Lowering Pickup Height? (Wood Mount)

rorycosgrove

Junior Member
Messages
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Hey guys, my Soloist build has been going smoothly, but I have one issue I’m not sure of the best way to solve. I opted for wood mounted humbuckers purely for aesthetics, and I don’t regret it even with this issue. My JB in the bridge installed easily with some tiny wood screws and foam, but the 59 in my neck position sits quite a bit higher, so even with the metal base of the pickup directly touching the wood it’s too high up. I’m no expert luthier, so the only thing I can think of is to sand down the parts of the rout where the pickup sits so it can drop deeper.

Any suggestions here?

Thanks
 
What length are the legs on the humbuckers? Wood mount legs are usually shorter to allow for this
 
elstoof said:
What length are the legs on the humbuckers? Wood mount legs are usually shorter to allow for this
That’s what I thought too. I can’t get an exact measurement as it’s still mounted, but the legs on the 59 are around 14mm tall whereas the JB are only 8mm tall. I had no idea they could be so different
 
Sounds like you’ve got a ring mount pickup in the neck, they’re usually 1/2” long legs. Wood mount routed bodies leave more wood to give you less chance of screwing through the back, ring mount has a deeper pocket for more adjustment and longer legs. It’s pretty straightforward to swap the baseplate on the pickups, just Google for humbucker base plates and get some 1/4” ones
 
elstoof said:
Sounds like you’ve got a ring mount pickup in the neck, they’re usually 1/2” long legs. Wood mount routed bodies leave more wood to give you less chance of screwing through the back, ring mount has a deeper pocket for more adjustment and longer legs. It’s pretty straightforward to swap the baseplate on the pickups, just Google for humbucker base plates and get some 1/4” ones
Ahh ok thank you, I didn’t realize swapping that part could be simple enough!
 
Just be sure to check the dimensions of the ones you have now, there’s some different string widths available so you want ones that match your pickups
 
elstoof said:
Just be sure to check the dimensions of the ones you have now, there’s some different string widths available so you want ones that match your pickups
Yea from what I’m looking at, I have to match the pole spacing which I’m trying to figure out how to do

Update: ok my 59 has a 49mm pole spacing, just gotta find one now
 
Yep, the problem is your 59 has long legs. It's easiest to wood mount pickups with short legs.


This is yet another example of how much trickier it is to design parts (where you have to try and be compatible with everything under the sun) than complete guitars (where you only have to make a single set of parts work together, then duplicate it 1,000 times).


 
The Aaron said:
Yep, the problem is your 59 has long legs. It's easiest to wood mount pickups with short legs.


This is yet another example of how much trickier it is to design parts (where you have to try and be compatible with everything under the sun) than complete guitars (where you only have to make a single set of parts work together, then duplicate it 1,000 times).
Hey thanks for the reply Aaron, love what you’re doing on the YouTube channel!

And yup, makes sense, I’ve got a replacement baseplate on its way, now I just have to not destroy my pickup during the swap! 😂
 
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