Have a problem with leather pickguard and pickups...

[cdiaz]

I put on a leather pickguard on my strat (which I love) about 6 months ago but since putting it on I cant get my pickups to the right height. The screws wont bring them as high as they need to be anymore. Underneath the leather is cardboard type material for stiffness. Anyone know what the problem can be and how I can fix this and still keep my leather pickguard?

 

[chazmo]

cdiaz, I'm rather sure I can't help you, but I'm very interested to know what the pickguard has to do wtih the height of the pickups... forgive my ignorance. Are you saying that the leather is so thick that it bulges out surrounding the pickups? Any before/after pictures that can clarify what you mean?

If I understand correctly, I don't know why you couldn't shim the pickups to a higher height off the "soundboard", but I imagine that would throw the neck geometry completely off. You're probably dealing with a no-win scenario in that case (too expensive to do correctly), but I'm totally talking out of my patootie!

 

[cdiaz]

I honestly don't know why. The problem wasn't there when I had a normal pickguard on. I don't know if it's the screws in relation to the leather and cardboard, or what. I guess I'll have to pick it apart to see. Pain in the butt!

 

[coastie99]

I guess I'll have to pick it apart to see.

An eminently sensible idea !!

 

[Default]

Probably the screw heads are sinking into the leather rather than pulling the pup up?

Try softer, shorter springs maybe?

 

[cdiaz]

Probably the screw heads are sinking into the leather rather than pulling the pup up?

Try softer, shorter springs maybe?

Good idea. Where would you suggest I find softer springs?

 

[cdiaz]

would cutting the springs down in size help you think?

 

[Default]

would cutting the springs down in size help you think?

It would be worth a shot. I'm just guessing. Maybe try taking a pup out and use extra humbucker springs instead of the strat springs? That way you could test my idea without wrecking the original springs. Or you could check the local hardware store for small springs.
Thickness of the pickgard shouldn't matter, but leather is softer that plastic. :-/

 

[avagadro]

GFS sells a thin aluminum shield that goes under the pickguard. they are fairly cheap and may give you the stability you need to get the pickups to the right height, as well as shielding your electronics.

 

[Default]

GFS sells a thin aluminum shield that goes under the pickguard. they are fairly cheap and may give you the stability you need to get the pickups to the right height, as well as shielding your electronics.

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