to clean up, not a pleasant job but not to hard to do

[tellthatmick]

if possible, you could buy some pickup covers from BKP  :D which would make it look uber cool.