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I have never understood why guitar manufacturers have to make the routes to fit the pickups exactly. Why not just do swimming pool routes on everything??? It makes the guitar lighter.

This does not apply for guitars with no pickguards though.

Removing wood reduces the resonant quality of a guitar and adds unwanted effects. Also if pickups can vibrate freely they are more prone to microphony (squealing).

What are the unwanted effects. And will screwing pickups directly to the wood stop microphony?

mcconnachiea wrote:What are the unwanted effects. And will screwing pickups directly to the wood stop microphony?

You probably want to put some foam padding beneath it, but yeah screwing it down should help.

I think the effects are an echoey feedback, but I'm not certain. I actually like swimming pool routes for the purposes of practicing unplugged. The echoey space gives you a bit fuller sound , but plugged in it has a generally negative effect on the guitars sound.

Also judging by the volume of accousics, a swimming pool route will make it louder. And YJM says that a louder instrument will sound better

mcconnachiea wrote:Also judging by the volume of accousics, a swimming pool route will make it louder. And YJM says that a louder instrument will sound better

I'm not really sure that that's how it work, but I don't know the science involved so I'll step out of teh conversation from here.

I don't like swimming pool routes. It's the one problem I have with my Jagmaster. It makes a clackey noise when I'm playing because my pick hits it.

BacchusPaul wrote:I don't like swimming pool routes. It's the one problem I have with my Jagmaster. It makes a clackey noise when I'm playing because my pick hits it.

yea, this. it also, causes the pickguard to work like the soundboard of an acoustic guitar, so you get a little bit of acoustic amplification.

mcconnachiea wrote:What are the unwanted effects. And will screwing pickups directly to the wood stop microphony?

Pickguard flexes over the routed section, acoustic clacks when you strum. Pickups will be moving more.

Basically swimming pool routes are the height of laziness in guitar design.

Im not a fan, its basically cutting corners and when you are paying decent money you expect better.
The only reason i did it on my JS is because the body is 45mm thick mahogany and i wanted to lighten the load.

Another point here that mike touched on with resonance.. most manufacturers use the timber used as a selling point ie. Solid Alder body. So to perform a swimming pool route afterwards is a bit contradictory, its an unnecessary loss of tonewood.

Can you still hear the mahogany on your jag-stang Fran, after you took out the swimming pool route?

Only if i tilt my head to the left.

I see.

And what do you hear to the right?

A high pitch noise. I think its tinitus.

Is it that infamous 2.2kHz spike again?

More to do with excessive Tubescreamer use, the midrange hump has fucked me up.

The most resonant strat I've ever played has a swimming pool (my last project), and the least resonant strat I've ever played does not (AV '57).

Yeah, its an age old argument that has no definitive answer. Like i said to Bacchus, my JS is chunky but bright sounding which contradicts the mahogany and huge route theory.

Fran wrote:Yeah, its an age old argument that has no definitive answer. Like i said to Bacchus, my JS is chunky but bright sounding which contradicts the mahogany and huge route theory.

My piece of mahogany for my JS is just as thick, I'll take a thcikness planer to it though