looking for advice on pickup conversion

[Supernaute]

I'm considering installing a standard size humbucker in the neck position of my Epiphone EB-0. Some routing will obviously be required. But I'm more concerned about the gaps due to the smaller pickup size. If I put the pickup in the middle, I'll have a gap on both sides. I could also move the pickup down, leaving one larger gap on top. I was thinking I could perhaps fashion a small plate from pickguard material to cover this up with. I could also make one larger plate to fit the pickup into, covering the entire hole, but I really had my hopes set on using the chrome ring. And that's where I've stopped for the moment.

If any more knowledgeable folks could share what they would do in this situation, that would be great. Any and all advice would be much appreciated!

 

[ardgedee]

I'm considering installing a standard size humbucker in the neck position of my Epiphone EB-0. Some routing will obviously be required. But I'm more concerned about the gaps due to the smaller pickup size. If I put the pickup in the middle, I'll have a gap on both sides. I could also move the pickup down, leaving one larger gap on top. I was thinking I could perhaps fashion a small plate from pickguard material to cover this up with. I could also make one larger plate to fit the pickup into, covering the entire hole, but I really had my hopes set on using the chrome ring. And that's where I've stopped for the moment.

If any more knowledgeable folks could share what they would do in this situation, that would be great. Any and all advice would be much appreciated!

View attachment 5185234 View attachment 5185235

You could cut a pickguard with a different shape. One possible design (two minutes of effort so this is not necessarily a good one, sorry, but there should be better.):

 

[Supernaute]

You could cut a pickguard with a different shape. One possible design (two minutes of effort so this is not necessarily a good one, sorry, but there should be better.):
View attachment 5185245

Oh, now that's very cool. I didn't even think about that. Thanks for the idea! I'll definitely consider it.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Ardgedee's pickguard looks cool. The other options are make a ring that covers the old route which it sounds like you don't want to do. You could use aluminum or nickel silver and make a larger metal ring for the new pickup or plastic and make a piece that covers the old route and mount the new ring to the plastic. You could fill the old route, cut a new pickup route, and touchup the finish.

 

[Supernaute]

Ardgedee's pickguard looks cool. The other options are make a ring that covers the old route which it sounds like you don't want to do. You could use aluminum or nickel silver and make a larger metal ring for the new pickup or plastic and make a piece that covers the old route and mount the new ring to the plastic. You could fill the old route, cut a new pickup route, and touchup the finish.

I have a touch up lacquer pen from Stewmac, but it's really more for scratches. I tried it on the some bare wood and it doesn't really match well with the finish when coating a large area. What would I need to color the wood to get at least somewhat close to the real finish?

 

[ardgedee]

View attachment 5185235

If you put the new pickup along the far edge of the existing route, you could cover the space between the pickup and the neck with a brass plate, like Alembic does. Engrave your dog's name, a random string of numbers, the weather report on the date you modded it...

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I have a touch up lacquer pen from Stewmac, but it's really more for scratches. I tried it on the some bare wood and it doesn't really match well with the finish when coating a large area. What would I need to color the wood to get at least somewhat close to the real finish?

That finish is most likely a see through or candy red over mahogany or some semblance of mahogany. It's also undoubtedly a polyurethane or polyester which will be difficult to get an invisible fix. You could try tinting some Varathane Ultimate and brushing or wiping it on then level sanding and polishing. The GluBoost colors are supposed to be good and I think they have a Gibson red.

 

[Bloomfield]

If you put the new pickup along the far edge of the existing route, you could cover the space between the pickup and the neck with a brass plate, like Alembic does. Engrave your dog's name, a random string of numbers, the weather report on the date you modded it...
View attachment 5185401

Some of the SG guitar models had a similar plate made of pickguard material to cover the neck tenon, so you could do that and it would be in keeping with traditional Gibson aesthetics.

 

[Supernaute]

You could cut a pickguard with a different shape. One possible design (two minutes of effort so this is not necessarily a good one, sorry, but there should be better.):
View attachment 5185245

Hey I just wanted to let you know that I liked your design so much I used it to make a new pickguard for my EB. This is how it came out.