My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

G

Gutwrencher

New member
My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

I got the Black Winter set recently for my Ibanez RG7421. When I installed them, I screwed them to the very bottom of the pickup holes. However, they still jut out so much that the guitar can’t be restrung properly. My question is this: Should I drill holes at the bottom of the guitar so that the screws at the bottom of the pickups can go through those holes to give the pickups the ability to go lower? Or should I cut the bottom screws of the pickups off to give the pups the room to move down? I’m just worried if I do the latter, it might change the tone of the pickups. If I do the former, it might look awful and affect the resonance of the wood. Your thoughts on the matter would be most appreciated.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

dont drill holes in your guitar. a far as the screws on the pups, id try and find replacement screws rather than cutting the ones you have. someone here can tell you the size you need. it will change the tone slightly but you may like the change
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Usually the pickup height adjustment screws are a bigger problem than the ones in the coil. Also, try figuring out exactly what's bottoming out on the pickup.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Picture please

Usually the legs extend beyond the pole screws

I was thinking new base plate with shorter legs

Or send them to Duncan for nodding
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

I'd like a pic, too- I am having trouble visualizing this.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Mincer said:
I'd like a pic, too- I am having trouble visualizing this.
Click to expand...

I think the issue he's having is that the height adjuster screws are bottoming out. Such is the reason why Warmoth does this to their bodies:

Screenshot_20190422-154549_Chrome.jpg
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Snip off the excess screw or use shorter ones.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

It's a direct mount rout

Are you trying to mount it with rings (wrong), ysing the supplied screws (wrong), or using the screws that the original pickups came with (correct)?


Hmmm... if you're doing everything correctly and still no good, I'd guess it's because the BW is a Distortion-family bucker with a doublethick magnet, making it SIGNIFICANTLY taller than PAF-likes or whatever the heck the stock buckers are
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Does this illustrate the height difference issue of BW vs. the original pickups?

2019-04-22 13.08.18.jpg


If so, you cant install that humbucker in that direct mount rout. If it's just shallow but the body is thick enough, it MIGHT be possible to make it deep enough... but not necessarily and not without risk of messing it up.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Oh cool, I get it. To me, this isn't a DIY thing if shorter screws won't work. It would be super easy to go right through the body.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Mincer
Duncan will mod those once wont they?

I mean it's part of the "swap if you dont like" policy ain't it?
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

I think they have in the past. You can always send over an email, or call.
M-F 8:00-5:00 PST
Tech Support Hotline:
805-716-6747
General Info:
805-964.9610
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

DBB888A4-A95A-4FC8-B8F4-EDC4710FC751.jpg
Exhibit A of what I mean. You can see here that the neck pickup at the lowest setting I possibly can get it to currently is as tall as the frets on the neck.

IMG_0464.jpg
Exhibit B. The routed hole is too small for the pickups I have.

IMG_0463.jpg
Exhibit C. These are the back screws I'm talking about.

I appreciate all your help so far, guys. Hopefully, these pictures will help you get me to a more well defined answer. I doubt SD will mod them now since I've had the pickups for a solid 5 months in another guitar. I probably don't want it modded anyway since it will affect the tone. I really like the tone I got from them in the other guitar. I'm just putting them in this guitar because this one has a hardtail bridge, while the original guitar had a floyd rose. Thankfully, the soldering isn't an issue, as I got that done myself in the span of 30 minutes.

Adieu, that certainly helps to illustrate my point. Thank you. I'm not using mounting rings, I'm just trying to get it in the direct mount using the screws that came with the pickups.
Chistopher, the guitar in question has that too, as you'll hopefully see in Exhibit B. That's why I believe the back screws are the culprit, as they are almost as tall as the mounting legs (or whatever you call those side parts that you screw in to adjust the pickup height).
 
Last edited:
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Yeah you can probably hacksaw them...or replace them with shorter screws
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

I cut the coil screws all the time, its a standard mod to a JB for me. I will say this using like bolt cutters leaves nasty edges. I either use a bench grinder or I use a cut off wheel in a dremel so there are less problems. It will change the pickup response a bit but not the tone so much.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

They're screws

For starters, BACK THEM OUT to almost-flush and see if it actually sits low enough to work for your guitar...

If and only if it does, either get some replacements in the right length (make sure to get a material that works with magnetism!) or cut them down
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

I agree with Adieu, make sure it will work before cutting anything, but the big magnets may still make the pickup sit too high with the current mounting tabs.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Wow, that's pretty high. Is the baseplate bottoming out?
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

It looks like the polepiece screws may be hitting before the baseplate tabs hit the wood in the recessed pockets, but since those do have bigger magnets, I would still test as Adieu mentioned by backing out the polepiece screws and making sure the pickup will mount low enough it those are cut.
 
Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

Re: My guitar’s body is too thin, I guess... Suggestions?

looking at the pic, i think if you replace (or cut) the screws flush with the baseplate, you will be ok
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top