getting pickups to mount to the pick guard

[kevinu33]

so over the weekend i threw new pickups in my sx telecaster. now for some reason the screws are too small for the holes in the pick guard so the pickup moves around on it. i cant really go any bigger on the screws since the head of the screw is so close to the pickup as it is. has anyone else encountered this problem?

also, in the process of working on this guitar i have been taking the pickguard, bridge, and switch plate off and on a couple times. do you guys find that that strips the wood in the body?

thanks guys,
kev

[kurt]

yeah i had that on one side of my bridge pickup but im lazy and didnt feel like readjusting the pickup height so i just put a bit of electrical tape over the screw to hold it in place... is not that noticable since its a black pickguard

[genereaux]

so over the weekend i threw new pickups in my sx telecaster. now for some reason the screws are too small for the holes in the pick guard so the pickup moves around on it. i cant really go any bigger on the screws since the head of the screw is so close to the pickup as it is. has anyone else encountered this problem?

I would expect the reason you can't revert back the original (larger diameter)screws is because of the mounting tabs on the new pickup more than the screwheads proximity to the pickup.
I can give a litany of reccomendations to overcome this, but to start- I would say go by some nuts that will thread onto the mounting screws that you're using and superglue(or expoxy) them inside the pickguard (the cavity side) over the screw holes. This will act as ferrule to hold the screw(and thus the P/U) secure. It might look a little odd (with the screw head just sort of 'floating' in the hole), but you can't see it from the audience.


also, in the process of working on this guitar i have been taking the pickguard, bridge, and switch plate off and on a couple times. do you guys find that that strips the wood in the body?

thanks guys,
kev

Yes. But only over the course of LOTS of time. Once you eventually get a screw that won't stay threaded, you can fill the hole with some carpenters glue, wood filler or epoxy. This will give some fresh 'meat' for the screw to bite into.

sg

[kevinu33]

I would say go by some nuts that will thread onto the mounting screws that you're using and superglue(or expoxy) them inside the pickguard (the cavity side) over the screw holes. This will act as ferrule to hold the screw(and thus the P/U) secure. It might look a little odd (with the screw head just sort of 'floating' in the hole), but you can't see it from the audience.

great advice! im going to try that this weekend. thanks!

-kev