ho to cover a pickup hole?

[dheim]

my ibanes S470 looks awesome, feels really good and, with its Painkiller set, sounds better than anything else for fast riffing...

but all that tightness and brutality is almost completely wasted because i have to state officially that middle pickups are not for me. i keep hitting it and therefore rhythms that should sound like TRRTTRRTT turn in a TRWKZQTRRWHZHH fest...  :)

is there some way (i looked on the web but found nothing) to pull it off and cover the cavity with something that incidentally looks good? i don't care about filling it with epoxy, i just need a cover or a flat dummy pickup...

any idea?

[Antag]

Why not just wind the middle pickup as far down as it will go?  You should be able to get it almost flush to the body, so it will be out of the way without needing to change the look of the guitar...

[Philly Q]

^ Agreed.  Or you could just get an empty cover like one of these and screw it into the bottom of the cavity:

http://www.allparts.uk.com/pickup-cover-strat-holes-p-3547.html?p=product

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/STRAT_PICKUP_COVER_CLOSED_BLACK_PCSC-B

If that's still too tall, I'd just leave the empty cavity.  You're not going to find anything to cover the hole which doesn't involve gluing or screwing something to the guitar's top.  And whatever it is it'll look cr@p and scream "I'm only here to cover an empty cavity".  :P

[dheim]

Why not just wind the middle pickup as far down as it will go?  You should be able to get it almost flush to the body, so it will be out of the way without needing to change the look of the guitar...

i tried, but after a couple of turns it hit the ground... those S are damn shallow!

[dheim]

^ Agreed.  Or you could just get an empty cover like one of these and screw it into the bottom of the cavity:

http://www.allparts.uk.com/pickup-cover-strat-holes-p-3547.html?p=product

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/STRAT_PICKUP_COVER_CLOSED_BLACK_PCSC-B

If that's still too tall, I'd just leave the empty cavity.  You're not going to find anything to cover the hole which doesn't involve gluing or screwing something to the guitar's top.  And whatever it is it'll look cr@p and scream "I'm only here to cover an empty cavity".  :P

thanks, phil, i ordered one of those covers... they look quite flat indeed...
it's very sad to swap a Sultan for a dead piece of plastic, but i suck and that's what i deserve!  :(

[Philly Q]

thanks, phil, i ordered one of those covers... they look quite flat indeed...
it's very sad to swap a Sultan for a dead piece of plastic, but i suck and that's what i deserve!  :(

I'm sure you're a hell of a lot better than me!  :lol:

So will you change the wiring now to a 3-way, or keep some coil-split options?

[dheim]

thanks, phil, i ordered one of those covers... they look quite flat indeed...
it's very sad to swap a Sultan for a dead piece of plastic, but i suck and that's what i deserve!  :(

I'm sure you're a hell of a lot better than me!  :lol:

So will you change the wiring now to a 3-way, or keep some coil-split options?

:roll:

not only i suck, but i'm also a complete idiot... (it's wonderful to have such a huge self esteem... ;))
i changed one screw with a thinner one, sawed off half of it and VOILA! the damn pickup magically sat happy and fat on the bottom of the body, a whole bloody centimeter lower than before...  :oops:

BUT i try to see the good in everything and so the cover i just bought (satin black with no holes) will certainly look better together with the satin black w/black allen bolts PKs...

the only obviuos drawback is that now the Sultan has lost almost every bit of its straty glory and sounds a bit dull
BUT mixed positions still sound good.

[Will]

Not tempted to get a rewind for a pickup that balances nicely at a convenient distance from the strings?

[dheim]

i was thinking about it... at first i bought the Sultan to have some vintage strat tone but the fact is that, besides my pick-hitting issues, i put too much tonal distance between the middle AII single coil and the set of ceramic monsters in bridge and neck positions (Painkillers!)... so i should have it rewound enough hot to stand proud 1 cm lower than them and still make itself heard! i've got other priorities, but i will do it.

[juansolo]

Cheap and easy solution for you. Buy a 'EMG style' strat pup cover, cut a hole in the bottom of the cover to pass the wires from the neck pup though, then bolt it into the cavity as low as it'll go.

As seen here:



Though I haven't slammed it here there's no reason it couldn't be lowered to near as damnit flush.

Edit: which someone else has already suggested... I have done it though...