Dearmonds/small 'bucker swap; interchangeable?

[gilded]

Hey Guys, I'm kind of looking around for mid-'60's Starfire Hollow body (I know, you're all shocked!!).

Now that I have a few '60's Guild amps, I want to try the small humbucker sound again. Additionally, I've heard some clips of Starfires loaded with Dearmonds and they sound pretty darn good. In fairness, I'm intrigued by both sounds.

It got me thinkin'. Are these pickups interchangeable with each other, in the cosmetic sense?

1) If I swap out a Dearmond with a Small Guild Humbucker, will it mark up the top of the guitar in a visible way?

2) Will the DeArmond screw-hole marks show if I reverse the swap and re-install the humbuckers?

3) Does the footprint of a DeArmond pickup fall within the footprint of the black plastic pickup surrounds of a Guild Small humbucker (almost the same question as #2, just asked in a different way)?

4) Would both types of pickups fit in the pickup cutouts on a small humbucker pickguard?

5) Would I use the same value potentiometers with both pickups, same tone control capacitors, etc.?

Thanks, gilded

 

[dklsplace]

Different screw holes, but should be reversible without being visible.

Here's my '64 project last year. Couldn't find the mini's when I was ready to go with electronics, so I got a set of GFS NYII's which have the old Dearmond footprint.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1306&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[jp]

Hey Guys, I'm kind of looking around for mid-'60's Starfire Hollow body (I know, you're all shocked!!).

Now that I have a few '60's Guild amps, I want to try the small humbucker sound again. Additionally, I've heard some clips of Starfires loaded with Dearmonds and they sound pretty darn good. In fairness, I'm intrigued by both sounds.

It got me thinkin'. Are these pickups interchangeable with each other, in the cosmetic sense? Yes, but mounting rings are an issue.

1) If I swap out a Dearmond with a Small Guild Humbucker, will it mark up the top of the guitar in a visible way? It shouldn't.

2) Will the DeArmond screw-hole marks show if I reverse the swap and re-install the humbuckers? No.

3) Does the footprint of a DeArmond pickup fall within the footprint of the black plastic pickup surrounds of a Guild Small humbucker (almost the same question as #2, just asked in a different way)? Yes.

4) Would both types of pickups fit in the pickup cutouts on a small humbucker pickguard? Yes.

5) Would I use the same value potentiometers with both pickups, same tone control capacitors, etc.? Not quite sure yet. I haven't gotten that far. Although wiring diagrams for the reissue Guilds show 500K volume pots and 200K tone pots, the Dearmond diagrams for the Starfire Deluxe and Starfire Specials show 500K for both with the Dearmond 2Ks.

Thanks, gilded

Also, read this thread which discusses some possibilities for making PU rings in order to switch back and forth. Acrylic is your friend. I still haven't started my project, but I've been stewing on what I want to do with the electronics. There are a few others here who have gone farther with the electronics and know more about this than I do.

 

[jp]

Here are some pics of the mounting rings compared.

Note that the Guild minis are mounted on the rings, and can be adjusted up and down. The Dearmonds are surface-mounted on PU risers (shown above) not rings, per se.

 

[Default]

There's some sfII's up on evilbay...

 

[gilded]

Hi Guys,

Don, interesting thread on your '64 SF II. Whatever happened to the guitar?

Don, JP, Default I want to thank all of you for the help and info. Much appreciated.

gilded

 

[dklsplace]

Don, interesting thread on your '64 SF II. Whatever happened to the guitar?

It's hanging on the wall in my music room. Plays great, feels great, sounds great! Still haven't done anything with the binding.