A 70's style Strat back in the shop to complete it's Lowell George-esque setup with a Tele bridge pickup and Alembic Blastor preamp.  Above the body is being routed out for a Seymour Duncan Tele bridge pickup.  I forgot to photo the method used to enlarge the bridge in the pickguard (yes, a Tele bridge pickup is bigger than a Strat pickup).  What I did was to take a Tele bridge, double-stick taped it to the pickguard and used a violin knife to pare away the excess.  It worked fairly well.

The owner found a NOS original Blastor from the 1970's (not the newer Blaster / Strat-o-Blaster).  Pictured above is the back of the body is being routed out to accept a 9V battery box to power the Alembic preamp. A battery box is not required, but it's nice to have easy access.  You can install the battery under the pickguard but it can be a pain having to take off the pickguard for each battery change.  I would not install a battery box on a vintage instrument.  Also note that we ended up lowering the action at the nut considerably from last time it was in.

10 Comments