December 12, 2009

Positioning Pickups Before Drilling

Semi-Hollowbody Electronics Electronics, Epiphone Riviera P93, Pickups, Video 42

This is part 2 of the video series on Replacing Pickups in a semi-hollowbody guitar. Here, I show some common-sense tricks for properly positioning the pickups front-to-back and side-to-side on the guitar, without having to make lots of measurements, etc. To place the pickups parallel with the edge of the fretboard and parallel with each other, I use spacers. You can experiment with spacers of different sizes to find a good fit – I’ve used pens and pencils and scrap wood. Just make sure the spacer is equal in size along its entire length – avoid tapered pens. Here, I’m using drill bits wrapped in tape, since my bit set has so many choices in size. I also show a way to use the low and high E strings as a straightedge when aligning the pickup polepieces under the strings. Note, in the video, I didn’t realize the camera was slightly angled when showing the pole piece alignment, so it’s not as

Note to self: next time, set the camera to proper manual focus before doing those closeups!

42 Comments

slovan
December 12, 2009 @ 12:37 pm

Nice tutorial.

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StevenBuchan
December 28, 2009 @ 2:21 am

Yeah id like to say amazing 3 part tutorial! brilliant quality and nice of you to take the time to do this, good work 😀

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888SHAC888
July 5, 2010 @ 5:03 pm

Wow, amazing detail. Thanks. What brand are the new pick ups?

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- John
  July 5, 2010 @ 10:02 pm
  
  @888SHAC888 – these are P-90’s from Vintage Vibe Guitars. Very nice pickups. Hear some before/after in my vid “Epiphone Electronics Overhaul, Before and After”
  
  Reply
  - 888SHAC888
    July 5, 2010 @ 10:08 pm
    
    I will check it out, thanks. Have you tested other picks before you chose this one?
    
    Reply
    - John
      July 5, 2010 @ 10:13 pm
      
      @888SHAC888 – I would have loved to, but these boutique pickups are pricey and built-to-order, so doing a bunch of experiments/comparisons would be pretty expensive.
      
      Reply
lmfaoman1001
August 18, 2010 @ 11:12 am

I was going to switch out one of my pickups for a dirty fingers one, Do i have to make them both dirty fingers or leave on stock and one new one? Like can i play between my neck pick up and bottom pick up?

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- John
  August 18, 2010 @ 11:18 am
  
  @lmfaoman1001 – up to you. if you install both your stock pickup and a dirty fingers, you may not have a very even balance of output levels since the dirty fingers will be hotter than the stock. if you have two volume knobs, you can easily deal with it. or if you usually play one or the other, but not mixed. try it and see!
  
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enjoiamelon
December 6, 2010 @ 12:24 pm

hey where did yo purchase those spacers?

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- John
  December 7, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
  
  @enjoiamelon – i got these spacers from Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars when I purchased my pickups. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a packaged set of dogear spacers maybe from Allparts at guitarcenter. Lollar sells a pack of shims (search “lollar p90 shims”)
  
  Reply
  - awalldre74
    January 21, 2013 @ 3:32 pm
    
    what guitar is this that your use in this video
    
    Reply
    - John
      January 24, 2013 @ 9:54 am
      
      Epiphone Riviera P93
      
      Reply
enjoiamelon
December 6, 2010 @ 12:24 pm

hey where did yo purchase those spacers?

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gabeNvincentstudios
February 13, 2011 @ 9:14 am

would it be possible just to put some soap bars right in there?

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gabeNvincentstudios
February 13, 2011 @ 9:17 am

like could you get any soar bar and put covers on it?

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- John
  February 15, 2011 @ 12:53 pm
  
  @gabeNvincentstudios – they won’t just drop in. since these pickups are dog-eared, the holes are out on the sides and you’d have to do some body-work to fill and hide them (which is hard to get right) and/or possibly routing out the holes for a different size soapbar. You’ll have to take some measurements of the current holes and the new pickups to see if you can make it work.
  
  Reply
rossdarocker39
March 12, 2011 @ 12:56 pm

Is it possible to put Gibson 57’s in?

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- John
  March 14, 2011 @ 10:53 pm
  
  @rossdarocker39 – they won’t just drop in. see my previous reply about soapbars to gabeNvincentstudios
  
  Reply
coupe662
September 4, 2011 @ 6:42 am

Thanks alot for this video really helpfull, a handfull of very good tips!!

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juaollla
June 18, 2012 @ 12:59 am

Hello John,
You mentioned, in another video that replacing the electronics didn’t do a lot to improve the quality of sound. Do you think that replacing the pickups is another story and is really worth the effort (and why not, the price)?

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- John
  June 24, 2012 @ 9:06 pm
  
  Yes, changing the pickups is the most dramatic way to change the sound of your guitar. See my video “Epiphone Electronics Overhaul, Before and After Comparisons” for examples and details. watch?v=fxc6s6tXefE
  
  Reply
  - juaollla
    June 24, 2012 @ 11:25 pm
    
    Hi John, ok thanks. I will watch it, of course.
    
    Reply
TheNodnarb66
June 1, 2013 @ 9:36 am

why didnt you just use the pickguard to evenly space the pickups, as in front to back, surely that would have been quicker than measuring and using spacers? correct me if im wrong! great video

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- John
  June 4, 2013 @ 9:56 am
  
  That’s a reasonable suggestion, but I wanted to show the general case- some guitars don’t have a pickguard (in fact, I’ve removed the pickguard from my riviera and never use it).
  
  Reply
StoneyBoudler
June 24, 2013 @ 3:44 am

Love your videos I have the same guitar and want to replace my pickups too but most dog ear pickup sets have 2 not 3 pickups. so should I buy 2 fronts and one back or the other way around? Or are there sets of three?

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- John
  June 28, 2013 @ 11:05 am
  
  You can buy a set of 3 from some pickup makers (like the Vintage Vibe Guitars pickups I showed in this video). However, if you prefer, you can just a neck pickup for the middle. In fact, if you remove your Riviera P93’s pickups, you’ll see the Epiphone stickers on the back indicating, Neck, Neck, and Bridge.
  
  Reply
danstune
July 25, 2013 @ 3:43 pm

Hi John, Your videos have been helpful and informative. I too have a P93 I want to upgrade it (l love it stock) and am embarking on buying a set of 3 pickups from Vintage Vibe, who is the source I believe sold you yours. I am going with Alnico V and reverse winding the mid (I think you did something like that with yours). Are you enjoying them after completing the project? Thanks, dan

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- John
  July 25, 2013 @ 3:59 pm
  
  Yes, that’s precisely the configuration I went with from VVG, and yes, it was a nice upgrade. You can hear my before/after comparison in my video “Epiphone Electronics Overhaul, Before and After Comparisons”: watch?v=fxc6s6tXefE
  
  Reply
  - danstune
    July 25, 2013 @ 4:06 pm
    
    Thanks John. I will give it a listen! 🙂
    
    Reply
P0kaym0n
August 17, 2013 @ 10:26 am

Hey if I put dimarzio pickups on my epiphone dot will it sound good

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- John
  August 20, 2013 @ 11:57 am
  
  You’ll have to try it to find out if you like it 🙂
  
  Reply
P0kaym0n
August 21, 2013 @ 6:06 pm

Ok thanks

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foobargorch
September 3, 2013 @ 4:42 am

Re 6:00 approx, is it kosher to mount the pickup at an angle as opposed to parallel in order to effectively shorten the length of the pole piece array to match slightly narrower strings?

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- John
  September 10, 2013 @ 9:14 am
  
  That’s not a bad idea. But you will get a tonal variation- the pole pieces closer to the bridge will sound a bit brighter than the pole pieces closer to the neck. You can use this to your advantage to shape the sound to your preference.
  
  Reply
Henry Alexander
September 16, 2013 @ 8:32 pm

Hi John, I too have a P-93, I recently bought a Yamaha SA 503, both guitar are very similar. How do I adjust the hieght of the P-90 Pickups from my Yamaha so all 3 can be even like the pickups on the P93?

The Yamaha, like the p93 has 3 pickups. The neck pickup is “low” while the one in the middle and the 3rd one towards the bottom are higher. It’s annoying while playing, my guitar picks ends up clashing with it. I want to adjust them so they can all be the same hieght, Any advice?

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- John
  September 17, 2013 @ 9:30 pm
  
  That Yamaha has soap-bar style P-90 pickups, right? There should be adjustment screws on each pickup (between the pole pieces), to raise and lower the pickup. On dog-eared pickups like on the P-93, it’s not so easy- you have to use spacers
  
  Reply
  - Henry Alexander
    September 17, 2013 @ 9:45 pm
    
    Yup, thank you for the advice. I’ve dug around on ebay and have seen a pair of “Yamaha SA 503” P90 pck ups on sale, in the discription it says that all pick ups are in different sizes. Could this be the case in my guitar?
    
    If anything, would you recommned getting gibson p90 pickups on my yamaha? have them all the same size, so they arent as high that my pick hits it when im picking stings or strumming? (also for sound quiality too, not just comfort of not hitting my pick ups with my pick)
    
    Reply
    - John
      September 17, 2013 @ 9:59 pm
      
      I haven’t heard those Yamaha pickups, so I can’t tell you whether the Gibsons will sound better. Try to get into a guitar store to try out some guitars with Gibson P-90’s before you buy/upgrade. Or at least buy them somewhere with a good return policy 🙂
      You should be able to easily remove your pickups (by removing your strings and loosening the pickup adjustment screws all the way), so you can measure their dimensions.
      
      Reply
- John
  September 17, 2013 @ 9:16 pm
  
  That Yamaha has soap-bar style P-90 pickups, right? There should be adjustment screws on each pickup (between the pole pieces), to raise and lower the pickup.
  On dog-eared pickups, like on the P-93, it’s not so easy- you have to use spacers…
  -John
  
  Reply
Wolfgang Leon
September 23, 2013 @ 9:41 am

Man you do an excellent job, thanks a lot.

Reply
KP11520
November 12, 2013 @ 7:06 pm

Hello John! I’ll be doing this to my Dot soon, so this is validating my
planned methodology! Thank you! So… Now the important question….. That
instrumental guitar piece that was playing as you were moving through the
repeated steps… What and who? Very tasty!

Reply
Replacing Pickups In a Semi-Hollow Body Guitar, part 2: Positioning the Pickups | Guitar Lesson
September 9, 2014 @ 5:35 am

[…] https://www.planetz.com/positioning-pickups. In part 2 of this video series, I show some common-sense tricks for properly positioning the pickups front-to-back and side-to-side on the guitar, without having to make lots of measurements, etc. In the next video, I’ll drill the holes and finish it up.The pickups I’m using are dog-eared P-90′s from http://VintageVibeGuitars.com . I’ll do a full review of those later.Like this video? Please consider making a donation (of any amount) at https://www.planetz.com/donate. […]

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Positioning Pickups Before Drilling

42 Comments

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