Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

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keithl

New member
Hello-

I was wondering if anybody had a solution to this problem (or came across it in their travels).
I am replacing 2 pickups in a Kiesel Solo 6 guitar with Seymour Duncans (59/JB). The problem is the longer legs on the Seymour Duncans. The body is so thin that if you route the cavity, it will be cutting it too close to the back of the guitar.

My next thought was to modify the legs of the pickup somehow. I have attached pictures. The one on the left is the SD, the one on the right is the Kiesel pickup. As you can see, the pickups are about the same height, but those longer legs on the SDs cause an issue.

These pickups have to be direct mounted to the guitar. Any suggestions or feedback is definitely appreciated! I was trying to see if there was a "no legs" replacement baseplate online anywhere, but couldn't find any. The kiesel pickup has a hole right in the baseplate itself

Thanks in advance,
Keith
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Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

How thick is the body? It may indeed accept the needed mods. You just need to measure precisely first.

But you should just return the Duncans and get short legged ones, I'd say.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

Don't friggin route your guitar. Either exchange the pickups for short legged ones or change the baseplates.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

Just go to Mojotone and get another baseplate with short legs.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

Will short legs work, or do you need 'flat' legs?
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

Mincer said:
Will short legs work, or do you need 'flat' legs?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses, guys. My guitar tech has my guitar and pickups, so I cannot tell definitely if the short legs will work (I believe it shave about 6-7mm depth-wise, from my online research), but the kiesel body is pretty thin.

I am going to talk to him and see if he feels that would work. But "flat" legs would be the optimum solution, since the original Kiesel pickups have flat legs. Would you know of any baseplates that are flat like that?
 
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Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

DiMarzio humbucker ears are pretty close to being, if not exactly, right off the side of the baseplate.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

ItsaBass said:
DiMarzio humbucker ears are pretty close to being, if not exactly, right off the side of the baseplate.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I would want those 2 Seymour Duncans in the guitar (the JB/59 combo). I did a quick check to see if there were any DiMarzio baseplates for sale, but couldn't find any.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

FWIW, I have found it very easy to bend mounting legs as needed. That said, there is always a possibility that they can break off. If you're keeping the pickups and replacing the baseplates anyhow, it might be worth a try.

Also, you could deliberately cut off the stock legs, and smooth out the cut edges on the baseplate. Then bend and hammer the detached ears flat, and solder them to the bottoms of the baseplates. Sand both metal surfaces first to give the solder some grit to grab on to.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

Since they are direct mount, I would replace the baseplates, because you are going to have to strip the threads out of the tabs and likely need to round the corners down to fit. Keep the Duncan plates to put back on if you resell them later.
 
Re: Issue with long legs on SD replacement pickups

If this were a squier I'd say route, but since this is a kiesel I would definitely mod the cheaper item here.. I would swap baseplates (or have a pro do it as the factory solder is sometimes VERY difficult to melt) but take care to order baseplates with the correct pole spacing and external dimensions. There are a ton of minute variations any of which may make the pickups not fit, ask me how I know..
 
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