TB-4 screw holes

N

Nmoc strat

New member
Hi

I'm a big fan of the JB TB-4, have it on 2 Strats, but with both, I had the same issue. These humbuckers were to replace the stock ones in Fender HSS pickguards, which have 2 screw holes above the humbucker, and one screw hole under it.

So, the TB-4 have 3 holes on each side, that should fit into the Fender pickguard, but unfortunatly, that was not the case with both my guitars.

I've used the same screws, for the down holes, as well as for the upper holes, only problem is that the screws wont fit the outer screw holes of the humbucker, only the center one. So, I had to drill a slightly bigger hole in the 2 outer screw holes of the humbucker, so I could fit em in the Fender pickguards, otherwise, they wouldnt fit, as these pickguards dont have a center screw hole on the upper side of the humbucker.

Anyone have tha same issue with a trembucker?
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

For some odd reason, the outer screw holes aren't functional. Unless an oversized self tapping screw is used.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

They don't thread the two outer holes at the shop.
They should IMO thread all three on top as stock.

The two holes on top system keeps thing tight which (like on Carvins also) helps-out tremendously in setting the pickups and individual poles for optimal/desired tone.

How is one going to optimize the poles if the pickup as a whole is even the slightest bit wiggly?
 
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Re: TB-4 screw holes

On our trembucker baseplates only the center hole of the three holes on each mounting tab is threaded. If direct mounting with a smaller diameter wood screw the outer holes could potentially be used, but they are not intended to be used for mounting the pickup generally.

The development of the Seymour Duncan Trembuckers actually precedes fender's use of the 2+1 mounting style on their HSS strats, so it is purely coincidence that the trembucker baseplates have three holes in each tab and the Fender HSS strats mount with the 2+1 mounting style they developed years alter. In addition to the holes not being tapped, those untapped holes do not line up with the mounting location on later Fenders.

With Fender Humbucker loaded strats with that mounting style I would recommend drilling a hole in the pickguard to allow for traditional mounting, or replacing the pickguard if aesthetics are a concern so as to avoid the two additional holes you would be left with (as seen below)
fender hss.jpg

In the custom shop we can build trembuckers with a specially machined attachment that allows for mounting using the Fedner 2+1 mounting style for TB's if so desired
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Arwin - THANK YOU!
I am going to guess or maybe assume, from where you sit, you have heard this complaint many, many times. I thank you for addressing it. I say thread them or age them out. It is good to see you respond Arwin, from my IPad to your work bench.
Demanic - HE is also giving good advice, Nmoc strat. I've done the exact thing one time, and it worked out beautifully.
Steve Buffington
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Happy to help Steve. I think it's pretty natural to assume that the SD trembucker and the Fender HB mounting style would be compatible, as in a perfect world that would be the case and would make a lot of sense. Unless somebody at Fender R&D had a strange sense of humor I think it's purely coincidence that the untapped holes on the Trembuckers and the mounting hole locations on the Fender pickups almost line up.

Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, F-spaced Fender branded humbuckers are the only ones to feature the 2+1 mounting style, thankfully on a lot of their newer models with an HB in the bridge they seem to have adopted a more universal mounting style
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Actually, I've never heard the official reasoning, so it is good to finally hear this.
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Arwin said:
Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, F-spaced Fender branded humbuckers are the only ones to feature the 2+1 mounting style, thankfully on a lot of their newer models with an HB in the bridge they seem to have adopted a more universal mounting style
Click to expand...

Carvins,,,,,,but they're even less popular than Fender humbuckers I suppose lol.
The Carvin bezel-mount system is the rock-solid best though for non-direct-mounts,,,,and it sure would be nice if aftermarket pups could be used in their 2/1 bezels.

When they install optional perpetual-burns in the Becker guitars they use the standard goofy 1/1 bezels that allow for pickup-wiggle and have big ugly gaps between the ring and pickups. (probably the ones that come with the Duncan trembuckers).

Call me picky that's fine,,,,,,,,but why not embrace a better system when it can't be that much more expensive to tap the other two top holes.
If it costs much Carvin wouldn't have done it with their own pups in the first place lol.

I'm not saying SD should drill the holes to be compatible with Carvin stuff,,,,,,I'm saying SD should sell their pups with custom form-fitted rings like the Carvins (and like the dimebucker) and use the 2/1 system because it's a cheap and helpful improvement.
 
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Re: TB-4 screw holes

dave74 said:
Carvins,,,,,,but they're even less popular than Fender humbuckers I suppose lol.
The Carvin bezel-mount system is the rock-solid best though for non-direct-mounts,,,,and it sure would be nice if aftermarket pups could be used in their 2/1 bezels.

When they install optional perpetual-burns in the Becker guitars they use the standard goofy 1/1 bezels that allow for pickup-wiggle and have big ugly gaps between the ring and pickups. (probably the ones that come with the Duncan trembuckers).

Call me picky that's fine,,,,,,,,but why not embrace a better system when it can't be that much more expensive to tap the other two top holes.
If it costs much Carvin wouldn't have done it with their own pups in the first place lol.

I'm not saying SD should drill the holes to be compatible with Carvin stuff,,,,,,I'm saying SD should sell their pups with custom form-fitted rings like the Carvins (and like the dimebucker) and use the 2/1 system because it's a cheap and helpful improvement.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for taking the time to write Dave and providing some solid examples of why you prefer that mounting style. In terms of the functionality and the 'wiggle' factor, although I totally understand the 'two heads are better than one' argument I've always had good luck getting a solid and wiggle-free fit with the traditional mounting style as long as the springs used for height adjustment are tall enough to accommodate the pickup height. In my personal experience any issues I've encountered are easily solved with a longer spring.

Nothing wrong with being picky, it usually leads to better and more refined products. If you haven't checked it out yet I think you should visit the SDRL where you can submit product ideas like this directly

https://sdrl.seymourduncan.com/

I think the dime-style ring (and also humbucker rings) actually can fit any uncovered humbucker or uncovered trembucker and provide a more sleek look without the gap. With our trembucker rings they must accommodate covered trembuckers as well, so with an uncovered trembucker there is that slightly unsightly gap.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that if you have an existing mounting style you want to accommodate we can also do some custom fabrication in the custom shop and make pickups that can accommodate virtually any mounting style. Obviously it is not as convenient and cheap as having a ready made production pickup with that mounting style, but it can be made!
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

If anyone knows the answers, I've got two questions I have never been able to figure out:

1- What is the story behind the two extra holes on each side and how come only bridge TB's have them?

2- What is the advantage of the 2+1 mounting system? As far as I can tell all it does is make it harder to adjust the left side. I could also understand it fixing pickups from wobbling around, but aren't there 200 different ways to fix that?
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

With 2/1 you can set the bridge pickups's tilt exactly to matches the angle of the strings as they pass over.
Some, myself included, believe they sound just a hair better even if you set the bridge-pup's tilt so that it matches parallel with the strings when they are fretted up very high on the board.
This also of course means that when you play a string open the bridge-side of the pup will be slightly closer to the string than the neck-side is.

With 2/1 mounting you can set it exactly and it's tight as a nun's a.
If it's super tight it makes it easier to adjust poles down to the nth of a mm so they sound best.


edit; and yes this is totally a "first-world" problem! lol I'm just seeking pefection here.
I do know how to get them fairly tight with the conventional 1/1 system by making sure the spring is long enough to be squeezed well when the pickup is adjusted within it's position of best tone.
 
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Re: TB-4 screw holes

dave74 said:
With 2/1 you can set the bridge pickups's tilt exactly to matches the angle of the strings as they pass over.
Some, myself included, believe they sound just a hair better even if you set the bridge-pup's tilt so that it matches parallel with the strings when they are fretted up very high on the board.
This also of course means that when you play a string open the bridge-side of the pup will be slightly closer to the string than the neck-side is.

With 2/1 mounting you can set it exactly and it's tight as a nun's a.
If it's super tight it makes it easier to adjust poles down to the nth of a mm so they sound best.


edit; and yes this is totally a "first-world" problem! lol I'm just seeking pefection here.
I do know how to get them fairly tight with the conventional 1/1 system by making sure the spring is long enough to be squeezed well when the pickup is adjusted within it's position of best tone.
Click to expand...

And I take it they don't do that for the neck pickup because no one uses it anyway.

:haha:
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Chistopher said:
And I take it they don't do that for the neck pickup because no one uses it anyway.

:haha:
Click to expand...

Well many do prefer the neck to tilt the opposite way actually, so that the main-poles (usually on the neck-side of the neck-pup) are the closer poles.
Most of my necks are double-hex, double screw, or rails (counting emgs as rails also),,,,,,,,so I set necks fairly flat or with a slight tilt that matches the bridge-pup instead of opposing it.

I don't play angled necks or use tapered bezels,,,,,,but when looking at those (like LPs) notice the bezel-taper is often greater than the neck's back-angle.
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

Arwin and all -
I have had stellar, and I mean just great success fixing the wiggle of any humbucker for the last 50 years by just bending the spring screw just below the head, about 1/4 inch down on both sides or just one, and having a tight spring, but nothing too hard to work with, just long enough to push the spring up and get it started is strong enough, and the bent screw works wonders.
It does not take much of a bend, either. I do it to all my p'up's as a matter of course. I don't remember how I figured that out as I was 15 years old or so, to long ago for this guys memory. But need is the mother of invention.
Steve Buffington
 
Re: TB-4 screw holes

There's a couple more ways I know of as well to almost make them super-tight,,,,,,almost.

I don't more than barely graze the bottom of the bezel with my right pinky when playing, but I have a buddy who "anchors" his pinky and maybe his ring-finger as well around the bottom edge of the pickup itself. John Petrucci even does this, but I imagine his techs have that puppy (p.i.) screwed down super-firm, plus he obviously has such a controlled touch that I doubt he wiggles the pup at all,,,,,,,,,,,but my buddy does, even if it's fairly tight by all normal standards.

You can literally push on the Carvin bezel-mount pickup and it won't rock at all (p.i. again lol,,,,,well it won't rock quite like a seymour duncan that is :bowdown:
 
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