Official Luthiers Forum!

I am going to rebuild an Epiphone archtop found at a yardsale.Will be replacing the electrics, what is the best trick for removing and reinstalling them.The top is allready seperated on one side a little(about three inches).It may sound crazy but was considering a complete removal of the top and rewiring while its off.Or regluing seperation and just fishing electrics through pickup hole.Any thoughts?

Sam:
No need to remove the top. It can be a bit tricky, but you can fish everything into place with a bit of patience. I think that Stewmac sells some gimmicks to do the job- if you take a look you will be able to figure out how to improvise equivalents using various strings, coat hangers, old bicycle cables and the like! A search online/YouTube ('hollowbody pickup replacement' ??) is sure to turn up some pointers.
Sounds like a fun project.
Is this one of the newer Chinese Epiphones, or an older model? True archtop or hollowbody with a block down the middle?
Cheers
John

right on,ill do some fishing then. figured i could arrange some cable/magnet configuration type thingy. the model is ea-255 casino made in japan.ill research the year. it is a hollowbody not archtop. thanks for the tips.