Exposed Pole Pieces

[bassman]

I have just finished creating a humbucker for my next bass. The pickups are an original design. I cut the forbon for these and everything, I am going to make a wooden cover for this pup. The problem is that as visually lined up all of the polepieces are (10 of them- five string bass bucker) they are slightly different than the template I made for drilling the ten holes in the top of the pup cover. The are just off enough that all ten wont line up perfectly in their holes, instead of drilling oversized holes I imagine that I could make a mold of the humbucker, and use their indentions to make a perfectly matching template. The molding has to be something that is strong enough to actually guide the drill bit into the new template- so of course wax won't work- epoxy might just be a pain in the arse. Any other ideas? Thanks...

[lovekraft]

Daub a drop of ink/paint on each pole piece, and use the pickup as a "stamp" to mark a new template?

[thegarehanman]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but if it were me, I'd start over to insure that I have a pickup with alligned polepieces. If nothing else, I'd do it for asthetic reasons.

[bassman]

They ARE visually aligned- just not laser cut accurate- I would not use a pickup that looks wrong. I am talking hair line differences here. Lovecraft, that would be my first course of action but the magnets are arrainged in the radius of the fboard- 20" radius.

[lovekraft]

So drill the holes slightly oversized, and fit each hole with a brass eyelet to take up the slack - I won't tell if you don't tell.

[thegarehanman]

The biggest difference between a pro and an ameteur is the ability to turn "mistakes" into "features." This applies to so many other things besides building guitars. Actually, the first one to ever tell me that phrase was my father, who used to be a computer programmer. I like lovekraft's idea. At the very least, it's a concept you can use as a springboard.

[unusual71]

so which one turns mistakes into features?

[thegarehanman]

I have not yet honed that art. Right now I'm stuck doing things perfectly or throwing them out.

[bassman]

Excellent idea Lovecraft! Now I just need to find some eyelets that will match my satin aluminum hardware- and give it a shot- or cover the polepieces if that idea fails.

[lovekraft]

Yeah, decorative eyelets, trim strips and corners can cover a wide variety of ills - like Russ said, make it a feature rather than an error. I think most painted eyelets are some cheap zinc alloy, so some paint remover and a wire brush might just get you where you want to be, color-wise. Let us know how it works out.