Oil City P90 shims

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OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
in Made in the UK tFB Trader

This is only a small accessory, but I've been annoyed with the lack of good Dog Ear P90 shims out there for some time. They are available from one UK retailer (who always seems to be out of stock) but the ones they sell have a huge footprint that comes way outside the cover, are made of cheap, rather inflexible plastic (no good for the curved tops of semi acoustics). Many folks make them from old mouse mats etc, but those are made from the sort of rubber that can interact badly with nitro finishes.

Many of you will know that the only way to adjust the pickup height with a Dog Ear is via a shim, or a combination of several, so this ought to be something thats easy to get hold of ... it wasn't  ... till now.  

Off I went into the Oily Towers workshop ... fired up the CAD program, then the Laser, and produced these ....  
Cut to close tolerances, they are just 1.5mm larger than the pickup base (to give it a stable footing), and are made of non reactive vulcanised paper fibre (just like pickup flatwork). They come in 2mm thickness, so a set of three will give you a 2/4 or 6mm lift (usually plenty of range unless your neck is wierdly set). They bend easily to accommodate curved semi acoustic tops, Yet are hard and durable. If you need thicker shims I can custom cut 3mm ones, but these bend to guitar tops less easily.

A set of two plastic ones from the UK retailer are £22.00 plus postage (ouch) 
A set of three of these are £16.00 plus postage ... 

Oh, and the fibre material can be glued together if required with ordinary wood glue once height has been determined ... will also take paint finishes like wood, so could be sprayed to match your guitar colour. 
   
Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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Comments

  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12645
    Good work, Ash.

    I bought some of those plastic shims - and they were shocking for the money. Plus they needed filing to fit the (Gibson) P90s properly.


    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    I use Gibson standard measurement covers on my Dog Ears ... so you know the shims are cut are cut to fit the real mccoy. An hour's work in Autocad ... and then cut to + or - .01 of a mm :-)
    This addresses a real gripe I had with product availability ... Jason Lollar does them over in the US, but nowt but Allparts plastic ones, as far as I could see in the good old UK. 

    Our laser is a huge boon in creating all sorts of useful bits and bobs ... from cutting and engraving our own flatwork ... and soon to be laser marking our own nickel baseplates and plated covers ... to creating the specialised tools and jigs we use in everyday pickup manufacture.
    True the machine was a heavy investment ... and CAD software a steep learning curve, but our CO2 laser is the 'Swiss Army Knife' of workshop tools ... and a cool 'boys toy' too.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763


    Off I went into the Oily Towers workshop ... fired up the CAD program, then the Laser

       
    Got to be one of the best lines I've read in a thread for ages!!
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    edited May 2017 tFB Trader
    BigMonka said:


    Off I went into the Oily Towers workshop ... fired up the CAD program, then the Laser

       
    Got to be one of the best lines I've read in a thread for ages!!
    No Mr Bond - i expect you to become pickup flatwork



    Thanks for doing these for me Ash - looking forward to getting them .
    Think they will be another useful line in your catalogue too

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16543
    yeah, i was annoyed by the allparts ones.   I ended up trimming them back and polishing the edges up, but its a lot of work for a part that should just fit!
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16543
    now with that in mind - could you do unusual pickup rings on your laser?   I could do with some slightly oversize john birch rings
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    edited May 2017 tFB Trader
    I can only cut plastics that don't give off toxic/corrosive gasses when burnt. PVC, for example, gives of chlorine ... not nice ... but with that said, I can cut one hell of a lot of stuff ... like Gretsch style clear rings.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Ooooh, clear ones with an LED under the pickup so they glow cool colours?!
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    BigMonka said:
    Ooooh, clear ones with an LED under the pickup so they glow cool colours?!
    Easy to do
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    edited June 2018 tFB Trader
    So, bought a set of these for my '67 Casino. The bridge and neck pickups are both the same output at around 7.6k so getting them balanced has been a tricky exercise, these shims have proven to be just the ticket. I had to use two of them to get the bridge pup high enough to allow proper adjustment with the pole pieces and then it was just plain sailing. Install time was <5mins and they're very well made.

    From a distance you don't notice them as the overall size is only slightly bigger than the pickup, looks just like a shadow. Close up they're quite obvious but of course they are...it's not an invisible mod

    Top marks to Ash








    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12645
    Am I right in thinking that these can be fitted without de-soldering the cables?
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    impmann said:
    Am I right in thinking that these can be fitted without de-soldering the cables?
    Yep ... you'll have to take the strings off mind ... just remove the dogear cover, slip the pickup and cable through the shim, and repeat till you have the number of shims you need. It may get a bit tight on some semi acoustics with not much spare wire to fiddle with ... but it should be doable.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • MarshallMarshall Frets: 362
    edited September 2017
    Would like to change out an SG I have currently routed with humbucker cavity to a dogear '90 in the bridge - will these be big enough to cover it or if not would you be able to do a bigger size? Cheers! Oh! Forgot to say I'd be after the P90 from you as well!

    “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.” Einstein

    Feedback link -  http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/133389/marshall#latest

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  • lewismlewism Frets: 250
    Hi @Marshall quick answer is, it depends. Are you using them to cover over a manufacturer routed cavity or a home made job? I used them to refit P90s to an ES330 that someone had hacked up for humbuckers and they just about cover the humbucker route. If the caveman that took a hacksaw to the guitar had been a couple of millimetres out, it would be visible but I got lucky:
    https://i.imgur.com/6DvMhrk.jpg
    If you're covering a factory route, I think you should be alright. I'll tag @TheGuitarWeasel as he'll be able to give you accurate dimensions or, alternatively, build you a humbucker sized P90.
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  • Hi, thanks for this. Absolutely Definitely don't want a humbucker sized p90! (have some Phil X ones for sale in fact as have decided it must be the proper thing). The cavities are the original factory size. I emailed him directly through his website address so I guess he's just busy like we all are and will reply when he can. Thanks again 
    MM 

    “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.” Einstein

    Feedback link -  http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/133389/marshall#latest

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    Remember, a P90 dog ear has part of it suspended in the guitar, and is longer than a humbucker, so the humbucker rout will almost certainly need shallow extensions to the rout to take the pickup (unless you have a big neck angle and use several shims)... It's not possible then to re convert it to humbuckers at a later date without serious bodge work. 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • MarshallMarshall Frets: 362
    Hi Ash, thanks I hadn’t realised this - are the soap bar 90s essentially the same as the dog ears but in a different housing or is there a significant difference between the magnets/pickups in the dog ears vs soap bars?

    “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.” Einstein

    Feedback link -  http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/133389/marshall#latest

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    edited October 2017 tFB Trader
    Marshall said:
    Hi Ash, thanks I hadn’t realised this - are the soap bar 90s essentially the same as the dog ears but in a different housing or is there a significant difference between the magnets/pickups in the dog ears vs soap bars?
    Exactly the same as a soapbar ... but with a different baseplate and cover. Around 2/3 of the pickup stands proud of the front of the guitar and 1/3 hangs down into a rout

    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • MarshallMarshall Frets: 362
    Aha! OK, then a minor bit of routing and a new soap bar pickguard + soap bars would presumably be the easier/neater and more reversible solution I’m guessing?

    “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.” Einstein

    Feedback link -  http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/133389/marshall#latest

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    Marshall said:
    Aha! OK, then a minor bit of routing and a new soap bar pickguard + soap bars would presumably be the easier/neater and more reversible solution I’m guessing?
    That's how I'd do it
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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