Hey matsickma,
If you remember, I dealt with this same issue when looking at a swapout from mini HBs to the Dynasonic reissues on my Starfire III. You were helping me identify differences in the many Dearmond versions.
The PU rings on the mini HBs are (7/64 in) longer and (1/16 in) thinner than the Dynasonic plastic risers. The riser and pickup should cover the main hole left by the mini HB, but the holes left by the mini HB mounting rings will be slightly visible on the ends. Screwing in the Dearmonds will also be a problem, as there will be little wood in which to drill holes. I've been contemplating how to solve this as well. At first I thought the most elegant solution would be to make new plastic risers with the same dimensions as the mini HBs to perfectly match up screw holes on the top. However, the screw holes to attach the Dynasonic PU to the riser will overlap with the screw holes to mount the riser to the top--they're that close.
Instead, I'm considering making (2) new risers per pickup the same size as the mini HB rings (but same thickness as originals), but I'll drill holes in the same place as the on the original risers. If I place one riser inside under the top and one above, I can screw in the PUs from the top and use both risers to clamp the whole assembly in place. The top riser will cover the original holes, and since the minis and Dearmonds are so close in size, the Dearmonds won't look weird on a mini HB-size riser. Might be also be good to glue nuts to the inside risers on the side facing the back of the guitar. That way the original setup is preserved, and I can still switch back to the mini HBs if I want. Does this make sense? :?
As far as pickup height is concerned, I was okay as long as the neck pickup (actually the chrome housing) is shorter (3/8 in) than the bridge pickup (5/8 in).
Love to hear if you come up with a better solution.
