Pu Route Depth

[whoofnagle]

I am in the process of trying to finish doing the routes on my second guitar. When routing for the pups on the first one (2 single coil tele pups) I went to a depth of about 3/4".

Do I do the same depth for a P90? I have never routed for one and do not have a guitar to compare it with at this time.

Thansk,

Bill

[SwedishLuthier]

A P90 without dog-ears is a little different from most of the other pickups if you chose to mount them Gibson-style. They used to rout the cavity to the depth that gave them the appropriate string clearance and then screw them solid against the wood. The pole screws were the only way to adjust string-to-pickup distance.

When using this method you have to rout an additional cavity within the first one to accommodate the pole piece screws and the lead. If you choose this method, the best thing to do is to measure the bridge height, the thickness of the fret board, and all other measurements you might need, and draw it full scale. Then you decide the string clearance, draw the pickups, and measure the depth needed. There is no fast answer to this question, because it depends on your hardware etc.

I usually rout a little deeper and use some rubber tubing or other material placed in the cavity to be able to adjust the over all pickup height.

Peter

[Lietuvis]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I was wondering how to mount a normal humbucker into the guitar's body directly... without the pickup rings, etc.

This is what I mean:

[Daniel Sorbera]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I was wondering how to mount a normal humbucker into the guitar's body directly... without the pickup rings, etc.

This is what I mean:

←

uhhh, with screws...

Seriously though, you just screw it in there. You can either rout to the perfect depth and screw it to the wood or put a spring under the screw to you can adjust the height.

[Lietuvis]

I'll have to put a some kind of thing under the spring though, right? Like a little metal plate so that the spring doesn't go into the wood...

[westhemann]

the spring will not go into the wood.there is not that much pressure

[TeiscosRock]

Are there any real advantages to direct-mounting pups?

[Lietuvis]

The main reason I'm doing it is because I like the way it looks... the only REAL reason I guess is to save money (you don't have to buy pickup rings).

[haggardguy]

Pickup rings are only like $2 though unless you go for metal ones or something so I don't really see reason not too, although the look works really well on some guitars.

[Mr Alex]

Are there any real advantages to direct-mounting pups?

←

Try it and decide for yourself. You will only be told its voodoo otherwise. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but if YOU notice a difference, then you must be happier about your guitar.

[Pr3Va1L]

bah it probably does a little difference... Perhaps not enough so we can hear it, but it looks good so why not?

[TeiscosRock]

Also good for people who'd rather measure carefully instead of fiddling with screws and springs.

[Mr.Churchyard]

I wanted to ask because I did not find it right now... What was the recommended or average distance for passive pickups from the strings? And for active ones?

[Mattia]

I wanted to ask because I did not find it right now... What was the recommended or average distance for passive pickups from the strings? And for active ones?

←

The distance they need to be. How close/far depends on the guitar, the pickup strength, blah, blah, blah. As close as they can get without making things sound funny/getting whacked by the strings when they're played all the way up the neck[tm], or maybe a hair further away for safety's sake. Seriously: there's some stuff on guitar setup on the projectguitar pages (and probably some throughout the forum), and tons in any good text on guitar setup (Dan Erlewine's stuff is a great place to start). I tend to crank 'em up, playing the strings a bit all over, and if the strings sound weird/are affected, back them off a tad. Look it up. Tons out there on the subject.

[Mr.Churchyard]

I know, was just too lazy (unusual for me, but anyway...) sorry!