Mounting magnetic pickup under 1/4" wood lid. Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on June 15, 2009 at 4:03pm

Standard electric guitar setup indicates a distance from the polepieces to the strings at no more than a few millimeters.

I would think that being under 1/4" of wood almost certainly wouldn't work.

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Permalink Reply by Wade on June 15, 2009 at 6:46pm

Just thinking.
You could experiment with adding metal or magnet material on top of the box to extend the polepieces reach.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on June 15, 2009 at 9:11pm

Thanks for the info guys. I'll prolly then cut the lid and get the pickup as close as spec.

The neck however it coming along REALLY well. I'll post pics soon.

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Permalink Reply by Slug on June 16, 2009 at 1:14am

Hold on there man!

I say tape the pick up under the lid and try it out first. What have you got to lose?

(btw, I cut a hole in the lid for my pick up. It was a bitch trying to cut the hole with a jig saw though).

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on June 16, 2009 at 10:31am

You know, not a bad idea. At least this way, I can see if it works or not. Thanks for the tip.

-Wes

Slug said:

Hold on there man!
I say tape the pick up under the lid and try it out first. What have you got to lose?
(btw, I cut a hole in the lid for my pick up. It was a bitch trying to cut the hole with a jig saw though).

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on June 16, 2009 at 11:20am

I'm in the planning stages of my "electric" build, and cutting the pickup holes does seem daunting. I have an old Sears scrollsaw, and with fresh blades it really works well. I plan to cut the holes a bit undersized, then use the Dremel sander to bring them out to a snug fit.

It occurs to me I could probably chuck that Dremel sanding bit in my drill press; I have a big sanding drum I use all the time.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on June 16, 2009 at 12:44pm

That is a great idea. I did that on my first to make the round holes. I made the marks with a compass, cut undersized with a roto saw and finished with an XActo knife.

Mark Werner said:

I'm in the planning stages of my "electric" build, and cutting the pickup holes does seem daunting. I have an old Sears scrollsaw, and with fresh blades it really works well. I plan to cut the holes a bit undersized, then use the Dremel sander to bring them out to a snug fit.

It occurs to me I could probably chuck that Dremel sanding bit in my drill press; I have a big sanding drum I use all the time.

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Permalink Reply by Don Miller on June 16, 2009 at 2:34pm

If you cut carefully, or cut from a matching box, you could use the missing piece of the top as the top of the pickup bobbin, so the logo will look intact from directly in front. Another thought might be to route the top thinner in that one spot, from the inside, to make a little trough for the pickup to sit up inside. Leave about 1/16" of the top. You could also use a pickup with tall pole pieces and just have the poles poking up through the top.

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Permalink Reply by One String Willie on June 17, 2009 at 10:55am

Hi Wes-

One suggestion is to work this out using a less precious box before you do the experiment with the harder-to-come by Cohiba box. Taping pickup to try out various locations before cutting is a very good idea.

Best regards, Willie

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Permalink Reply by Roosterman on June 17, 2009 at 12:31pm

Dude... dont cut that box! I think it will work, though the signal may be weak. If it is, its no hassle to thin the top a bit with the sander.
Another option is to drill just the holes and extend the poles through, so all you will see on the top is 6 little silver dots.
I was going to do this but eventually went with the easier approach of mounting the pup inside the box, and cutting a slot about 5mm x distance between the 2 end poles in the lid. In this I sat a piece of steel, so all you see from outside is a thin bar... pic attached as Im sure this makes no sense!

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Permalink Reply by Wade on June 17, 2009 at 12:50pm

Nice solution! How does it sound with the bar?

Wade

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on June 17, 2009 at 1:16pm

Guys, this is great. Whew. Not even ready to mount a pickup. I'm still working on the construction. Many days to go until I make any pickup installation. I like your solution.

So, does the steel bar act as extensions to the poles? Does this affect the pickup quality? I guess I could try with my 'lectric here at home and a piece of steel bar. I have a 1/8x1/2 piece I used for a truss rod.

-Wes

Randy Rooster (Ben) said:

Dude... dont cut that box! I think it will work, though the signal may be weak. If it is, its no hassle to thin the top a bit with the sander.
Another option is to drill just the holes and extend the poles through, so all you will see on the top is 6 little silver dots. I was going to do this but eventually went with the easier approach of mounting the pup inside the box, and cutting a slot about 5mm x distance between the 2 end poles in the lid. In this I sat a piece of steel, so all you see from outside is a thin bar... pic attached as Im sure this makes no sense!

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