Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

[3skin]

Hi,
Have any of you replaced a Fender DH-1 with a Seymour Duncan humbucker? Love the guitar, but I don't like the DH-1, so I ordered a Duncan Custom Trembucker. The pickup doesn't fit. It doesn't fit properly in the pickguard, and even though the Custom has the 3 holes on each side, they are not the same size, or spaced the same as the DH-1. I figured, buying the Trembucker, I would just be able to put it in and solder the wires. Now it seems that I will have to expand the hole in the pickgard to fit the Custom, and drill another hole for the screws. Am I missing something? Did I order the wrong size pickup? Don't really want to alter the pickguard. Is this normal on the strat?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

I know what you're talking about. I had the same problem before with a Custom Custom trembucker. Too wide to fit in a humbucker routed pickguard. Turns out it's the bulges in the windings that stopped it from fitting. I don't know if other Duncan trembuckers have the same issue or not. DiMarzio F-Spaced pickups fit fine. Seems like Duncans are a little but wider too. You could always go with a standard spaced custom. With the modern Fender bridges, the spacing won't be off by all that much.

 

[3skin]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

Thanks ErikH, I thought I just ordered the wrong size pickup. Would the screws on the Dimarzio line up better then the Duncan? My pickup/pickguard has 2 screws on one side and one screw on the other side, and even though the Duncan has the 3 screw holes like the fender, they are spaced much closer together, and I would have to drill an additional hole, which I don't want to do. Thanks for your help.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

DiMarzios don't have the 3-hole tabs like Duncan trembuckers so no, they wouldn't work without drilling a hole anyway. You could probably get away with using one screw with the Duncan on that side.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

Wow that's a drag, man. The same thing happened to me with the Bill and Becky L-500XL- I spent about an hour shaving one side of the pickguard down so I could fit the pup! The Demon trembucker fit perfectly in my aftermarket H/S/S pickguard though... as did the standard spaced Jazz and Custom in my other strat's stock H/S/S. You may try the sandpaper technique - just don't make the mistake of getting too fine a grain (like I did) or it will take you a while!

 

[3skin]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

Thanks for the replies guys. I appreciate it. I t bums me out that I can't get a Duncan where I don't have to drill another hole in the pickguard.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Pickup Help for an American Deluxe HSS Strat

At least you don't have to drill into your guitar - only two of my new pickguards holes match with my guitar's holes! Boo :bsflag: