Rear route Tele how to connect the pickups to the body?

[PDReynolds]

Hi All,
I am new to Warmth and building my first custom telecaster. I am looking at a design that is without a pick guard and would highlight a custom wood finish. My question is about how the pickups are connected to the body and setup for pickup height? Since I will not have a pick guard I can't figure how this will work.

I also a considering using some nice EMG active pickups for tele. The EMG pickups have 2 mounting holes at each end of the neck pickup and the bridge pickup has 3 mounting holes - 2 on the bottom side and one on the top side.

Thanks
Peter

 

[stubhead]

The pickups are usually screwed direct to the body, and the height is regulated with some rubber/vinyl tubing that slides over the screws holding them. To run the wiring, for sure you're going to want to pick up a long drill bit, they call them "aircraft" bits. 1/8" X 12" would do nicely. Then the normal way is to connect the neck pickup pocket to the bridge pickup pocket, and from there through to the control cavity. You may find you can hit a good angle towards the bridge pickup route right from the neck pocket, but if not, it's entirely acceptable to start in the NECK pocket - keep the drill completely flat, and drill from the neck pocket, to the neck pickup hole, and right on through to the bridge pocket. The hole from the neck pocket doesn't get used for any wiring, it's just an access to drill the hole between the pickups. Getting from the bridge pickup route to the control cavity is pretty easy, by comparison.

While you're working on this, you might as well figure up your strategy to get a ground wire from the bridge to the cavity, too. Now, if you use EMG's, you won't need to ground the bridge - however, EMG's have those flat quick-connectors to hook the wiring up, and they're not going to go through a small hole. I'm not really sure how people do that? You could drill some parallel holes and remove the wood between them, to get little slot-shaped holes for the connector, or you could attach the plug to the pickup, run the wires through and just accept that the connector-thing is going to stay on one side of the wiring hole forevermore.

 

[stratamania]

Welcome to the forum.

On the EMGs I would suggest ordering a body with a battery box, just to make changing it easier.

The bridge pickup with the three mounting points will fit in a Tele style bridge if you are planning to use one. If not then it's a similar situation to mounting the neck pickup.

I think there are about three options, regardless of EMGs or something else.

1. Tele style single coil mounting rings.
2. Screw them direct to the body with wood screws of a suitable size.
3. Threaded inserts in the body that the mounting screws / bolts go into.

1 and 3 would be adjustable. 1 is probably easier but possibly less elegant depending on your point of view. 3. Is in my opinion a good solution.

2. Is similar to what EVH did. Little or no adjustment and may involve the pickups original threads being altered.

 

[Cagey]

I am new to Warmth and building my first custom telecaster. I am looking at a design that is without a pick guard and would highlight a custom wood finish. My question is about how the pickups are connected to the body and setup for pickup height? Since I will not have a pick guard I can't figure how this will work.

I also a considering using some nice EMG active pickups for tele. The EMG pickups have 2 mounting holes at each end of the neck pickup and the bridge pickup has 3 mounting holes - 2 on the bottom side and one on the top side.

Mounting pickups usually has more to do with aesthetics than anything else, and there are basically two ways to do it. You can hang them or screw them directly to to the body wood. Hanging them from mounting rings or a pickguard (commonly known as a "trapeze" mount) is easier and most often used. In the absence of a pickguard I usually use mounting rings because screwing them in directly leaves the fiddle looking unfinished to me, but opinions vary. Also, some folks believe a wood mount sounds better. Jury's still out on that point of view. I don't subscribe to it, but that's just me. I mean, I love broccoli, but a lotta people won't let that stuff anywhere near their mouth  :icon_biggrin:

Using mounting rings is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. You see that method used a lot on carved tops, where you couldn't install a pickguard even if you wanted to. Mounting to the body is a little more of a job. You can do as Stubby said above and use surgical tubing, but springs work as well. Tough part is locating the screw holes so things line up nicely, then keeping the little rascals from loosening the screws over time. Sometimes, folks use foam or sponge rubber under the pickup to force it up against the mounting screws for height adjustment. Neither way is as reliable as a trapeze mount, but it works for a while.

 

[fdesalvo]

Welcome aboard.  You wouldn't happen to be on TGP or BareKnuckle's forum, would you?

I installed some threaded inserts to mount my Tele's neck SC and used a mounting ring for the bridge HB.  On my new build, I'l likely do the same, but am toying with the idea of using inserts for the HM, as well.  Like Cagey said, they can have an unfinished appearance - but, in my mind, only when not properly executed.