I recently received a Jackson Soloist USA vintage 86 that had been carved up pretty badly. The pickup cavities had been hand routed for Humbuckers. The original guitar had three single coils. The owner wanted it restored to it’s original configuration. This was an opportunity to use the CNC and do a little carving. I thought I would share the adventure with those that might be interested.
Initially I had to create a CAD drawing in Rhino 5 to reproduce the shape of the remaining Jackson single coil cavity. They are not the same as a Strat and have a more decorative curve and are a very tight fit. In addition I had to create a drawing to cut out the HB body cavities cleanly and cut plugs for those cutouts. The single coil cutout was to be cut into these plugs. Once that was done the drawing provided a zero reference for the CNC machine. The drawing was taped onto the body and the cutting began. The process went very well and the guitar just needs to be refinished. As it is, it’s pretty cool though. It is still in the shop being refretted with stainless steel.
