Warmoth body pickup routing width ? (long, w/ apologies for the minutiae)

[Neo Fender]

I’m slowly piecing together a project using a pair of humbuckers salvaged from my Peavey T-60 to be installed in a Strat body.  In doing so, I’ve asked Warmoth two questions:

(1) Will W drill a pickguard WITHOUT pickup mounting screws?  The T-60 pickup ears have four mounting holes vs. the typical two and they are not centered:

Also, the center-to-center spacing of the mounting screws is about 3.14”, which is slightly wider than the spec that W drills to (3.075” to 3.114”).  W’s response was “yes, they would omit the pickup mounting holes (for a $15.00) upcharge”.  My plan is to drill these holes myself.  I do not want to use mounting rings.

(2) Since the pickups I have would seem to be best served by a Trembucker cutout (2.853” x 1.5”) my plan was to order an H/H pickguard with Trembucker-seized routs.  However, W’s website does not allow this selection for the neck position, so I inquired to see if it was possible to request it.  W responded (emphasis mine): “We have never done a Trembucker rout in the neck position for the simple fact that the poles will not be aligned with the strings at that point of the scale.  If you are using an alternate pickup that does not fit any of our available routs you or a local guitar tech/Luthier will have to perform the accommodating routs for your pickups.  I would also like to refer you to www.terrapinguitars.com. They can make you a high quality, totally custom pickguard from as little as a detailed drawing.”  I’d rather not go the totally custom route (no pun) because I think it would be overkill and spendy for what I want to do.

Ultimately, my plan is to install this into a Strat body with either an H/H, H/S/H or Universal rout.  With these pickups, pole alignment is not a concern but I am now wondering if the maximum distance of the mounting screws, (approximately 3.25”, outside-to-outisde) would interfere with the body’s pickup rout.  I guess I’m asking to see if anyone has a body lying around that could that could verify this dimension.

I could have directed this question back to W but I wanted to bounce my thought process off the collective brain trust here to verify my thinking.

Thanks.

 

[Day-mun]

Here are my two cents:

First cent) Sounds like a classic case of square peg/round hole. T-60's prob'ly belong in Peaveys, not Strats. You said yourself that they were salvaged; do you really wanna base an entire build on constructing a rescue vehicle (-which had better be universal-routed, I might add) for some old pick-ups? Unless they are most awesome things ya ever heard, I'd cut my losses, buy some pickups that fit, and move on.

Second cent) In the case that simply no pick-up can be left behind, then it looks like either spend the $ and source it out, or plan on using the rings. -Pickguard mat'l is cheap and easy to work with, and ya could probably take a couple of stabs at it until ya got close without breaking the bank, but nobodies' eye-hand coordination is any match for a machine. If it were me doin' it myself, I'd just plan on it being an imperfect route (-close, but a hair tighter on that side more than this one, yada-yada...), -thus the predisposition for using the rings.  -Or spend the cash.

 

[DavyDave53]

Could you just lose the pickguard and mount the pickups without the rings directly to the body?

 

[Cagey]

Hate to be a buzz-kill, but what Day-Mun says makes a lotta sense.

 

[Day-mun]

-And I only say it from experience.  :dontknow:

When I was a younger man, and money was tight, the GAS would start to get me and I'd start diggin' through the drawer of old parts (that should've been thrown away): "Hmm, let's see what I can cook up..." :sign13:

I'm not gonna bore y'all with the whole thing, but the end result was frustration, disappointment, and wasted (-and precious) money. Every time. :doh:

If I've learned anything from those blunders it is this: if ya can't have whatcha want, -Don't settle! Just wait longer!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

If I've learned anything from those blunders it is this: if ya can't have whatcha want, -Don't settle! Just wait longer!  :icon_thumright:

Truer words were never spoken. Compromise is consternation.

 

[Neo Fender]

Thanks all.  Perhaps I overstated the impact of what I’m trying to do here

Why do this?

(1) As far as I can find among the Respected Internet GuitaristsTM community, no one has done this.  I’m not climbing Mt. Everest here – just trying to see what would be involved to make a pair of “non standard” pickups fit into a Warmoth Strat pickguard and pickup rout.

(2) T-60s are great playing, great sounding guitars packed in a heavy, Northern Ash body and shaped in a way that only a mother could love it.  Hence the move to a Stratocaster form.

(3) Until you’ve played a T-60, you likely can’t appreciate its tonal flexibility.  No, you won’t see angels or feel 10 years younger but it’s something different.  Frank Marino has three DiMarzio single coils in at least one Gibson SG and no one complains about his tone. 

If this whole, minor experiment falls on its face, I can throw a JB and a Jazz into a new pickguard and only be out the cost of one slightly boogered up experimental pickguard, so I’m not really investing into much that is not easily reversible.   

 

[Day-mun]

I'll say again what I've been saying (-second cent reiterated): either "booger" the pickguard yourself, or pay Terrapin Guitars to do it something closer to perfect, -just depends on what your priorities are. Then, put it in a universal-routed body (-giving yourself the most room possible to change your mind later, which, I'd be tempted to wager that you will), and if the p/up mounting screws rub or are otherwise impeded by the wall of the route, do some careful wood removal. Drum sanders work great. (-Watch your cutting for the bass side of the neck pickup; can't afford to lose much wood there!)

Now that you put it the way you did, I can concur  that the only things worth saving about a T-60 may be the pick-ups. My cousin's buddy brought one over once back in the eighties... my only lasting memory of playing it is "yuck".

 

[Day-mun]

...Just re-read my post to this thread and realized that I kind come off as a douche-bag. Sorry. -Just tryin' to tell it how it is (from my POV) in order to save a guy from a little heartache and regret.  -I gotta remember that it is all just for fun anyway.

-Carry on.