Direct Mount Conversion

[Scott Rosenberger]

I want to convert my traditional ring mounted pickups to direct mount in an Ibanez RG570 body. Any suggestions as to what to fill the sides of the pickup routs with? I'm thinking epoxy putty the predrill a small hole to screw into

[soapbarstrat]

I'm quite sure the only thing you would need to "fill" would be the 4 little screw holes that will show when the pickup mounting ring is gone. It will be very hard, if not impossible, to make them totally invisible. Because of exactly that, this sort of mod is usually done only if the body is going to be repainted, unless the guitar's guardian doesn't mind such a cosmetic flaw. When I "direct mount" pickups, I use wood shims to put them at the proper height, then use small wood screws through the machine-screw holes, that used to be for the height adjustment screws, to screw the pickup base "ears" to the body wood, or at least to pull the "ears" down enough so the main base of the pickup is sitting down solid (I've only done it on humbuckers , so far). Some guys and guitar companies put a piece of foam under the pickup, so it's height can be adjusted up and down. I have used the foam too, but only to find out what the proper height is, then measure the distance from the bottom of the pickup base to the top of the pickup cavity rout with a small 'General' ruler. Then I make a hardwood shim to that thickness and drill out any areas where screws, etc stick out of the bottom of the pickup base plate. But for my own guitar, I prefer a wood pickguard with the pickup using regular adjustable mounting screws. I actually want to sell my 'direct mount' pickup guitars one of these days.

To fill those little screw holes, i would suggest epoxy with fine (as in powder-like) hardwood sawdust mixed with it to make a good wood-filler paste-- basically what you were thinking about already, I guess. don't fill the holes all the way to the top, so you can try to finish off the tops with some paint or anything you can think of that might help them blend in with the body's paint job the best. But like I said, that is extremely hard to do.

[Brian]

Yup

[Scott Rosenberger]

Actually I put a veneer top over the 4 small holes. I was just wondering what to use to fill the ear holes with to bring them level with the rest of the pickup route

[Brian]

Are you switching to flat bladed pickups?

I'd just gob in a mix of "Loctite's Good for Wood" repair epoxy, you can drill it, sand it or even stain it if you need to.

[jeremywills]

thanks, this was a question i was going to ask about with that body i got off ebay, they had pre drilled for rings but i wanted to go with the direct ringless look, thanks for asking and answering this question, for when i get around to messing with that project

jeremy