Epiphone Thunderbird, rectangular pickups

[C_Becker]

Hey TB,

I just grabbed an old Epi Gothic Thunderbird for a good price.
Mine is an old Korean one, and it has the rectangular pickups.

While I really like the bass, the pickups are somewhat lacking and I want to replace them with EMGs.

Researching the web I found out that no standard size (neither TB nor soapbar) will fit.

So if I want to install "regular" sized pickups, I'll have to enlarge the existing holes.

I was thinking of getting some mounting rings to cover up the work, where can I get some that will fit the EMG pickups ? They're 3.712"x1.650" according to EMG, will regular Gibson sized pickup rings fit ?

 

[portaflexer]

I put some soapbars in an Epi T-bird several years back. They're actually smaller than the opening. The pickups will drop in there, but there will be a small gap on each side. If you can live with this, you're good to go.

It bothered me a bit, so I had a pickguard maker create me some pickup rings for the bass. I just measured the width of the raised part on the body and sent him the specs on the pickups. I also replaced the bridge as you can see in the pic. BTW, the Gibson Thunderbird pickup rings won't fit.

Side note: the factory pickup cavity is pretty deep, so I put some foam in there before mounting the pickups. I also used extra long screws to make sure they were solid.

 

[C_Becker]

I see, so are those Seymour Duncan SSD 4s ? Did you have to alter anything or did they drop right in ?

I'm thinking of getting EMG 35Hz, I have the 40Hz in my other bass and I like them quite a bit since I installed an EMG preamp as well.

I could fabricate the mounting rings myself, I'm working on a pickguard similiar to my Explorer at the moment and have some material left...

 

[portaflexer]

Yes. They are SSD 4 pups. No alterations (other than the foam I mention above). I believe the EMGs are the same size.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

How do the SSD 4s sound?