Direct mount woes...

[80's_Metal]

So....
I've never owned a direct mount guitar before this BFG cherry.
I already had the perfect pickup for it sitting here way before I even saw the guitar, a zebra red TB-6.

https://imgur.com/FbrDJKP

The BB3 I pulled out of it was seriously string rashed. I got this all wired in and could tell it was going to be too high to even allow play.... The TB-6 looks to have just a little bit longer legs.
(Again I'm learning as I go)


Ugh.... So what I decided to do after checking screw length clearances and making sure I couldn't cheat somewhere there was to just grab a hammer and a chisel and remove enough material to allow the pickup to sit a little bit lower. It worked... Might not be pretty or even the correct fix for it but... It works!

https://imgur.com/ZzXTaCc

https://imgur.com/KoQ7xsp

https://imgur.com/3ykmsKG

I slapped in some new beefy bottom skinny top strings and WOW! This pickup is absolutely perfect! The squeals! The harmonics!

https://imgur.com/6ubJHYX

Super happy!

 

[Mincer]

Interesting mounting system they use. I use threaded inserts for mine, but those plates look pretty sweet.

 

[Chistopher]

What material is your adapter plate made of?

 

[Securb]

I like the plate better than inserts

 

[Coma]

Wouldn't it have been easier to swap the chassis on the pup instead?

 

[jeremy]

not the cleanest way to do it, but its quick and ive done it before too, it works fine. im sure it sounds great! hard to go wrong with a dd for heavy stuff

 

[skelt101]

Wouldn't it have been easier to swap the chassis on the pup instead?

The chassis pole piece and mounting screw holes probably wouldn’t line up between these two pickups.

 

[jeremy]

correct

 

[80's_Metal]

What material is your adapter plate made of?

Feels like steel

 

[80's_Metal]

Wouldn't it have been easier to swap the chassis on the pup instead?

I didn't know that was an option, or even how to do that.

 

[80's_Metal]

not the cleanest way to do it, but its quick and ive done it before too, it works fine. im sure it sounds great! hard to go wrong with a dd for heavy stuff

It sounds perfect!

 

[Coma]

The chassis pole piece and mounting screw holes probably wouldn’t line up between these two pickups.

I don't mean swap between those two pups. A bottom plate is a piece of steel or brass with two legs bent downwards and a couple of holes drilled into it. I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet you could even get away with simply using a flat piece and not even bend the legs in this particular case.

Would require a bit of work, but nothing too complex as long as you have access to a drill. Bit of a hassle maybe, but the upside is you wouldn't do anything irreversible to the guitar body.

Just to be clear, I'm not knocking OPs work here. His guitar, his business.

 

[Chistopher]

Feels like steel

There's a chance it will change the tone of your pickup. Kind of like the baseplates you can put on Strats

 

[80's_Metal]

There's a chance it will change the tone of your pickup. Kind of like the baseplates you can put on Strats

Now that you said that, it's probably zinc