Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

de_dUKe

de_dUKe

New member
..just got my Duncan Distortion trembucker to drop in the bridge.. new HSS pickguard.. new 500k pots.. super excited..

..moved everything perfectly onto my new setup.. soldered in all the new pots and the lovely shiny new white DD..

..finalised and set the loaded pickguard into position and...huh, it doesnt fit..the pickguard is raised a 1/4" from the guitar.. :omg:

..the long screws from the Distortion are bottoming out in my shallow route and I also notice that this is the Long Legged version of the pickup..

..i did think the screws were oversized and the spring that came with them even more so as I was fitting them but i just didn't see it being a problem..

..I've measured the body of the pickup and baseplate and it seems it might just fit the guitar if I fully secure the pickup to the desired height and cut the excess length from the screws.. Also doing some research, it leads me to believe a long legged humbucker may fit in a Fender Strat bridge route, though there wasn't a whole of info I could find about it..

..Any of you guys any experience of this..?? :?:

..Other options I guess are return the pickup and insist on a short-legged alternative or change the baseplate or even modify what I have being that the pickup or a small route on the guitar.. Personally I'd like to hear that it fits ok, with some height adjustment available with the shorter screws..

..Thanks so much for any advice.. :headbang:
 
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Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Snip the screws with heavy duty wire cutters.
 
Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

de_dUKe said:
..just got my Duncan Distortion trembucker to drop in the bridge.. I also notice that this is the Long Legged version of the pickup.
Click to expand...
This is simply NOT true. A "long-legged" version of a Trembucker baseplate simply does not exist. So, if it's "long-legged", it just can't be a trembucker.

So what is it?
 
Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

de_dUKe said:
..just got my Duncan Distortion trembucker to drop in the bridge.. new HSS pickguard.. new 500k pots.. super excited..

..moved everything perfectly onto my new setup.. soldered in all the new pots and the lovely shiny new white DD..

..finalised and set the loaded pickguard into position and...huh, it doesnt fit..the pickguard is raised a 1/4" from the guitar.. :omg:

..the long screws from the Distortion are bottoming out in my shallow route and I also notice that this is the Long Legged version of the pickup..

..i did think the screws were oversized and the spring that came with them even more so as I was fitting them but i just didn't see it being a problem..

..I've measured the body of the pickup and baseplate and it seems it might just fit the guitar if I fully secure the pickup to the desired height and cut the excess length from the screws.. Also doing some research, it leads me to believe a long legged humbucker may fit in a Fender Strat bridge route, though there wasn't a whole of info I could find about it..

..Any of you guys any experience of this..?? :?:

..Other options I guess are return the pickup and insist on a short-legged alternative or change the baseplate or even modify what I have being that the pickup or a small route on the guitar.. Personally I'd like to hear that it fits ok, with some height adjustment available with the shorter screws..

..Thanks so much for any advice.. :headbang:
Click to expand...

In such cases, I dig the wood with a Dremel. YMMV.

Snip the screws with heavy duty wire cutters.
Click to expand...

FWIW, shorter screw poles would reduce the inductance of the pickup and its magnetic field in such a way that it would slightly alter its tone. Now, it can be a desirable effect: I've already done that intentionally. :-)
 
Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Ohh. I probably wouldn't cut the poles, I was referring to the mounting screws. :rambo:
 
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Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Clint 55 said:
Ohh. I probably wouldn't cut the poles,:
Click to expand...
Why? That's arguably the best thing to do to a HB... for the record, all my neck p'ups have the polepiece screws cut flush with the baseplate, and most of my bridge p'ups as well.
 
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Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Clint 55 said:
Ohh. I probably wouldn't cut the poles, I was referring to the mounting screws. :rambo:
Click to expand...

LOL. My bad: fast reading = misunderstanding. :-))

Yes, snipping the mounting screws is obviously a solution if they are the culprits. Now, when the legs themselves don't fit, I usually find easier to dig the wood than to trim the nickel silver baseplate (even if it's doable too). :-)

Why? That's arguably the best thing to do to a HB... for the record, all my neck p'ups have the polepiece screws cut flush with the baseplate, and most of my bridge p'ups as well.
Click to expand...

Hi Pepe,

I'll impudently quote myself (LOL): IME, shortening the screw poles reduces the inductance and changes the magnetic field in such a way that it slightly alters the tone, making it brighter (typically). But as I said, it's not necessarily a bad thing ; on the contrary, it can be a benefit for our tone (possible reason why I've already met some models initially fitted with shorter screw poles than expected).

I wish you all a nice day.
 
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Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Hi,
I have, on several occasions, not only cut the leg screws, but have cut the corners on each end of the legs. So instead of a square leg for the leg screws, I have 4 sets of "rounded off, or clipped and pointy" leg ends. Don't feel like messing with my
Quite heavy and awkward hand drill I have. They have always worked, never even got slightly bent.
Hope That Helps, as Pepe would say (HTH),
Steve
 
Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

..Thanks for the support and suggestions guys..
..Just to clarify it was indeed the mounting screws that were the problem and not the pole piece screws.. I should have been more specific.. And the PUP isn't the long legged version as Lt. Kojak pointed out.. Good work detective and have yourself a lollipop for your efforts..! : private:

So.. I have set the PUP height approximately and then trimmed the mounting screws by about 1cm (3/8") and they now fit perfectly with full PUP height adjustment still possible.. I made two shallow screw sized recesses in the guitar under the screws for good measure too..

..I guess I over reacted the situation regarding the baseplate issue but it was 3am and I was tired, frustrated and inexperienced in these matters.. It just seemed like it was never gonna fit in the guitar..

.Many thanks to all who contributed.. Very much appreciated..:headbang:
 
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Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

That's ok, when I am working late at night and some wiring or something else isn't right, I freak out, too. I am sure I am just tired and cranky, and want the whole thing done. I know to work on projects during the day now, where I can research, ask questions and get timely answers! I hate being frustrated and not being able to think clearly about things.
 
Re: Long Screws.. With Long Legs.. And A Fender Strat..

Mincer,
As per your last sentence, were you talking about me?
If so, I agree,
StEve bUfFinGToN < (I am pretty sure about that)
 
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