Pickups don't fit?

[Tommehnet]

Hey all,

Beginner question. Apologies if you get this alot (or not that much heh), but today I tried fitting the covered VHII and Painkiller BKP set into my ESP Viper 7 (7 string). Being the inexperienced guitar electrician that I am, I passed the job to my Dad who is. The first problem we encountered was that the ears of the pickups (where the screws would lay) does not allow the pickup to sit as the EMG 707s did, it makes the pickups too long.

What is going wrong here? Is it just a matter of lack of/wrong research played on my part? Also we realise that the width of the pickups were smaller than the EMG, which would result in a gap - anyone have any surround plates or something to recommend I can get?

Really appreciate your time guys.
 - Tommy

[Transcend]

If you do a quick google search you can get pickup rings to convert the emg707 routes so you can fit a standard 7 bucker in.

[Twinfan]

And it sounds like you bought "long leg" pickups not "short legs".  You'll need to send them back to BKP to be re-built  :(

[Transcend]

some photos would help us to advise you as your post could easily be misunderstood as i read it as the screw holes dont line up

and twinfan believes its a height issue and upon re reading im not 100% sure anymore

[Twinfan]

Yep, pics would be great  :)

[Tommehnet]

There wasn't an option for that as it was 7-string.

I've done a really quick diagram to display the problem I had as I don't have access to my guitar this minute:

[Philly Q]

http://www.fretsonthenet.com/other_parts.htm

About two-thirds of the way down the page they have "EMG707 to Passive Conversion Rings".  Quite expensive, unfortunately.

[Tommehnet]

I said in my original post I got covered 7-string BKPs (Nickel), unless this applies to them aswell? If so that's one of the two problems solved.

And my apologies, my diagram wasn't so accurate. Here it is again but with the other problem more apparent:

[Philly Q]

The ring pictured on the website has rounded inside corners to fit an open-coiled pickup, but I believe he'll also make them to fit covered pickups.

Edit:  In fact, the ring in the picture below has square inside corners, so it should fit a covered pickup.  I don't know if BKP 7-string pickups are exactly the same size as Duncans, you might need to supply measurements.

After and Before:

[Keven]

I had this problem fitting BKP's to my EMG707'ed schecter. I just bent the legs inwards at a 45 angle and then straightened the bottom. fits no problem without any additional routing. screwed right into the body as well.

[Tommehnet]

I'm not too sure the hole will allow me to do that, plus it sounds tedious. What are options if I can't?

[Excruciator]

Bending the legs works fine. The ears are around 4.5mm too wide for the 707 route, so basically you have to bend them just over 2mm inward on each side. It's very easy to do this yourself with a pair of needle nose pliers. It's not tedious, it's very much a 20 second job.

If you're looking for pickup rings, standard size 7 string pickup rings will cover the route perfectly. You can buy those here. You simply have to attach the rings into the route with longer screws, rather than into the face of the guitar, which would require you from drilling new screw holes there.

I should note, my 7 string bkp's are still coverless, until I get round to sending them in to have some fitted; so you may have to file the pickup rings slightly to accomodate the larger dimensions of the covers - haven't had chance to test this myself yet.

[Keven]

i'm 100% sure it'll fit as most EMG routed guitars are the same. and like Excruciator mentioned, a few seconds with pliers and it's a done deal.  (removed diagram as it wasn't correct. )

[Tommehnet]

Hey again all,

Just about to get quoted from the guy from Fretsonthenet. Just one final question, when bending the ears - what happens with the screw holes? Would I have to bend it like this ¬_ ? If I snap it I'm going to cry heh...

[Keven]

you bend the tab that is connected to the pickup. the actual leg itself doesn't get bend so much. do it carefully and nothing will snap. just keep the bottom leg at about 45 degrees from the stub attached to the pickup. just push it inwards, and then bend the leg so it sits straight against the pickup cavity.

i realize my diagram was the wrong way. here's a more correct one
 
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