Using rings on wood mount route

[wormbot]

Hi all, like everyone else once in a while I changed my mind. I want to change the pickup mounting of my VIP.

I got the wood mount humbucker route and now I want to use pickup rings instead. Is there some way of doing this without having to Dremel out some wood? A set of Fralin Modern PAFs are going in there and I don't want to enlarge the holes on the pickup base plate, and I find it looks more elegant with rings.

EDIT:
Since there are already screw holes in there, and they are properly aligned with the pickup baseplate holes, then would the pickup ring mounting work since the screws would align with the existing holes?

 

[supertruper1988]

Yeah just drill them out a bit. It will work just fine. Just don’t get long leg pickups.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

Be careful with the drilling part because there is not much margin for error when selecting the correct depth for drilling. I guess it's obvious, but its better to avoid drilling right though the back of the body . In my case I put tape on the drill bit to mark the intended depth. I also use the 3-48 pickup screw to check the depth during the process. Once the screw drops down to be nearly inline with the top surface of the body, the depth is sufficient to install the pickup. I found that a 1/4" hole is big enough.

 

[aarontunes]

Yep to all above. You don't have to hog out the entire well. All you have to do is drill a hole for the mounting screw to drop into.

A few guidelines:

1. Make sure your pickup has short feet.
2. Use the shortest mounting screws you can.
3. Pay double-close attention to how deep you drill, or you can end up drilling through the body.

It's easy-peasy....done it many times.

 

[wormbot]

Thanks everyone for you tips!

The holes were already drilled from my previous direct-to-wood installation. I got the pickups today and tried mounting them with some rings I already had laying around. It works perfectly!

Those rings are temporary, I'm waiting for ash rings I'm ordering from Guilford Guitars. Just a little coat of natural tung oil and they'll be a nice compliment to the all-ash VIP!