Pickup mounting screws

[Fish Out of Water]

OK, I really feel stupid asking this question, but here goes anyway...

I want to mount a humbucker in the bridge postion and a single coil in the neck of my current build.  But I want to mount them directly to the body, no mounting rings.  I can't seem to find the right screws for the job though.  The piuckups are threaded for a fine threaded screw and all of the wood screws that I have tried all seem to not fit properly.  I'm also having a hard time finding the right length, especially for the humbucker since the body already has the "wells" drilled out for the original screws clearance for ring mounting.  I was thinking about putting some dowels in there so that I could use a shorter screw, but I don't want to screw this build up.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate them and I do apologize in advance if this question is something that had already been covered in another thread.  I couldn't find it.

Thanks    :icon_scratch:

 

[blue313]

Generally you have to drill out the pickup mounting holes so that the screw doesnt catch at all.  Then just put some foam or springs under it. 

 

[Fish Out of Water]

I know that I have to drill pilot holes for the screws.  But don't i need a self tapping type of screw to hold the pickup in the wood of the guitar?  Wouldn't the finer threaded machine type screws slip out of the pre-drilled holes?

 

[blue313]

Yes, you need a wood screw so that the tip grabs wood, but the shaft shouldn't grab the pickup.  The holes in the pickup itself need to be drilled out with a larger bit, there should be no threads left to catch on the screw.   The head of the screw should be flush with the mounting tabs. The only thing pushing up is the foam or springs underneath it, and the head of the screw pushes down. 

When fully installed and ready to play, you should still be able to push down on the pickup until it bottoms out and have it spring all the way back to the screw head.

 

[stubhead]

You want some BASS pickup mounting screws, 1 1/4" long. They're thin, yet long.... :hello2: there's certainly some hardware screws somewhere that'll fit, but we know what bass pickup screws are. DiMarzio makes some - music store - and they're all over Ebay:
http://shop.ebay.com/items/__bass-pickup-screws_W0QQ_kwZbassQQ_kwZpickupQQ_kwZscrewsQQ_ckwZprescison?_trksid=p3286.c0.m104

Measure CAREfully, they may even be too long by 1/16" or so. In which case, you have to start the threads with the screw, then file a bit of the tip shorter and repoint it and be careful not to cross-thread your holes. Or they'll poke out the back. :sad1:

Or, you can adjust the height that the screwhead starts to press on the ears of the pickups, by putting sections of tubing on top of the ears too - you may have to play around with little washers, etc. Some pickups have ears all the way at the top, others all the way at the bottom, and in-between too.

Or you can get some shorter 1" hardware store screws and pad the back of the pickup with stuff, but it all depends on the ears.

(You can GLUE little blocks of wood in the hole to raise up the height of where the screw engages.... when there's a will, there's rock 'n' roll... arty07