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Post by blademaster2 on Feb 20, 2023 20:56:51 GMT -5
I am having an odd challenge right now. I ordered a new pickup and I also wanted to replace the mounting ring for it on a guitar. It is not a Les Paul, but it uses LP-style pickups and mounting rings
What I am finding is a variation from product to product for the spacing of these mounting holes.
I would have expected a more or less standard spacing that would make swapping rings a simple job, but I don't see that. For example, I see on the web a range for the screw hole spacing (for Gibson/LP style humbuckers) from 81.75mm - on my existing rings - to 83mm and up to 84mm along the longest dimension I see depending where I look online. Oddly, I see less variation on the narrower dimension.
That amount of difference makes the boresight of the mounting ring holes not line up well at all into the drilled holes in the body. I am aware that the slight curvature of a Les Paul might alter the plastic ring spacing so it 'wraps' onto the body contour, but this seems extreme. The bottom line is that the rings I just bought, and others I see online, are not compatible with those on my guitar. If I cannot find any with compatible hole spacing then I am never going to be able to swap them out (or I need to plug those old holes and re-drill them elsewhere).
I never heard of this before. Is there any other experience out there with this variation?
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Post by newey on Feb 20, 2023 21:38:10 GMT -5
I am aware that the slight curvature of a Les Paul might alter the plastic ring spacing so it 'wraps' onto the body contour, but this seems extreme. So, you did buy the mounting rings with the curved bases to fit the raised top, right? No experience with this issue myself, but it sounds as if you're dealing with the difference between US-spec pieces and the imported (Metric) variety. And, there certainly can be variation from one manufacturer to another. Maybe if you post here the exact spacing you need someone can point you in the right direction. Failing that, know anyone with a 3-D printer? |
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Post by Yogi B on Feb 20, 2023 23:34:35 GMT -5
Is there any other experience out there with this variation? Yeah, I found this out when I installed SD's Triple Shot rings on my Tokai. The guitar had the larger 'Epiphone spacing' (approx. 84mm), whereas the Triple Shots are 'Gibson spacing': 3.2 inches (81.28mm). I don't know the exact official measurements, but this is why I now measure everything & generally refuse to do business with stores that don't bother to provide all relevant dimensions.
In comparison to other mounting rings I have, the Triple Shots are pretty pliable (and the guitar's ring-to-body mounting screws are a more robust #3 (or perhaps 2.5mm) thread, rather than the Gibson specced #2) so I just about managed with the old holes with the rings stretching as they were tightened against the body. More recently the heads of those screws have gotten pretty corroded, to the extent where it was becoming difficult to screw them in whilst fighting against the pressure of the smaller ring. Since I cannot find exact replacements from the screws (I should probably make a separate thread about that), I've now done the job properly — plugged & re-drilled them — but with only minimal relocation of the holes, just enough to ease the tension in the ring, they're still probably a little wider than they ought to be. |
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Post by b4nj0 on Feb 21, 2023 5:08:17 GMT -5
From this we could learn that it is always unwise to assume anything. I made a mess of the "humbucker" while trying to swap the pickup covers on my Pacifica 904. I was forced to replace it and I bought a Bare Knuckle "Crawler". Guess what? the Yamaha design very wisely uses two holes on one side that allows tilt adjustment as well as height. I had to buy a new mounting ring, and thankfully whilst surfing eBay I became aware of the different hole spacings too. It is impossible to set the bridge pickup anywhere near correctly on my Firebird. Perhaps Gibson ought to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century?
でつ e&oe ...
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Post by cynical1 on Feb 21, 2023 7:08:31 GMT -5
Yeah, but after a few decades you have a drawer full of these things...so finding the right one no longer becomes an issue... This rhymes with quite a few issues on guitars. Saddle spacing...width at bridge...related pickup spacing... scale length...width at nut...pickguards...don't get me started on pickguards... It also speaks to why you really NEED those two Sucrets boxes of full of screws laying around... Just rig up a DIY pin router, grab a small drill press, some sandpaper and you can just make your own...  This way, if they don't fit...you sell them online... HTC1 P.S.: Just to add something useful...if you still have a small non-chained guitar store in town, wander in and ask if they have some old pickup rings laying around. Dollars to donuts they pull out a book box of them. Typically $5.00 (Adj. for inflation\region...?) and you walk out with a ring that fits, in the color you needed...and maybe some strings... |
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Post by sumgai on Feb 21, 2023 20:54:06 GMT -5
It is not a Les Paul, but it uses LP- style pickups and mounting rings Clue, right there. The word "style" does not mean "exactly the same in all respects".... as you obviously found out for yourself. Here's hoping that other viewers here pick up on that little factoid, and don't succumb to thinking that if the label says "LP", then it is automatically the correct part. (The same can be said for almost any manufacturer, be it Fender, Ibanez, or any other 1st tier company.) cynical1's rule of thumb - Measure it four times, and you'll double your chances of getting it right. HTH sumgai |
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Post by blademaster2 on Feb 21, 2023 23:22:05 GMT -5
It is not a Les Paul, but it uses LP- style pickups and mounting rings Clue, right there. The word "style" does not mean "exactly the same in all respects".... as you obviously found out for yourself. Here's hoping that other viewers here pick up on that little factoid, and don't succumb to thinking that if the label says "LP", then it is automatically the correct part. (The same can be said for almost any manufacturer, be it Fender, Ibanez, or any other 1st tier company.) cynical1's rule of thumb - Measure it four times, and you'll double your chances of getting it right. HTH sumgai Yeah, but as this is my own homemade guitar that is about all I can say about it. Not Fender humbucker dimensions for sure - I was using LP-style pups back then. The original pup rings came from somewhere separate from the pup, but as it has been more than 30 years I could not even begin to think where I sourced them. And I think the pickup was a DiMarzio PAF, but it could have been an Epiphone one from a buddy who had swapped his out. Since I potted it with auto-body filler into the metal cover I will never be able to find out. And of course the rings I just bought were inexpensive and there were no specs on it (and I am frustrated to see that many vendors - including StewMac - do not always give the mounting hole spacing, just the dimensions of the inside surfaces). |
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Post by cynical1 on Feb 22, 2023 2:56:37 GMT -5
...and there were no specs on it (and I am frustrated to see that many vendors - including StewMac - do not always give the mounting hole spacing, just the dimensions of the inside surfaces). Again, that could be said about quite a few things in the guitar aftermarket. There are sites that provide detailed drawing of their offerings:  ...and then it has some vague description along the lines of, "Fits Jackson and many other models of guitars"...like it was a pair of socks... The aftermarket retailers know that "standardization" within the industry is a crapshoot. It's worse on a bad day... If the seller doesn't know what they're selling, what chance do you have? I would add, buying cheap frequently leads to buying it again. I don't use pickup rings, as a rule, unless they came with the pickup. If I need them, I buy them from Luthier's Mercantile International. I've never had a problem with these folks...unless I ordered the wrong part... HTC1 |
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