Help! Foam & pickup height

[bassnyc1]

Hi all,
I was installing a set of EMG GZR pickups in a friend's cheap import P Bass copy last night. I thought I put enough foam under the pickups. The pickup are still too low. I like to measure 1/8" on the Bass side and 3/32" on the treble side. So, I need more foam, right? Now when I screw the pickups down, they're still too low. I raise them and the screw isn't long enough to keep the pickup mounted. The screws are standard pickup screws that came with the pickups. I measured them against other basses I have and they're the same. How can I fix this? Please help!

 

[C Stone]

All else being equal and if you have the right amount of foam to get to your p/u height specs it sounds like you need longer screws is all. Are you checking heights fretted at the last fret? Eyeball the barrels to see if they may be adjusted too high. Possible that the “cheap import” may just have a deeper rout.

 

[bassnyc1]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I'm fretting at the last fret when measuring top of the poles to the bottom of the string. I think you're right about the deeper route and longer screws. Do I need special pickup screws or can I use any wood screws that are the same thickness, just longer? Also, how much foam is enough? I know that depends on the foam. I'm using the foam you can buy specially for pickups with the sticky tape on one side.

 

[C Stone]

I mean any screw with similar threads/dia. would get you by but I’d grab pick-up screws their inexpensive and usually have a smooth area at the top as to not bind up on the pick-up itself. As far as foam goes whatever gets you in the ballpark should be fine, I’ve used magic eraser and just a regular dish sponge.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Longer screws and springs are your best bet with Geezers.
I prefer the combination of foam and springs on the Geezers (which are one of the few pickups springs will work on since the covers are epoxied on.

IMO/IME Too much foam / too stiff of foam can put strain on those quick connects.
Time for a trip to your local Ace... but a #4 x 1 1/2 round head wood screw might not be "common" enough - even for Ace...

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Longer screws and more foam.
I don't like springs personally.

 

[Mastiff_5]

Foam and springs. Do eeeeeeet

 

[Gervais Cote]

Another option would be to put some small hardwood dowels in the pickup screw holes, cut them a tad higher than the bottom of the pickup cavity and drill new holes in the wood dowels.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Advice given is good. Longer screws might be harder to obtain than more / better foam, but they are out there.

I’ve found that hollow items made of actual rubber is much better than a lot of foam products. Stuff like the door seal on autos or thin wall rubber hose works well.

Old basses had actual foam rubber under the pickups that, when compressed, continues to push back for years. A lot of foam is now made of some synthetic material that compresses easily & stays compressed. When you get longer screws , you want something pushing the pickups up against the screw heads.

 

[ghiggin1079]

Another option would be to put some small hardwood dowels in the pickup screw holes, cut them a tad higher than the bottom of the pickup cavity and drill new holes in the wood dowels.

This is BRILLIANT! I'm going to use this to fix a couple basses i have this problem with...

 

[Aussie Player]

You can buy a bag of P Bass screws and springs dirt cheap on ebay. Bought some last week. They ship from CA.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

I had a similar issue with an AV P bass that came to me with CS 62 pickups. I wanted to go back to original AV 58 pickups, and because of the raised A pole piece, I found that pickup height screw on the E side was too short.

I checked the AV pickup screw specs and found I needed about another 1/8”-1/4” in length.

Luckily for me, there was a Home Depot in my area that had the screws.

This solution worked great.

 

[groovepump]

Another option would be to put some small hardwood dowels in the pickup screw holes, cut them a tad higher than the bottom of the pickup cavity and drill new holes in the wood dowels.

YES. Easy fix. I've done this before to my project basses.

 

[bassnyc1]

Thank you for all the replies. Lots of good advice; especially the one about the raised dowels. I ordered some pickup screws, new foam and just to try, some springs. The original screws are 32.4 mm long according to my digital caliper. The new ones are 35mm. I hope that little extra makes the difference!

 

[bassnyc1]

Update: I received the new screws, foam and springs. I tried using the springs but didn't like the way some of them had good "spring" to them but one didn't. You push the side of the pickup down and it doesn't spring up. So I went back to foam. I ended up using the same foam from before and the new screws that are a mere 2.5mm longer worked perfectly! Install complete.
Thanks again for all the replies and advice!

 

[fhm555]

On more than one occasion I’ve used an old mouse pad to give me a bit more height if needed. Just cut it to fit your route and stack as many layers of mouse pad as you need to get your pickups where you want them.
I wouldn’t use a stack of mouse pad segments alone for pickup foam, but a couple of pieces under the usual foam is a quick and dirty way to get a bit more height if needed.