Pickup Mounting - Direct mounting mod?

[EgbertZombie]

On my RG550, the pickups are mounted to the scratchplate. *Is it worth moving them to a direct body mount, for a bit more "meatiness"?

[jono]

I've not bothered to direct mount the pickups on my RG550s I'm very happy with them in the scratchplate. Whilst you may well get a bit more meatyness in the tone, you will also maybe loose some of the fluid-type character of the sound.

I *think* it should be possible to rig up the direct mounting without altering the scratchplate and so you can try for yourself.

One of the other guys like Brian or Kevan will probably be more albe to help you on the details

[jemsite]

i would not waste my time making them direct mount, but it could be easily done. the mounting must be set, then pickguard installed (or preferably a new pickguard with cutout tabs for the mounting screws)

one large problem i have with "direct mount" pickups is that often you need foam or a wood block or somethign underneath the pickup to set the proper height (since no guitar can be routed perfectly for pickup depth given setup variables). Once you put a spring or foam under the direct mount, what have you accomplished?

At some point you can tweak and geek a guitar to death. Still, some people swear by direct mount but as you can tell it matters very little to me ...glen

[pri0531]

In my RGT the foam under the pickups was a bit thin and I could not raise the pickup high enough. I ended up installing springs so I could raise the pickups to the proper level. The important thing is that the screws are still going into the body of the guitar.
Out,
GP

[EgbertZombie]

Sounds like I won't be bothering then. 'twas just a thought

[ripl3y]

It's a difficult one really.

It all depends on the pickup, some have a more neutral response and are geared towards reacting with the wood, where most pickups are sold on offering you a certain type of sound.

The bigger companies tend to go with the lattter to cater for all, whereas smaller more bespoke makers will opt for the former.

It's worth a little online research, you just need to know what you're looking for.
Don't dismiss the smaller guys, they can offer some amazing sounding pups, back in their early day's for instance, Kent Armstrong made some great pups, but as they've grown bigger they're starting to lean towards the global market.
Search out someone who you can trade ideas with and can make you your ultimate custom pickup, they're hard to find and expensive, but they are out there and they can provide you with exactly what you want.

I must just give props to Dimarzio though...I didn't have an email address for them about pups so I just took a shot and mailed tech@dimarzio.com telling them what I had and what sound I wanted.
They mailed me back within 2 days.
I told them what setup I had...amp, guitar etc... and what sound I was after. I indicated my interest in a certain pickup and they didn't try to sell me on it, they actually said..."well, I don't think that will work with your setup etc...maybe try a blah blah blah because this is what properties it has etc....(they even suggested a product they don't supply)"
Real helpful and great customer service if you ask me.
Made me think they haven't lost sight of the goal...great sounds!

Steve

[EgbertZombie]

I already have a set of pickups that I'm very happy with:

Bridge - Duncan Distortion, SA, V8 - Neck