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Hello.
Newbie question here.

I am installing new pickups on an electric guitar. The pickups are to be woodmounted, and I need to drill screwholes to this. These are BareKnuckle painkiller pickups.
I cannot have the pickups lying directly on the wood, since the fat 4-conductor wire is under the pickup, so I will use some foampads under and also this will allow the pickups to be adjustable in height and have some pickup springs.

So, my question is for drilling the pickup screws into the body, just making sure I am thinking correctly:
I place the pickups in the cavity, probably with some wood block under to keep it stable, align the pickup poles with the strings, and the just drill the starterholes, or mark them with an awl or something - correct?

Or are there other conciderations I should make?
I see that the screws inteded for this are too long, so I am thinking about cutting them in length, or are there perhaps other screws that are better suited?

Any input on this, is appreciated.

Best regards,
Tim
Norway

Hi Tim.
I would mark the holes with a pencil,
center punch, then drill.
P-90 screws are good for that,
but you have to order them.
So, cutting yours might be good.
Foam is good underneath,
and I like to adjust the pick-ups as close to the strings
as possible, and not buzzing when fretting at the highest fret
on the guitar.
Good luck!
I hope your pick-up cavities are deep enough!

Hi Tim.

Thought I'd mention a couple of things that could go wrong-
Drilling to deep- know how deep to drill and mark the bit.
Breaking the screw off in the hole- I use soap on the screw and work it in slow...in a little and out until threads are cut. Also a good thing
to mark the screw so you know far it can go in.

You sure don't want the bit or screw going out that back.

Thank you for your feedback.

The cavities are deep enough, but just barely.
Good to know about to be careful with the screws, I might try soap, also I have heard wax can be used.

And yes, I will be very careful to not go through the guitar.On the neck pickup this is no issue really, plenty of wood underneath, but under the bridge there is less wood,since cavity for the tremolo springs are underneat.

Best regards,
Tim

Hi Tim,

Before you shorten the screws:-
Firstly, you need to determine the lower-most position of the pickup.
Measure that distance from the bottom of the cavity to the top surface of the pickup base-plate.
Then determine the higher-most position of the pickup in the same way.
The difference between the two heights is the total amount of adjustment you will have. (Bearing in mind that you will want at least a few turns of thread remaining in the hole.)
The depth of the hole is therefore the amount of desired adjustment less a few turns.
You then need to check before drilling that there is more timber thickness below the cavity than the hole you are going to drill.
Once you are sure of this, wind some masking tape around the drill-bit to set the hole depth.
[One thing to remember when determining the maximum height of pickups is that the string behaves differently above a neck pup compared to a bridge pup. Also, setting pickups as high as possible can assist output but it will reduce clarity and sometimes, depending on the pickup, the magnetic field can impact on the movement of the string:- effecting sustain and even the pitch.]

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Hi all, thank you for your input.
I did the drilling and measured all before drilling. Used some foam pads under them and had to cut the screws a little bit.
The worst bit was to get the pickup really aligned to the string spacing properly, but it turned out good.
Delivered the guitar to the owner today and he was really pleased, so then I am pleased.
Then I have learned something new this time

Once again, thanks to all

Best regards,
Tim