What to do about pickups that don't fit in the route....

[TedEH]

So, I have three guitars sitting around, and I wanted to swap the pickups around:

One is a project guitar that I never use, but it has some Dimarzios in it. Blaze 7s I think?
One is my S7420, which has the CL+LF set in it.
The third is a Chapman MLS-7 with the stock pickups in it.

What I had wanted to do was rotate things around so that the stocks are in the project guitar, and the Dimarzios are in the other two. But here's the catch: The route on the Chapman is a tiiiiiny bit smaller and the Dimarzios don't fit. I did some googling (and some measuring) and it turns out that Dimarzios are about a millimetre and a half wider than Duncans, and since Chapman seems to like Duncans, the route on that guitar juuuust fits Duncans in it. This is my theory. Is it true? I don't know. But I do know that none of the pickups I have will fit in that guitar.

So what would someone do in this scenario? I figure my options are:

a) Mess with the route to make it bigger. I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this.
b) Shave the ears of the pickups down so that it fits. I don't know if this would really work, or if I'd just destroy the mounting and have useless pickups.
c) Order some Duncans instead. I do like the JB+59 I have in a 6er, so maybe the 7 string version is similar?
d) Give up. The stocks aren't that bad. It does mean one set of the Dimarzios is mostly going to waste.

Am I right that the different companies size their pickups differently?

 

[CanserDYI]

They totally do size them differently, and if I were in this situation I would probably trim the ears of the pickup as that's the least intrusive. I've never been a DiMarzio dude but if I remember correctly just need to solder the hole, snip the tip to square it off and redrill.

 

[TedEH]

solder the hole

I hadn't thought of that - that makes sense.

Seems like the kind of thing that should be roughly standard, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Dooky]

Get a dremmel and go to town.

 

[markdminer]

So, I have three guitars sitting around, and I wanted to swap the pickups around:

One is a project guitar that I never use, but it has some Dimarzios in it. Blaze 7s I think?
One is my S7420, which has the CL+LF set in it.
The third is a Chapman MLS-7 with the stock pickups in it.

What I had wanted to do was rotate things around so that the stocks are in the project guitar, and the Dimarzios are in the other two. But here's the catch: The route on the Chapman is a tiiiiiny bit smaller and the Dimarzios don't fit. I did some googling (and some measuring) and it turns out that Dimarzios are about a millimetre and a half wider than Duncans, and since Chapman seems to like Duncans, the route on that guitar juuuust fits Duncans in it. This is my theory. Is it true? I don't know. But I do know that none of the pickups I have will fit in that guitar.

So what would someone do in this scenario? I figure my options are:

a) Mess with the route to make it bigger. I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this.
b) Shave the ears of the pickups down so that it fits. I don't know if this would really work, or if I'd just destroy the mounting and have useless pickups.
c) Order some Duncans instead. I do like the JB+59 I have in a 6er, so maybe the 7 string version is similar?
d) Give up. The stocks aren't that bad. It does mean one set of the Dimarzios is mostly going to waste.

Am I right that the different companies size their pickups differently?

 

[markdminer]

You are correct in your assessments. Those subtle differences like you said; it’s just enough to make either minor adjustments.. or a major mistake. Ibanez for example, has long partnered with Dimarzio, but try dropping a set of EMG’s in and it’s a nightmare. I also have a 7620 that had a Blaze custom. Swapped it for a Dimarzio Titan with no issues. I personally got away from active pick ups years ago and you really can’t go wrong with Dimarzio or Duncan. Both are great, all about personal preference. If you want to mod, spend the money and get a tech to do the routing properly or stick with a brand that will easily drop in without having to totally modify your guitar. Good luck either way 🎸

 

[Brocephus]

You could always put some masking tape down around the cavity with some masking tape and start working away with a chisel. It is risky though, since you might chip the finish. You could very carefully score it before to prevent that.
Just be prepared that it will never look as good as the factory rout.

 

[RG570EX]

Take a Dremel tool to the inside of the pickup rout. But angle it just a bit so you make the bottom of the rout big enough but leave the surface stock so you can angle the pickups into the holes without fucking up the paint on the surface.

Unless you have pickup rings then just put some painters tape under the ring, trace it with pencil and stay inside the lines.

 

[lewis]

Throw the guitar away

 

[Goblet of Gore]

Dremel then lacquer in the cavity so you can't see the route or pickup rings

 

[CanserDYI]

OP:"I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this"
SSO: chisels and dremels

 

[Tree]

OP:"I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this"
SSO: chisels and dremels

It's the only way to learn, though!

 

[TedEH]

OP:"I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this"
SSO: chisels and dremels

I knew it was coming - I don't know why I expected otherwise. I can almost guarantee that if I take a dremel to the guitar, I'm going to do some irreversible damage.

Would it help if I said I also don't own a dremel or chisel? For the cost of the tools, I could just buy another set of pickups.

So far, the most reasonable suggestion has been shaving the ears down and soldering over the old screw hole.

It's the only way to learn, though!

It's absolutely not the only way to learn. You don't "learn" on a valuable piece - you learn on scraps or practice materials or dumb projects or something. You don't YOLO a new skill on a guitar you use every day.

 

[Tree]

It's absolutely not the only way to learn. You don't "learn" on a valuable piece - you learn on scraps or practice materials or dumb projects or something. You don't YOLO a new skill on a guitar you use every day.

I wasn't suggesting you actually do it. Just being cheeky. It would be different if the project guitar you mentioned was the one that needed the routes enlarged.

To argue semantics though, the only way to learn is to do it at some point. That's all I was agreeing with
If I were in your shoes I'd leave them the way they are, or get different pickup sets that will fit where you need them if you don't want to mod anything.

 

[RG570EX]

So far, the most reasonable suggestion has been shaving the ears down and soldering over the old screw hole.

But let me guess....
You don't own a razor either.

 

[TedEH]

Not one that would be appropriate for this, no.
I have some files that would probably work fine though. Or sandpaper.

Actually, now that I think of it - I think the ears are just plastic, no?

 

[CanserDYI]

Not one that would be appropriate for this, no.
I have some files that would probably work fine though. Or sandpaper.

Actually, now that I think of it - I think the ears are just plastic, no?

Like I said in my previous post, I'm no Dimarzio guy I think I've only bought one in my life and it was a P90, but I think you're right about it being plastic. I think it'd be pretty easy to take that down a .75 mm on each side to give you 1.5 mm of clearance, but I'm not sure if it'd leave a whole ton of material into the screw hole wall, and filling a plastic hole might be a little more difficult than soldering a hole on a metal plate. You could also possibly just rehouse the pickup on a metal baseplate? It's monkey simple and you can get those pretty cheap and won't have to do any major modifications to the original plate if you want to resell?

 

[TedEH]

Waaaaaaaaaait a moment - would it be possible to just swap the base-plates? Stick the dimarzios on the base plate that's in the stocks, since I know they fit......?

 

[CanserDYI]

Waaaaaaaaaait a moment - would it be possible to just swap the base-plates? Stick the dimarzios on the base plate that's in the stocks, since I know they fit......?

I mean, its definitely worth a try, worst case scenario just swap them back.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

OP:"I suck at wordworking, and don't want to do this"
SSO: chisels and dremels

I would never attempt this on one of my precious guitars. Just one slip of my untrained hands and one of my babies could be ruined forever. 😭