Mounting rings

danerectal

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I hope I can get some answers, as I'm not the only inquiring mind. I am resigning to the fact that I'll probably have to make mounting rings for my S-100 after someone plugged a Super Distortion and a DiMarzio PAF into it without regard to the original parts. Does anyone here have any ideas on where to find material suitable for such a project? I'm thinking wood will be my best option, not to mention a classy look. The downside is that 1) I don't have a bridge pickup ring to model after without removing from a mint '76 S-100c; 2) the wood could very well be less resilient than plastic, not to mention less flexible; 3) not even close to original. Any thoughts???
 

fronobulax

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Probably not much help, but on the old Dude Pit there always seemed to be someone asking about mounting for Dark Star (bass) pickups. Since there was some discussion from people who would make them or sell them, you might want to search or lurk at http://thedudepit.com/simplemachinesfor ... ?board=9.0 which is where the Dark Star forum has migrated to.
 

matsickma

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danrectal,

Are you having a problem with the mounting ring because some one drilled a "3rd" hole on the 2-hole side to mount a standard 1 + 1 mounting screw pickup? If it is an aestetic thing I give you three possible solutions. I have used all in the past.

Solution #1: Fill the 3rd hole. I have used a black rubber "glue" to fill the hole. It isn't perfect but with careful application of the "glue" it looks pretty good. The "glue" I have used is the special black rubber cement that JBL and others use to attach the center dome of a speaker to the speaker cone. You can pick this cement up from a speaker repair store or watch ebay for a tube of the stuff that comes up one in a while.

Solution #2: Change the rings to a standard type. Remove the pickups. Purchase new 2-hole black ones. ( They are all over ebay and come in slightly different sizes and are pretty cheap. Stay away from metal. They a a lot more expensive.) Then get a drill and tap for the appropriate humbucker screw (I think standard US is a #6) and drill a hole in the center of the Guild pickup 2-hole mounting lip. Then run the tap through the hole. You need to be careful to catch some thread because the metal is thin. Then mount the PUP to the ring and back onto the guitar. Guild PUP's tend to be a bit bigger so you get a snug fit.

Solution #3: Watch eBay for a set of PUP's with the ring. Win the auction, get the rings and then re-sell the PUPs.

M
 

danerectal

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Solution #1: Fill the 3rd hole. I have used a black rubber "glue" to fill the hole. It isn't perfect but with careful application of the "glue" it looks pretty good. The "glue" I have used is the special black rubber cement that JBL and others use to attach the center dome of a speaker to the speaker cone. You can pick this cement up from a speaker repair store or watch ebay for a tube of the stuff that comes up one in a while.

I only have one ring, but it is damaged as you describe

Solution #2: Change the rings to a standard type. Remove the pickups. Purchase new 2-hole black ones. ( They are all over ebay and come in slightly different sizes and are pretty cheap. Stay away from metal. They a a lot more expensive.) Then get a drill and tap for the appropriate humbucker screw (I think standard US is a #6) and drill a hole in the center of the Guild pickup 2-hole mounting lip. Then run the tap through the hole. You need to be careful to catch some thread because the metal is thin. Then mount the PUP to the ring and back onto the guitar. Guild PUP's tend to be a bit bigger so you get a snug fit.

I don't intend to drill holes in either my S-100 or its original pickups.

Solution #3: Watch eBay for a set of PUP's with the ring. Win the auction, get the rings and then re-sell the PUPs.

I don't have $150 to spare just to pick up the rings, not even short term.
 

jp

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Hey Dan,
In another thread, I mentioned that I was going to make some new PU rings to mount Dynasonics in my SFII. Too much life and little kid foo keeping me from it, but I was going to to try thick PVC--like pickguard material but thicker. Lookee here. A 2" x 4" piece should do it. There's actually a store here in town, so I'm going to check out what they have and bring my PU rings. ABS plastic may be another option. I don't know much about finish work on plastic, but hopefully I can find a type that can be finished an polished. I'm probably dreaming though and will end up with mold-makng and thermoforming equipment in my living room.
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Yay ärt,

little kid foo
Please translate into geezer English.

Which reminds me. Are the Foo Fighters (1) guys who fight against foo, or (2) foos who fight?

Anyway, do you think using a ring like those in my post above wouldn't work, or are you going the other route to get something that looks distinctive?

And isn't a wedding ring a mounting ring?
 

jp

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Darryl Hattenhauer said:
Yay ärt,

little kid foo
Please translate into geezer English.

Which reminds me. Are the Foo Fighters (1) guys who fight against foo, or (2) foos who fight?

Anyway, do you think using a ring like those in my post above wouldn't work, or are you going the other route to get something that looks distinctive?

And isn't a wedding ring a mounting ring?
Little kid foo = All little kid-related activities which keep me from messing with my gear!

Foo Fighters = Could also be fighters consisting of foo!

I don't really know if those you suggested would work, although matsickma as always, seems to have tried everything at least once. I was just throwing out a suggestion for raw material to answer danerectal's question. I'm not really sure if the original HB-1s take standard-sized rings.
 

danerectal

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Basically, if I can't get original Guild HB-1 rings, I would rather make my own. That way the only potential for damaging the S-100 is from the material I use interacting with the finish. I figure if I use pickguard material, I could either find it thick enough or laminate it. No matter what I do then, I probably won't hurt the finish. I was also thinking about adding some wood accents anyway as I have two holes where someone added a tune-o-matic tailpiece. I'm thinking something dark to accent the "Starfire Red" finish.
 

Walter Broes

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It's a guess and a longshot, and they might be as hard to locate as the real thing, but maybe, just maybe the rings on DeArmond Goldtone humbuckers might fit - they have the three hole setup too, and are "full size" buckers...?
 

danerectal

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It's a guess and a longshot, and they might be as hard to locate as the real thing, but maybe, just maybe the rings on DeArmond Goldtone humbuckers might fit - they have the three hole setup too, and are "full size" buckers...?

No, sorry to disappoint. The spacing is wrong between the pickup mount holes and the ring is a smaller perimeter. Dreamlander actually has a pair of those that came with his Fender reissue Guild pickups.

P.S. Even a single bridge pickup ring would complete my project. As I said earlier, the neck one just has a hole drilled in the center leaving it functional, but marred.
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Y'all

Do you think you could take a mounting ring that's too big and just cut it down? And it would be easy to drill additional holes in a plastic pup ring, right?
 

Walter Broes

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Sure Darryl, but most humbucker rings don't let theirselves be cut to size that way, they're usually not solid. I think it'd be easier to custom make one from plastic sheet and superglue.
 

Bong-O

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How about a DeArmond Goldtone pickup mounting ring.... like the ones on the DeArmond Guild guitars from the late 1990's..... They are findable and fairly inexpensive.... two adjustment screws on one side and one on the other, like a Guild...... worth a shot?
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Walter,

That's good to know because I have two white dynasonics that I'm going to put in a 1970 starfire 4.

Bong-O,

Can you buy just the rings without having to buy the pick-ups?
 

danerectal

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Bong-O and Daryl,

It doesn't matter if you can get the "DeArmond" Gold Tone rings as they are too small on the inside to hold the pickup, the screws on the bass side for mounting the pickups are too close together, and their screw holes don't line up for the 70s Hb-1 rings. As I said earlier, Dreamlander has a pair of these and they are useless for said application.
 
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