Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

D

DesertRose

New member
Hi guys ...

Gotten myself a pair of PUs, used.
Realized that they are with no screw threading and the wires are too short.
I'm using a LP, I could savage the pickups by extending the wires with 28ga silver wires and shrinkable rubber insulation.

However any ideas on the screw part?
One way I could think of is to fasten a bolt and washer on the bottom side of the pickup and screw it down with the spring's help to prevent the bolt from spinning off.
Then again whether the bolt may come off one day in future I ain't sure, because it is not securely tightened.

Anyone else experienced such mishap and manage to fix it DIY?
Thanks
 
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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

Btw
About the lengthening,
Could I just use any electrical wire to lengthen instead of 28ga wire?

I wish to kill some myth lingering in my head if there is.
Thanks


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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

How long do you need to lengthen? You can use 26 or 28 gauge wire but you don't want to lose too much length of the shielding. If they are 4 wire + shield, you can buy a length of pickup wire and solder and heat shrink the individual wires and the shield and then heat shrink over the entire gap between original wire and new. If it's single conductor, like vintage braid, you can do the same with the hot lead and then use a length of braided sleeve to slide over and solder join the two shields. If you only need a couple inches, you may be fine with extending the wires and shield without having to use an outer insulation (like heat shrink).

In terms of the lack of threads, do the pickups still have the legs and tabs like humbuckers do? Just not a threaded hole in the tabs? Maybe they were direct mount or someone drilled the thread out to make them direct mount. If the hole isn't too oversized, you can possibly tap it, going up 1 screw size and the screw head on top of the mounting ring may not look out of place . Otherwise, I'm thinking a little JB welding a nut on the bottom side of the mounting tab. Otherwise, you can just replace the bottom plates. You'd want replacements with the same pole piece screw spacing as the bobbins.
 
Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

Sadly
Need to Lengthen abt 2inches more.
I was wondering if those normal copper cables could do good instead of specifically getting a "26ga or 28ga" wire.
4 wire humbuckers. Will check it out.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I may weld the nut. Previous owner mentioned it's taken off a Suhr guitar.
I thought suhr guitars all along have adjustable pickup mounts.


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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

Ok
I realized that this ga thingy is the diameter size.
Duh
No wonder I'm not getting any replies.
Will update after wiring up.


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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

If you only need to add a couple of inches, try it by just adding the necessary, individual wires. If it's quiet enough, then no reason to try and add a section of shielded wire which is more work to do. No, it doesn't have to be 26 or 28 gauge wire, that's usually just the gauge that the multi-conductor pickup wiring is. You can use anything you have available, the individual wires aren't special.

For the record, I have a 100 foot roll of 4 conductor, non-paired, shielded wire. It's not made specifically for pickups and it's a lot cheaper than wire made specifically for pickups. The wires are 24 gauge and overall, it's a bit stiffer than pickup wire. I use it when I have to extend pickup wire. That's what I bought it for. So again, you don't have to use 28 gauge or any dedicated pickup wire. It was just a suggestion in case you had to extend the wiring more than a couple of inches, and it's easy to find. They will get you for a buck per foot though ... http://www.mojotone.com/guitar-part...onductor-Shielded-28-Gauge-Guitar-Pickup-Wire

As far as adding a nut. Note that I said JB Weld, as in adhesive. I don't think I'd try actually welding a nut onto the base plate. I don't weld but I imagine that doing so would risk trashing the pickup unless the baseplate was removed first. JB Weld ... https://www.jbweld.com/collections/epoxy-adhesives/products/j-b-weld-twin-tube
 
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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

Hey thanks.
I will keep those in mind.
At least they can be savaged. I really wanted these pickups badly.


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Re: Pickup installation - some mod needed, any advice?

Just an update.
I used hex screws with a nut at the bottom to secure the pickup. The spring tension prevents the nut from coming off.
Extension done with normal electrical wires. Impedance remains unchanged.

All good. Thanks
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