Fiber Optic Side Marker Lights on a Guitar neck

Introduction:
For me, creating a guitar from scratch is a true labour of love, and adding fibre optic side marker lights to the neck seemed like a cool way to enhance both the aesthetics and functionality of an instrument. In this write up, I'll walk through the steps of how I installed these dazzling lights, ensuring this particular guitar really stands out from the crowd.

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The fibre optic cable I used was 1mm as I thought it would be robust enough to handle being moved around and not too big so as to blind you.

Step 1: Planning and Layout:
Before diving into the installation, I carefully planned the placement of the fiber optic cables to keep them away from any harm and allow them to make the curve from fretboard edge to cable channel. The channel has to get wider as you get closer to the fretboard end to accommodate the increasing number of cables.

Step 2: Drilling Holes: I carefully drilled small holes at each marker location slightly larger than the 1mm cables to allow for any discrepancies and to give a little wriggle room for fitting. I decided to place the holes 2mm away from the bottom edge of the fretboard, so that the fibre cables would be protected if I had to deepen the fret slots after radiusing. 

Step 3: Cable channel: Next I had to route the channel in the underside of the fretboard for the cables to run down. This was a job for my router table, so I set the fence to leave 3mm on the edge of the fretboard (in hindsight I could have left a little more) and using a 6mm bit I set the height of the cut to around 2mm so that the channel connected with the holes I drilled through the side. I did an extra pass towards the end of the board to allow more room for the increasing number of cables.

Step 4: Install the cables: I carefully installed the cables through the holes, one at a time, and cut them off the roll, leaving enough tail to make sure they reach the control cavity (where I will install the LED). I tested on scrap first to make sure super glue was suitable to use, it was, so I glued each one into their hole and used a few strategically placed blobs of glue to hold them in the channel. Then the excess was trimmed with a sharp knife and cleaned up with a chisel. I wasn't too worried about neatness at this stage as it will all be sanded once the neck is carved.

Step 5: Glue it to the neck: Before I glued the neck and 'board together, I drilled a hole in the heel for the cables to exit the neck, making sure there is enough room for all the strands. Once the glue was set and the neck trimmed, I dry fitted it so I could plan and route a channel in the pickup cavity to safely run the cables into the control cavity without interfering with the pickup or having a screw go right through one of them.

Step 6: Wiring the LED: Once the guitar was all painted it was time to assemble, wire it up, and connect the LED to the optics. I went for a 5mm pre wired flat top, to give a solid platform for the fibres to rest on. The first step was to pick a suitable place for the LED to sit, then trim the optics to length using a sharp knife blade. The trick is to get them nice a flat so you get a full spread of light along the cable.
Following this, it was a simple process of connecting the LED with some heat shrink tube and wiring it to the power source. I already had a battery for the Sustainiac, so I connected the '+' to that, and the '-' to the switch earth on the stereo jack. There isn't really any room for a switch or push/pull pot to control the lights, so they come when a cable is plugged in.

So there it is, a brief summary of how I installed light up side dots on one of my Bobcat models. I'm still thinking of a way I could control switching of the LED so it isn't permanently on when plugged in, so we'll see what I come up with.
​Full info/pictures of the guitar can be seen in the gallery or shop pages.