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I don't normally install electronics in my guitars but recently a couple of customers have asked for pickups. What is your preferred method of drilling out the tapered end pin hole for a 1/2 inch jack?

- enlarge the hole with a series of twist drills (metal bits, not brad point)? Is the step from 3/8 to 1/2 too much?

- a unibit? I do have one that ends in 1/2"

- a 1/2" Forstner bit - if so how do you start it? Plug the hole with a tapered dowel?

- StewMac's (expensive) reamer?

Any other tricks?

Use a reamer, stew mac's is a good one

I was afraid you were going to say that. Thanks.

When I've used a regular drill I would start with a 3/8 in and drill with each larger size to 1/2 in. For me it was a matter of keeping the hole centered. But the reamer works great.

What I did was make a block with the hole drilled in, and somehow clamp it to the guitar, and use that as a guide to drill the endpin jack hole. It does work however it's really awkward to clamp anything to the tail of a guitar, but I guess you can make a jig that clamps off of the top or the back (also awkward due to the angle, and the thin wood doesn't make a very good clamping surface). However by doing it this way damage is inevitable, it's a matter of whether or not the endpin jack will hide it. Therefore I really recommend Stewmac's expensive reamer. A bonus is you can use it to ream tuner holes to accept Schaller style tuners (from Kluson style tuners).

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I use a 1/8 to 1/2" step up bit, about 15$ at he hardware store. Try to get a double fluted one. Takes about 2 seconds to get the job done. The bit kind of looks like a 'journey to the centre of the earth' machine....

All Parts sells a much cheaper one. Thats what I use.

http://www.allparts.com/LT-0815-000-Tap ... _2069.html

Harbor Freight sells a set of 3 step drills for really cheap money. I like to use the step drill up to 7/16" and finish with Stew Mac's reamer, which can cut the proper diameter hole. Most jacks are just shy of 1/2", probably 12mm. The step drill works great and saves having to do the whole job with an expensive reamer.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Does that allpart reamer cut properly in wood? I used a reamer that looks like this but it was designed for metal. When I try to ream wood with them the hole would end up jagged and not round because it cuts far too aggressively unless the wood was really hard like ebony. Stewmac reamers are semi fluted so it cuts very round holes even if the wood was as soft as balsa.

A unibit would work for sure, at least get the hole to 1/2" and then you can drill the rest of the way with a normal 1/2" drill bit. The problem is a unibit is almost as expensive as the Stewmac reamer, so unless you already have one I wouldn't go buying a unibit just for this job. Besides you can ream tuner holes with the Stewmac reamer so it's worth it... I just wish they came with a handle to allow turning them by hand.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I've enlarged holes with a drill press before, the drill press somehow limits feed rate and so it won't corkscrew but with a hand drill, I've had pretty scary moments with them before. The reamer might be expensive but it works great, and will pay for itself in saved work in terms of fixing damages the first time!

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Buy a step drill. Buy a tapered reamer.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

1/2" and 12mm stepped (Christmas tree) bits for me.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

If you do this professionally or even semi-professionally, people are going to ask for pickup installations again in the future. Just buy the StewMac reamer. Trust me, it's a tool made perfectly for this job, it's actually quite cheap if you look at the prices for professional reamers much less custom ones, and will easily pay for itself in a one or two pickup installation (assuming you're billing at average professional rates).

Just buy it - it's really a no brainier, and you won't regret it.

And I virtually never ream to 1/2". The correct bore for almost all jacks used today is 15/32". If you have a Facebook account you can go here to read why.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 609&type=1

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks to everyone - I've ordered the SM reamer. When I told my customer (with his brand new HD-28) that he would have to wait a week he said "thank you, that's what I hoped you would say".

Thanks for the info Filippo. Fortunately that hasn't happened to me and I will not use the drill bit method again.

Don't suppose there's any chance of a repair thread on that?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I don't have a step drill or a reamer. What I have done in the past is to lightly glue a dowel flush into the end pin hole, let it dry, and then use a brad point bit to drill the hole. If you drill through the center of the dowel the drill will remove all of it, and it avoids the problem of using an oversized twist drill in an undersized hole; namely, the bit grabbing, tearing out, etc. A wooden endpin trimmed flush works even better, as it is tapered to fit the hole.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.