Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on June 17, 2015 at 5:48pm

Would you be able to put some small nuts or washers underneath the pickup mounting bolts to drop it down a bit?

Also, did you say your pickup is about the same height as your fretboard? That's what I normally do and it generally works out fine.

Yet another option would be to get some (or some more) back angle on the neck, which would raise the box end of the fretboard and give you more clearance... you would need a higher bridge but it could actually improve the playability of the instrument.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Monterey on June 17, 2015 at 8:27pm

Hi Richey- here's a picture from the side. The Oak mounting ring or whatever you call it is flush with the fretboard. The pickup is sitting up higher than the fretboard about 1/8". The only thing stopping it from coming down any further is the pickup bolts being too short. There's lots of room under the pickup. If I adjust it any lower, the bolts will come undone from the pickup.
I could make the mounting ring thinner or countersink the bolts, but I didn't really want to do that because it'll make the mounting ring weaker.
The second picture I uploaded the first time shows the pickup fully lowered- I'm thinking it should be able to at least come down flush with the ring. Maybe those bolts they give you are fine if you're putting the pickup in a Telecaster or something.
More back angle on the neck is a good idea, except I didn't want the strings too high as I'm not playing slide.
Would using bolts maybe 1/4" longer work you think?

Attachments:

• IMG_00001636.jpg, 1.5 MB

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on June 17, 2015 at 8:36pm

Having more back angle would actually make the action more consistently low all the way down the neck. You would need to use a higher bridge to compensate though.
I can't see there being any problems with using longer bolts, or countersinking the heads. The pickup ring is hardly load-bearing so I don't think the strength should be that much of a concern. If you can get the pickup level with the top of the ring you should be fine.

Permalink Reply by Monterey on June 17, 2015 at 8:51pm

Great, OK thanks, much appreciated, I'll try that. Although I like your back angle idea, I think I'll use it on the next guitar I'm building, as I'd have to take the guitar apart to change the neck angle.
I think the reason I didn't try it with this one to begin with is because the fretboard overhangs the soundboard. Guess I could have angled the soundboard where it overhangs.
That's something, I didn't realize it would make the action consistently low!

Permalink Reply by Monterey on June 18, 2015 at 8:07am

Well, using longer bolts worked! I found a couple just over 1/8" longer on a recepticle. They're the 2 used for screwing the recepticle to the box.
Also I changed them one at a time without taking the pickup out by tightening them both up all the way, and then changing them one at a time- it kept the springs compressed and in place

Attachments:

• IMG_00001637.jpg, 1.5 MB
• IMG_00001638.jpg, 1.7 MB

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on June 18, 2015 at 10:25am

Glad you got it sorted! The idea of back angle is that the neck is angled down towards the headstock, and the soundboard remains flat...normally on a CBG this would be achieved by having the neck rest on, say, a lower block at the front of the box and a higher one at the back. Very simple and easy to do, and once you've tried the results you won't go back!

Permalink Reply by Monterey on June 18, 2015 at 10:48am

I will definitely incorporate it into the 1949 Ohio LPG I'm working on. Still looking for something suitable to use for a neck- it's all salvaged materials so far. Somewhere between 11 and 15 degrees?