mounting pickups direct onto the body

axisus

For my current guitar build I don't want a scratchplate, I'm looking to mount pickups (HSS) directly onto the body. Can 'regular' pickups be mounted in this way or is it problematic?

ICBM

It's pretty easy. You just need some small screws that will go through the holes in the pickup bases - preferably without damaging the threads, if you might ever want to use the pickups again elsewhere.

The tricky bit is getting the height right. You will probably want to put some small rubber grommets under them to give a little adjustment.

You also need to be careful with some single coils because the wires come out under the baseplate, which can make it hard to get the pickup to sit level. You can either change the wires to top-loaded only, or carve out a small wiring channel under them.

Roland

It's easy if you stick plates, with threaded holes, to the bottom of the pickup cavities. You can then bolt the pickup to the plates, with either springs or neoprene tubing to hold the pickups at the desired heights. The plates can be plastic (which will just about hold a thread), steel (which alters the magnetic field and hence tone), or brass or aluminium.