Noob Question

[jatna]

Hi. Sorry for such a newb question. I am not a builder and won't be for many years.

I want to know what keeps the pickups from falling out in guitars such as this:

How do you secure them to the body while also allowing height adjustment?

[ScottR]

Those are directly screwed into the body. There is a compression spring between the body and the tabs on the pick-up that the screw runs through which allows for height adjustment.

SR

[jatna]

So you calculate the lowest the pickups can get and drill the screw hole deep enough to accommodate that?

I imagine you wax the screws so they turn easier.

Would the body of a guitar like that have to be thicker than one that uses mounting rings or mounts the pickups in the guitar scratch plate?

[curtisa]

Most guitar bodies will be thick enough to accommodate almost any pickup mounted that way. Direct mounting screws are generally shorter than through-scratchplate screws.

Another way to provide some height adjustment on a direct-mounted pickup is to put some dense foam between the back of the pick and the bottom of the cavity.

[jatna]

Thanks for the answers!

[ScottR]

Surgical rubber tubing is sometimes used around the screw instead of springs or foam as well. And like curtisa says direct mounts generally take up less depth than ring mounted pick-ups. When you think about it, it's hard to imagine adjusting them any more than a quarter inch, if even that.

SR

[Prostheta]

Instruments specifically for direct mounting are sometimes made so that the pickups screw "hard" to the body. That is, each cavity can be cut to a specific depth for a specific pickup that the body of the pickup is in strong contact with the body. In those instances, the rubber or springs are not necessary. I did this with my '51 P-bass.

Some people swear it makes a difference (but bring no proof to the table) whilst others swear it doesn't (likewise). I imagine that the only difference it might make is if the pickup is slightly microphonic....

[Tim37]

20 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

 

Some people swear it makes a difference (but bring no proof to the table) whilst others swear it doesn't (likewise). I imagine that the only difference it might make is if the pickup is slightly microphonic....

It makes a huge difference when you are calculating how deep to rout.

[Prostheta]

Oh, of course. Totally. It really depends on whether you can live with a non-adjustable pickup. Everything needs to be 100% known and needed.

[Bjorn.LaSanche]

I sometimes wish that mounting system Dimarzio had back in the early 1980's to advertise/test drive their pickups would have caught on. The pickup would be attached to a removable block that snapped into the back of the guitar.  The pickup holes were routed clean through.  This way you could test out pickups directly in the store instead of having to buy one, take it home and install it, then reverse the process again and again until you find something you like.

[Prostheta]

People think that the half inch of wood removed from behind the pickup is where all the sustains live...

[Bjorn.LaSanche]

On 8/20/2016 at 1:20 AM, Prostheta said:

People think that the half inch of wood removed from behind the pickup is where all the sustains live...

Well I can say for a fact that Sustain doesn't live behind any of my pickups.  That is where Dust and Pickdust live in their hovel. Across the street from them lives Sweat Gunk and Blood Drops.  All  of whom are getting evicted rather soon.  Sustain lives between the neck plate and the neck.  He says those other folks are just too trashy for his taste.

[Prostheta]

Everyone knows that the sustain trolls live under bridges.

[Bjorn.LaSanche]

Where they are still held off from total global domination by their Nemesis Divina who goes by Aliphatic Resin.

[Prostheta]

Ah, them and the Hide Glue Goblins who stand on soapboxes to make them appear more important, all the while furrowing their brows and muttering things loudly to anybody that will listen (or are just passing by) about things that only matter to them.

[curtisa]

Careful - you'll wake the tone voodoo gatekeepers if you keep this up. You'll need to know the magic password if you want any hope of escaping their clutches.

[Bjorn.LaSanche]

Oh, thems peoples...I will just plug in my concrete Tele into my amp and shoo them away.

[Prostheta]

Strong in compression, weak in tensile strength. Not the best material for making a Tele.

[Bjorn.LaSanche]

True, but we've all seen the videos explaining where once pickups and amps come in, the actual construction material of an electric guitar is really reduced.  Acrylic guitars sound good, metal guitars sound good (my only experience playing/hearing was test driving a Jackson Roswell once), high end wooden guitars sound good, low end wood guitars sound good, MDF (Mosrite) guitars sound good.  the only common factor they all need regardless of materials used is quality construction and a good setup.  I thnk the only real mitigating factor in the end would be which guitar sounded fuller and which sounded thinner.  That to me would be only different between the instruments materials mass and density.  Before anyone says anything, all instruments would be played through the same exact rig, and all tuned to standard tuning.  All instruments would have to have same body shape and scale.  All hardware, electronics, strings, and frets would be the same (components from the same manufacture lot if possible).This way we are comparing different apples of the same sub species but from different orchards instead of apples to oranges.