my peavey wolfgang

[dunn666]

i really want to fit emg's to my wolfgang, but the tech guy at emg told me that i would need pickup rings to fit them. currently the passive pickups are screwed directly into the body. would it be hard to fit rings and would it ruin the look of the guitar ?

thanx

[bam]

nope. (MHO)

[RandomHero]

It should be pretty easy. Mounting rings are cheap and easy to find. You'll be wanting a drill bit for pilot holes for the screws, and be sure you check and doublecheck and triplecheck the placement before you drill those things...

Also, mind that mounting rings will fit over the existing cavities and not interfere with something closeby that was built without the rings there. IE, a bridge, or the end of a fretboard.

[bam]

in my experiences, NEVER drill pilot holes for those screws; by not drilling them, you make those holes stronger.

[wolf]

I own an OLP MM1 which is very similar to a Peavey Wolfgang which is essentially the same guitar as the Enie Ball Music Man I. (Hence, the OLP is the "Officially Licensed Product" (made outside the USA) of the Music Man I).

Anyway, I have found those screws used for securing the pickup and adjusting the height are pretty bad.
I kept the original pickups (heck, the guitar was barely over $100). Instead of using those original screws I replaced those with drywall screws. (see below)

(The springs on those guitars have a small opening at the pickup end and a larger opening at the "bottom", where the wood is. I used those original springs). Drywall screws have threads that are relatively wide yet have a central spindle that is thin enough that will go right through a pickups threading without hurting it and without even "threading" it.
My point is, you might be able to mount the new pickups without having to install pickup mounting rings. You might be able to put the EMG pickups where the original ones are and maybe even use the Wolfgang factory supplied screws. (I think drywall screws are much more secure than the factory installed screws and much easier to work with.)
WARNING: if you decide to use the drywall screw solution, remember that the length is very critical. (Use one too long and it will protrude through the other side of the guitar. I forget exactly what the length was for my OLP, but I do know, I made a "custom" screw length by shortening it with a hacksaw.
This posting was a little long and maybe confusing. If you have any questions, just post those right here.