Screws for direct mounting pickups

Mincer

Mincer

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I am slowly putting together my Warmoth, and right now I am fitting the humbuckers in. Usually, I might drill out the mounting tabs on the pickup and use something like a Tele neck pickup wood screw for this. However, this body presents a problem, as there aren't they typical 'wells' in the pickup cavity for the longer screws. The other issue is that these are Custom Shop pickups, and I realized I don't really want to drill out the holes on these.

Any ideas of how to do this? I've seen expensive solutions like the FU Tone PMS brass plates, but they are $100 for 2 pieces of brass. and they won't work without the 'wells' under the mounting tabs.

The best solution would be very thin, black wood screws that pass right through the mounting holes and allow me to screw them into the wood. However, finding a wood screw that thin enough is a little bit of a process. I've seen others mention humbucker mounting ring screws, but I don't have any here, and I don't think they are thin enough.
 
I just went through this with a HotRails, and eventually found a very slender phillips head screw at Ace Hardware. They were threaded about halfway, with a smooth section at the top (near the screw head.) They *barely* (like, needed to be jiggled through) the threaded inserts in the HotRails.

I didn't take a note of the size, but just noting that I was able to find them without resorting to Fastenal or similar.

Larry
 
Take a pickup to Ace Hardware and go through the bins until you fine a small woodscrew that goes through. Ace, at least here, has the best assortment of a la carte hardware of the big names, Home Depot and Lowes generally just have big construction stuff. Or, maybe you have a local place with a good selection, I mean they are just woodscrews, you can probably find something at Stewmac or somewhere, but they will charge you a dollar for something they paid a couple of cents for. Ibanez direct mounts a lot of pickups and use small wood screws. Also you will probably want to put a piece of adhesive backed foam in the cavity to give some height adjustment.

I have used the PMS system (Mike Learn used to live near me), I'm not sure you need wells if you use short enough screws to screw the pickup to the brass piece, but it has been a while. It does work really well, but yes, pricey.
 
the ace by me doesnt have something small enough but fastenal was able to get me these and there were only a few cents each. normal bucker screws and springs for scale. i have a bunch of the longer steel ones but id think you want the smaller/shorter black one. they are almost like pickup ring screws so maybe look for those

small_screws.jpg - Click image for larger version Name: small_screws.jpg Views: 0 Size: 89.1 KB ID: 6078324
 
Another option is threaded inserts in the pickup cavity and use screws that are same size as what comes with the pickups but shorter. This also gives you the option to put spacers between the body and pickup tab if you need to raise them up a bit and keep it sturdy. You can still use spacers with regular wood screws but IME, it's not as sturdy.

And a +1 for pickup ring screws. Those do work well if you don't want to drill for inserts and such.
 
Yeah, no go at Ace or Home Depot today. Gonna check online. I thought about threaded inserts, too, and seen that done online. I don't know what benefit those might have over wood screws and foam, other than it is an extra step.
 
jeremy said:
the ace by me doesnt have something small enough but fastenal was able to get me these and there were only a few cents each. normal bucker screws and springs for scale. i have a bunch of the longer steel ones but id think you want the smaller/shorter black one. they are almost like pickup ring screws so maybe look for those

Click to expand...

Do you have a part number or size for those short black screws? And those will slip right through the mounting tabs?
 
dont have the part# since i dont have the bag any longer since i only have like two left but ill see if i can find out the size. i believe they are #2 and whatever length you need, those are 11/16"
 
Orpheo's suggestion is good, but I am having a hard time finding a US retailer with metric sheet metal screws in A2 2.2X25 size. I don't have any pickup ring screws to test if they will go right through the tapped holes of the pickup...I didn't think they were that thin.
 
i can check mine later tonight or tomorrow and confirm they fit through the holes without issue
 
Just realized I could take a pickup ring screw out of my Eastman and test. It is probably a metric screw, but it doesn't really fit through the hole. I could force-thread it, but that would certainly mess up the threads. I don't know if a USA pickup ring screw would work.
 
The search continues. I have a few places to check out tomorrow- specialty shops in the area. If I still worked at a music store, we had drawers of misc screws that didn't seem to go anywhere. And ordering 4 screws from somewhere and paying $10 shipping hits me the wrong way. But I'll do it if I can find them!
 
Interested too. Very hard to find in Melbourne AU, the local fastener shops don't stock these sizes. Found some on fleabay for few bucks with free shipping, still searching. Figured out a good size is 2.2mm diameter X 20-25mm length.
 
AdrianSD said:
Interested too. Very hard to find in Melbourne AU, the local fastener shops don't stock these sizes. Found some on fleabay for few bucks with free shipping, still searching. Figured out a good size is 2.2mm diameter X 20-25mm length.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the size I was told works, but due to the auto industry rejecting metrification in 1979, metric screws are impossible to find in the US.
 
Hey Dave, Sorry I'm a little late to the party but I have three 19mm long silver screws that fit through the PU hole (they don't slide right through the hole but almost, they need to be threaded through but are small enough that they won't mess up the existing threads in the PU). I also have four 16mm and four 20mm long gold screws that slip easily right through the holes. I have lots of black or silver screws that definitely need to be screwed through the holes and will possibly mess up the existing threads in the PU holes.

You are welcome to any of these if you like. I can get them in the mail to you today. You can send me an email to dave@drberg.org with your address and let me know what you want and I'll get them off to you right away.
 
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