Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

C

constant mesh

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A guy brought in a Squier 72 Tele with Duncan Designed P90. The neck pup was below the pickguard but the screws were still holding. This is why the guitar came in. I screwed it back up and it was snug as it could be. I could never get that pickup drop down again. After removing the pickguard and examining the threads and both the screws and the brass bar on the pup are perfectly okay. No shavings or metallic particles whatsoever. Threads are also snug when put together, so I don't think it could be thread slipping.

The guy says the pup drops on its own when he's playing. And it's only the neck pup. I can see some people have an aggressive right hand and can misadjust pups with larger screw heads on the bass side, but these are so tiny and snug they don't move at all without a screwdriver.

I still cannot find out how he manages to drop the pup below the pickguard both treble/bass without damaging the thread. There are no scratches or swirls from the pick in that area either.

Any ideas?
 
Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

Where the brass bar runs beneath the pickup, there are eight holes, six for the polepiece screws and two smaller ones to accept a pair of smaller, countersunk screws.

My hunch is that the polepieces are up very high and the two countersunk screws are missing. Hence, the pickup is free to drop off its perch, so to speak.
 
Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

What is supposed to hold it up? Foam? Bottom springs? Is there a mounting bar or bushings attached to the body, or do the screws go into the wood? Or is it mounted SG Jr. full-guard style (dogear baseplate, soapbar cover, hanging from pickguard)?
 
Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

The DD P90 used on some Squier VM guitars has the regular Soapbar style cover and baseplate BUT the Squier has height adjustment screws beyond the end of each pickup - roughly where a dogear P90 would have them. This is achieved by screwing a brass bar to the underside of the P90, using the holes that would normally be used from above on a Gibson. The ends of the polepiece screws act as a guide.

On the instrument described in the OP, the underside fastening screws are almost certainly missing. The only thing holding the pickup to the bar is magnetism (to brass!) and the only thing keeping the pickup in the scratchplate cut out is the edges of the P90 cover.

EDIT - Forgot to mention. The pickup routs in the Squier VM Tele Custom are a rather generous one-size-fits-all affair, capable of housing humbuckers with full length elevator screw lugs, Firebird/LP mini humbuckers or P90s with plenty of space left over.

The height adjustment screws are connected to the brass bar. The brass bar does not seem to be properly attached to the underside of the pickup. By rights, the pickup should be just as prone to flopping out of the guitar as it is to dropping inwards.

FWIW, on my Squier VM Tele Custom II, the neck position P90 is adjusted with 3/32" showing above the pickguard on the bass side and 4/42" on the treble side.
 
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Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

OK; I understand. It's basically SG Jr. full guard style, but instead of dogear baseplates, the baseplate ears are. jury-rigged via a bar.

I'm having trouble seeing how those two bar-mounting screws being lost would cause the pickup to change height. I can see it slipping off the bar and sliding down under the guard. But in order for it to do a simple up or down thing without going canted, it would have to be that the bar is actually changing height.
 
Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

image.jpgThe strings were off my Squier. Here's a photograph.

L-R: Height adjustment screw, two redundant holes, E polepiece, baseplate screw, B polepiece, bar-to-baseplate screw, G and D polepieces, bar-to-polepiece screw, A polepiece, baseplate screw, E polepiece, two redundant holes, height adjustment screw.

It is my belief that the two largest screws are missing, leaving the pickup effectively perched on the brass bar with only the polepieces and scratchplate cut out to locate it. With the pickup adjusted ridiculously low, it is inevitable that it will eventually drop of its perch.

It is an ex-pickup. It has ceased to be. :D
 
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Re: Pickup is dropping down into the cavity

I have the same guitar, although I'm using HBs, atm.

I could maybe see the pickup disappearing under the pickguard as FunkFingers suggested, but the pickup would have to be set pretty low in the first place. Slippage of the screws would have been my first guess, though. That's happened to me with older pickups. My Demon uses a 4-40 on one side, while a Dirty Fingers uses 4-40 on both sides.

Btw, don't try to put a SP90-1 (SD vintage) in the neck as they are too tall. I shaved the wood down a little where the screws touched and it helped a little, but it was still pretty high - like "the strings were scratching the cover on the bass side" high.
 
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