Assemble
In my last post, I have already described how to mess up while assembling the tuning mechanics. Just… don’t…
Mechanics
Mounting the mechanics should be fairly easy after pre drilling the holes to fixate the screws. I did this by putting each piece precisely in place at the desired orientation. Then, I poked through the mounting holes using a fittingly small drilling bit. After that, I took the parts out and extended the guides slightly. For safety sake, I marked a shallow depth on the drill bit using masking tape. This ensured I wouldn’t go all the way through to the other side of the headstock. The masking tape also allowed my drill to mount the thin bit tightly.
At this point, I held off on mounting the neck. Instead, I decided to tighten the bolt holes by using the usual glue and dust mixture. I masked the application area using tape. This was done to avoid sanding afterward and would thereby aid in keeping a level surface of the neck joint. Additionally, I made sure to keep a slight aperture using a toothpick to make sure the bolts would continue to be guided correctly once the neck would be mounted.
Shielding
Prior to placing the electrics, I applied shielding tape to the electronics cavities. These adhesive copper sheets are fitted into the pockets to keep out any unwanted interferences, which may otherwise distort the signals picked up by the electrical circuit. As a result, this step should lead to a cleaner, less noisy, sound. To cut out chunks at the right size, the various routing templates made for some handy guides.
The copper tape was thin enough to be precisely stuck put in place. My procedure was to deck out the bottom first, with short edges folded up the cavity wall. Then, I used a strip of tape rolled along the inside of the pocket. I found no problem in using a few pieces for more complex shapes, like the humbucker socket. With all adjacent slices, I just made sure to overlap them for a clean enclosure of each pocket.
Be careful when fitting these sheets, for they are sneaky thin. If you're not a fan of papercuts, you’ll probably hate coppercuts. Unlike me, you may want to utilize the backside of a pencil (or similar tool), instead of your fingers, to fold and press it all into alignment.
Any holes for running wires can be easily poked in and loosened with a nail. I don’t think one has to bother about shielding cable channels, because the wires are surrounded by shielding anyways.
Remaining Hardware
Similar to the guides for mounting the mechanics on the headstock, I now pre drilled holes for the p90 pickup, humbucker frame, bridge and control plate.
Finally, I ran the pickup wires through the respective channels and attached all body parts. As explained earlier, all bolts were scraped through candle wax to enable smooth application using a screwdriver. It should go without saying, that I did not mount the control plate just yet, as the guitar still needed to be wired. Instead, I just attached the three-way switch and both pots to the control plate, which would ease soldering the setup.
