New Pickups are too tall. Break out the router or keep it stock? + Wiring questions.

Very interesting that you've run into this issue! I have a set of Apollos handy that I've never actually used yet (have an upcoming video testing them). I put an Apollo side by side with a DiMarzio Area J and a standard single coil generic J pickup. Here's what I found:



The generic single coil is on the left, the DiMarzio Area J is center, and the SD Apollo as left. It appears that the Apollo is quite a bit taller than the Dimarzio and regular J, likely due to their stacked humbucker design as opposed to the side-by-side design of the DiMarzio.

In regards to the wiring, I believe the bare can go to ground as well. Hope that helps!

 

1/2” deep routing is shallower than normal. With the right router bit, making a route deeper is about the simplest thing you can do with a router, and will make your bass more “normal”.

A route that’s too deep can always be easily dealt with with a piece of foam. A route that’s too shallow is a roadblock you don’t need.

 

Respectfully, my dude, those sound like some of the famoustest of famous last words.

 

In that ballpark - .700 to .800 is where most of the routs I’ve seen end up. I’ve done a few even deeper in special circumstances.

 

Thst is how you make a route deeper - works fine. The only trick is to make the plunge in the center of the route, so when you get to the edge, the router base is bottomed out, and the bit is vertical.

 

Just a tip, if you're going to route then please make sure that you have the right size bit for the corner radius of the pickups. If you were to route with a standard 3/8" diameter or similar bit, the pickup probably wouldn't fit the deeper route due to the corners being a smaller radius.

Other option, depending on how the bass setup is already, you might be able to just put a small shim in the neck pocket and leave the routes alone. 100% reversible if you ever decide you want to go back to stock .

 

Iff the router bit is a bit too big, a few cuts with a chisel can get you there.

In some cases, the route is deep enough for the pickup - you just need to deepen the pocket to get some foam in there - in those cases, the lack of a sharp corner in the lowest part of the route isn’t an issue.

 

Thanks for the info! I just assumed after freshly working on a different SD stack, the Stinger.

 

Yep, route it out another 1/4” to 3/8”. Especially since you’re comfortable using a template bit. It’s a doddle, although @thisSNsucks is absolutely right about the corner radius; that might need some hand fettling.

 

Route it and get a slightly lighter bass as a consolation gift

 

If mods are necessary, I usually lean towards “standard” or “common” specs.

 

These holes on the end are for any additional grounds. So, bare wire from the bridge, would go here. Wire grounding your sheilding, would also go here. Although, you can always just simply run everything to the jack, if you want to.

That's what they're for though.


Oh, if you mean that your pickups had a third wire, that's for buffered preamps.

You can either run those to one of the extra side holes as mentioned, or connect them to any other ground connection that's easier. It's a loop. It all goes to the same place.

 

You probably won't need a template. If you've got a suitable ball bearing router bit you can use the existing cavity as a template (provided of course that the bit is the right length to sit correctly along the edge of the existing cavity). If you've never used a router before I strongly recommend a practise run on a piece of scrap. Like others have said, you might have to chisel out a bit of the corners (depending on the size of the bit).

Keep your wiring simple and just solder everything to the same solder points as your stock pickups. The white wires from the Apollos should be soldered to wherever your current hot/signal wires from the pickups are soldered. Black+bare wire from the Apollos should be soldered to wherever your current ground wires from the pickups are soldered. You could solder the ground wires from the Apollos to lots of different places of course but if you don't know what you're doing you could end up creating a ground loop (=noise) so the safest and easiest way is to solder everything exactly like the stock wiring.

Yes, you definitely need to make sure the bare wire doesn't touch anything on that circuit board. Twist the bare wire around the black wire, solder them together and you will probably be fine. If it looks like it might touch anything, use a shrink wrap.

You shouldn't really need shielding in the pickup cavities with the Apollos (in theory) as they are split coils and hum-cancelling by design. But then again, it doesn't hurt to put some shielding in there. In some cases shielding MIGHT actually affect the tone/highs (again: in theory) but it's something I would be more worried about with the Strat than with a bass. Make sure any shielding you put in there is connected to ground (or it might work as an antenna for noise instead of shielding against it). Most types of copper shielding tape use a conductive adhesive but it's always a good idea to check for conductivity with a multimeter to make sure all your shielding is actually connected to ground.

 

I use paint. I don't ever use the tape. But, it'll probably work out for you just fine.

Yes, there's a chance of the bare wire touching the board. What you can do is coat the wires with a piece of electrical tape. Twist them together, and put a piece of tape on them. Solder them both to one spot.

As long as you solder them to something grounded, that's all that matters. Pins B and C are grounded, as far as that diagram shows, so either one would work out. Your sheilding, and bridge ground can be soldered to the other one together.

 

I would use a forstner drill bit to deepen your route, I bought mine at harbor freight for $12.00,worked great,much easier then a router.