Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
I was wondering what the hassle would be like to change the bobbin screws, which are black allen hex screws, to silver. Anybody done this? Can you get the screws easily?
Changing Slugs/Screws...
- Thread starter Butch Snyder
- Start date
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
That brings up another question. Let's say I have a DiMarzio PAF Pro with black hex screws, which I do, and I want replace the hex screws with phillips screws like on a PAF, what's the tone going to be like?
That brings up another question. Let's say I have a DiMarzio PAF Pro with black hex screws, which I do, and I want replace the hex screws with phillips screws like on a PAF, what's the tone going to be like?
roadstar II
New member
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
the richie sambora strat had a paf pro like this
it gives the tone more output and is rounder not as much attack or presence
Butch Snyder said:
the richie sambora strat had a paf pro like this
it gives the tone more output and is rounder not as much attack or presence
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
The size and type that both Duncan and Dimarzio use for their slotted screws are 5-40 fillisters. These aren't an "over the counter" screw that you can get at the local hardware store. Closest I've found is 4-40, but not in fillister.
Fastenal and AMPGE carry them in bulk (.10-.14 cents/per 100) but only in bright zinc plated. If you want them nickel plated Stew-Mac and AMPGE have them for around .75 cents each.
The size and type that both Duncan and Dimarzio use for their slotted screws are 5-40 fillisters. These aren't an "over the counter" screw that you can get at the local hardware store. Closest I've found is 4-40, but not in fillister.
Fastenal and AMPGE carry them in bulk (.10-.14 cents/per 100) but only in bright zinc plated. If you want them nickel plated Stew-Mac and AMPGE have them for around .75 cents each.
Last edited:
roadstar II
New member
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
contact dimarzio for the poles
they sell them
Fritz6 said:
contact dimarzio for the poles
they sell them
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Thanks guys, I may even put slotted screws on one of my coils of each pickup. I have a Fred that I might replace the hex crews with slotted screws. I would have them on the bridge side. What kind of tone can I expect?
Thanks guys, I may even put slotted screws on one of my coils of each pickup. I have a Fred that I might replace the hex crews with slotted screws. I would have them on the bridge side. What kind of tone can I expect?
roadstar II
New member
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
it will tame some of the highs
i have heard the hex poles have a more focused more present attack
the screws have more of a higher output and rounder tones.
also the length sticking out of the bottom of the pup i hear has a lot to do with the treble?
Butch Snyder said:
it will tame some of the highs
i have heard the hex poles have a more focused more present attack
the screws have more of a higher output and rounder tones.
also the length sticking out of the bottom of the pup i hear has a lot to do with the treble?
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Partial cut and paste of an email reply from Dimarzio from around a month ago:
"All of our screws are custom made to our own metallurgical specifications, so whether you will improve the sound with a randomly sourced screw of unknown composition and properties is anybody’s guess. Sorry, we do not sell or source pickup parts."
Duncan doesn't sell or source screws either. Use Fastenal for buying in bulk. Find a local outlet and save a few bucks on shipping, that's what I did. $9.85 for a 100 screws.
Slotted 5-40 fillisters only come in bright zinc plated when buying in bulk, regardless of where you buy them. A friend owns a plating company, so he's gonna plate them all for me in nickle.
Stew-Mac or AMPGE if you want them in nickel and are only buying a few. Mcmaster carries them in a plain FINISH (closer to nickle than bright zinc) but only in 18-8 Stainless Steel which isn't magnetic, so watch out for that. If you get them from a non-guitar site, make sure they are magnetic.
Can't use stainless steel. Get plain steel only.
roadstar II said:
Partial cut and paste of an email reply from Dimarzio from around a month ago:
"All of our screws are custom made to our own metallurgical specifications, so whether you will improve the sound with a randomly sourced screw of unknown composition and properties is anybody’s guess. Sorry, we do not sell or source pickup parts."
Duncan doesn't sell or source screws either. Use Fastenal for buying in bulk. Find a local outlet and save a few bucks on shipping, that's what I did. $9.85 for a 100 screws.
Slotted 5-40 fillisters only come in bright zinc plated when buying in bulk, regardless of where you buy them. A friend owns a plating company, so he's gonna plate them all for me in nickle.
Stew-Mac or AMPGE if you want them in nickel and are only buying a few. Mcmaster carries them in a plain FINISH (closer to nickle than bright zinc) but only in 18-8 Stainless Steel which isn't magnetic, so watch out for that. If you get them from a non-guitar site, make sure they are magnetic.
Can't use stainless steel. Get plain steel only.
Last edited:
Fusion1
Active member
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Fritz I ran into this problem last year and never found a source as the ones you cited on Mc Master are either Stainless (non-magnetic) or zinc plated. Where do you see the plain finish? Are these Filister or some other kind of slotted variety?
How much does your friend charge for plating? Like I have no idea what or how much you bring to something like a plating shop? 100?1000?10,000? screws for a certain price? That might be the way to go if the price is right. Thanks.
Fritz I ran into this problem last year and never found a source as the ones you cited on Mc Master are either Stainless (non-magnetic) or zinc plated. Where do you see the plain finish? Are these Filister or some other kind of slotted variety?
How much does your friend charge for plating? Like I have no idea what or how much you bring to something like a plating shop? 100?1000?10,000? screws for a certain price? That might be the way to go if the price is right. Thanks.
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Mcmaster only carries 5-40 fillisters in 18-8 SS/plain finish, so they're no good. I ordered some a while back and the 18-8 was non-magnetic.
Fastenal has 5-40 fillisters in plain steel/bright zinc finish. I got 100/$9.85 There is no bulk supplier that I could find that offers these screws in plain steel with a nickle finish.
On the AMPGE forum a bunch of guys were complaining about the same thing. I think even Lollar said he has to order them w/out a finish and has them plated himself.
My friend doesnt have a tank for nickle. He's having his uncle's shop do mine. I've known him forever so he's not charging me. I'm doing 100 for double screw conversions and 100 w/out the heads ground down. Pretty much a lifetime supply.
I dont know what his uncle would charge you or if he would even do it. Plating is INCREDIBLY labor intensive, so you'd have to be plating a LARGE amount of screws and you'd prob be paying a large amount also.
You could try high speed buffing the screw heads and it'll take a little of the blue zinc color away and shine them up a bit, making them a bit more nickle like. Be carefull tho, they heat up and can go flying like in "Tommy Boy" if your not careful!
I'll ask him but you'd probably be better off living with bright zinc or buying nickle plated from Stew-Mac or AMPGE.
Mcmaster only carries 5-40 fillisters in 18-8 SS/plain finish, so they're no good. I ordered some a while back and the 18-8 was non-magnetic.
Fastenal has 5-40 fillisters in plain steel/bright zinc finish. I got 100/$9.85 There is no bulk supplier that I could find that offers these screws in plain steel with a nickle finish.
On the AMPGE forum a bunch of guys were complaining about the same thing. I think even Lollar said he has to order them w/out a finish and has them plated himself.
My friend doesnt have a tank for nickle. He's having his uncle's shop do mine. I've known him forever so he's not charging me. I'm doing 100 for double screw conversions and 100 w/out the heads ground down. Pretty much a lifetime supply.
I dont know what his uncle would charge you or if he would even do it. Plating is INCREDIBLY labor intensive, so you'd have to be plating a LARGE amount of screws and you'd prob be paying a large amount also.
You could try high speed buffing the screw heads and it'll take a little of the blue zinc color away and shine them up a bit, making them a bit more nickle like. Be carefull tho, they heat up and can go flying like in "Tommy Boy" if your not careful!
I'll ask him but you'd probably be better off living with bright zinc or buying nickle plated from Stew-Mac or AMPGE.
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Yup. Zinc=.10-15 cents a screw, Nickle=.75 cents a screw.
No negative tone effects at all. I have an A3 Custom/AII Pro double screw hybrid with one row of nickles and one row of zinc and it sounds great. It's in a partocaster, so the finishes not matching doesn't bother me.
In a nicer axe, I'd want them to match. I have another double screw hybrid I'm going to sell when I get the screws done.
I did a double screw conversion/mag swap to both pups in my friend Dave's godin (he owns the plating shop). It had crap oversized ceramics in it. Very bright, thin sound. Spacers were oversized also, so a regular sized mag wouldn't fit.
Only prob was that the spacers were glued to the bottom of the bobbins with rubber cement. Took me three days to pry them apart! Finally got them apart, swapped the mags for A2's and converted them to double screws.
Called me after the gig. Him and his band couldn't believe how fat the godin sounded at soundcheck and the gig. And these are grizzled cover band veterans with great ears, especially Dave.
That being said, bright zinc isnt that sharp looking and doesn't match up to well with the nickles that were already in the pups.
I had to learn about the screws cause I won't play buckers w/out double screws. Then other people would hear the diff it makes and want me to do it to theirs.
But I can't until I get screws that match the existing screws already in the pup. If you have to have nickel and dont need a large amount of screws, Stew-Mac is the place.
How many screws do you need in nickle?
Yup. Zinc=.10-15 cents a screw, Nickle=.75 cents a screw.
No negative tone effects at all. I have an A3 Custom/AII Pro double screw hybrid with one row of nickles and one row of zinc and it sounds great. It's in a partocaster, so the finishes not matching doesn't bother me.
In a nicer axe, I'd want them to match. I have another double screw hybrid I'm going to sell when I get the screws done.
I did a double screw conversion/mag swap to both pups in my friend Dave's godin (he owns the plating shop). It had crap oversized ceramics in it. Very bright, thin sound. Spacers were oversized also, so a regular sized mag wouldn't fit.
Only prob was that the spacers were glued to the bottom of the bobbins with rubber cement. Took me three days to pry them apart! Finally got them apart, swapped the mags for A2's and converted them to double screws.
Called me after the gig. Him and his band couldn't believe how fat the godin sounded at soundcheck and the gig. And these are grizzled cover band veterans with great ears, especially Dave.
That being said, bright zinc isnt that sharp looking and doesn't match up to well with the nickles that were already in the pups.
I had to learn about the screws cause I won't play buckers w/out double screws. Then other people would hear the diff it makes and want me to do it to theirs.
But I can't until I get screws that match the existing screws already in the pup. If you have to have nickel and dont need a large amount of screws, Stew-Mac is the place.
How many screws do you need in nickle?
Last edited:
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Is there anywhere to purchase replacement screw poles (regular 'ol slotted humbucker screw poles) in Gold? Even crazier, is it possible to find the Invader sized hex caps in Gold?
Or would I need to just take my stock ones to a place that can Gold plate them?
Is there anywhere to purchase replacement screw poles (regular 'ol slotted humbucker screw poles) in Gold? Even crazier, is it possible to find the Invader sized hex caps in Gold?
Or would I need to just take my stock ones to a place that can Gold plate them?
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Thanks for the input guys. What I'm actually going to do is this.
I'm preparing to buy an Ibanex Universe (UV777BK). It comes stock with DiMarzio Blaze pickups. All three pickups have black hex screws; at least that what Ibanez's website shows. I want to change them to silver...
Thanks for the input guys. What I'm actually going to do is this.
I'm preparing to buy an Ibanex Universe (UV777BK). It comes stock with DiMarzio Blaze pickups. All three pickups have black hex screws; at least that what Ibanez's website shows. I want to change them to silver...
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Not available in gold. Cheapest way I've found is to use a permanent gold metallic marker. Home depot and the like carry them as well as spray on finish with a can.
Like I said, going to a plating company with a few screws might be too expensive. If they would even do it. I'll ask my friend today about the viability of it.
PRG said:
Not available in gold. Cheapest way I've found is to use a permanent gold metallic marker. Home depot and the like carry them as well as spray on finish with a can.
Like I said, going to a plating company with a few screws might be too expensive. If they would even do it. I'll ask my friend today about the viability of it.
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Easiest way is a silver metallic permanant marker, sharpie makes them.
Butch I haven't checked for hex (might be called allen head) screws, but this is what you need. Look for this on the Mcmaster-Carr and Fastenal websites:
#5-40 hex screws-plain finish-plain steel, 3/4-1". Must be plain steel, Stainless Steel or 18-8 stainless steel wont work. If no plain finish, they might have bright zinc. They dont come in silver, gold, nickle or chrome for fillisters, so they prob dont for hex's also.
Home Depot carries hex screws also in a separate draw section in the screw aisle. Not sure of the sizes.
I'll check with my friend about plating small amounts and get back to you guys.
Butch Snyder said:
Easiest way is a silver metallic permanant marker, sharpie makes them.
Butch I haven't checked for hex (might be called allen head) screws, but this is what you need. Look for this on the Mcmaster-Carr and Fastenal websites:
#5-40 hex screws-plain finish-plain steel, 3/4-1". Must be plain steel, Stainless Steel or 18-8 stainless steel wont work. If no plain finish, they might have bright zinc. They dont come in silver, gold, nickle or chrome for fillisters, so they prob dont for hex's also.
Home Depot carries hex screws also in a separate draw section in the screw aisle. Not sure of the sizes.
I'll check with my friend about plating small amounts and get back to you guys.
Last edited:
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
I appreciate that...
Fritz6 said:
I appreciate that...
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Butch you might want to shoot dimarzio an email confirming that the blaze buckers use the 5-40 hex poles. I'm not familiar with their blaze pups. If they're manufactured offshore, the sizes might be different.
Probably not, but better to check.
Butch Snyder said:
Butch you might want to shoot dimarzio an email confirming that the blaze buckers use the 5-40 hex poles. I'm not familiar with their blaze pups. If they're manufactured offshore, the sizes might be different.
Probably not, but better to check.
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Re: Changing Slugs/Screws...
Great advice....
Fritz6 said:
Great advice....
