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The Invisible Pickup ...

Recently acquired a beautiful Camacho box (with a mirror like paint finish) but with a lid thickness of 1/4" + . I'm sure its is hard board with a wood veneer.

Didn't want to have to cut thru it for mounting a pickup and chip the paint ... so I went with the Invisible Mount.

Using a cheapo pickup from China (metal pole pieces with a bar magnet), I mounted it up against the bottom side of the lid (inside the box). Tried with pole pieces against the bottom of lid and also with the bar magnet up against the bottom. Magnet side yielded a little more volume .... mounted it in place and the magnetic field easily extends thru the lid 3/8" - 1/2" maybe even a bit more. So easy even a child can do it .. or even me.

So if your looking for a way to simplify build time, avoid tricky lid cuts, save the money that flat pickups cost and still be able to use a single coil pickup ... this is a no brainer. It results in a very clean look, a great sound and blows your friends away when you plug it in.

Why didn't I try this sooner ? It saves a lot of stress and frustration aligning and positioning the pickup and all the other little things that can go wrong. The benefit of using the magnet side is that the magnetic field goes well past the width of the string placement, so exact positioning is not critical.

Happy building and playing ... rock on !

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on June 16, 2015 at 6:57am

Cool!

you can also use one of my ThinBucker flat pickups and just drill a small hole for the wires.

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/camacho-build-with-a-painted-th...

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on June 16, 2015 at 9:04am

It is an approach that works well with a single wound or humbucker.

If you find the pickup not quite as sensitive as when use thru-the-box, drop three round magnets on the top of the box where the pickup is located and it will extend the pu's field and become more sensitive.

I really like the idea of not cutting up a beautiful box top.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 16, 2015 at 2:09pm

Beautifully instructive photo, Tom! In addition, you can modify that so the neck between the end supports becomes a pickup rail. This would allow you to make the pup movable along it for different tonal situations, using the experimental results you and Uncle Fred obtained (ref Location, Location, Location thread under this same Discussion heading...). Verrry nice.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on June 16, 2015 at 2:14pm

Thanks Ron. That is a great idea. I think I'll be tinkering with this layout for a good while to come. It is currently my favorite player and I'm on it every day. Since the box lid is attached to the neck, I can flip it open in about ten seconds and make any changes I want to try (and that part never ends).

I'll look at making the neck into the actual rail. Might be a neat addition.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 16, 2015 at 2:23pm

Another thought: this would allow you to swap out pups of different types, winds, etc. for different situations or desires very easily, too.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on June 16, 2015 at 11:37pm

Got that one covered. I have a single wound already mounted on a cross block with springs and an audio jack soldered in place. Easy swap out.Like I said, I will be fiddling with this idea for a while.

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Permalink Reply by DeltaglowBoy on June 16, 2015 at 3:24pm

Great photo, saves me from trying to get a clear well lit one of my own build. Very similar to what I describe in my Post (above). Just a side note ... I wound up with the PUP mounted about 3.5 inches from the bridge. Very close to the suggested position identified in the Location, Location, Location post.

Thanks guys for verifying and suggesting options for this type of mounting system. This is just a great way for all builders of every skill to be able to have an "Electric" CBG.