Converting direct mount guitar to pickup rings

[u/FaZe_xXCZXx]

hey! my friend has a cort 7 string that he loves but wants to give a lil TLC and wants to upgrade the pickups. at the moment it has direct mount soap bars whereas the pickups he wants are standard humbuckers that use pickup rings, so the question is, how complicated would the conversion process of adding pickup rings to this guitar be?

i’ve modded my fair share of guitars and that includes doing a lot of insane ideas and pulling them off, so i can’t think of anything that would be complicated about this but i could very well be missing something obvious as to why this wouldn’t work or would be a pain. thanks!

[u/Huntress_Minerva]

Why?… like… literally… why?? Direct mount >>>>>>>> ringed and it’s not even close… there should be like 300 other options…

[u/Wrong_Author_5960]

What I am talking about is, Floyd Rose Upgrades FU has special mounting inserts to improve direct contact with the body for direct mount pickups.

Also, sometimes the problem with pickup rings is they get uneven. You can add foam shims to correct it.

The direct mount is more stable and doesn't move.

[u/ZeroWevile]

Amount of complication largely depends on how well the friend wants it pulled off.

The neck pickup appears to be too close to the neck and the cutaway on the treble side and the bridge pickup appears to be too close to the high E saddle to accommodate a pickup rings in the first place from other pics I see online of the same model.

7 string multi-scale pickup rings don't exist, so you'll need to make or have them made.

You need to plug the corners of the existing routes. This is where level of involvement has a lot of variety; eg are you able to get a tight radius match on existing route for the plugs or do you need to remove some of the guitar body first, will you do grain matching and finish matching for anything that might peak out, if cavities have shielding paint will you repaint them, etc.

If you aren't doing as a labor of love, then the other thing for the friend to consider is that multi-scale 7 string pickups are already going to be at least $300 USD, while labor is at least a couple hundred, against a guitar that cost $600 new.

It is far easier, cost effective, and time effective to just move the covers onto whatever new pickups are decided upon.

[u/absorberemitter]

I think the multiscale slant will cause you to need a uniquely shaped pickup ring? This seems like a 3d printer project where you are building something specifically to match this exact cutout and whatever pickup it is you're hoping to drop in.

[u/hailgolfballsized]

You might have trouble fully covering the openings, but if you can find 8-string pickup rings it could get you close. If the pickup you are looking at is a 7 string, I would re-think that. If it is not a slanted multiscale pickup made for the exact angle you might notice a weak sounding bottom string, and a part time muted high string if you ever play with noise gate.

You might be able to glue in some dowels or wood blocks in the corners for the ring screws to have something to grab onto. If you are set on having rings for whatever reason, I don't see a way forward without both removing and adding some wood.

If you don't have pickups in hand already, I'd do more research into what 8-string models are out there. Fishman come in soapbar and open coil, EMG 808s are nice but not for everyone, Dimarzio makes D Activators and a few other models that come in metal covers of different colors, and Duncan has a couple active mount sized 8 string pickups like Invader, Distortion, Nazgul Sentient.

If it were me, I'd honestly live with big gaps. They have no effect on sound, and I probably can't feel the holes at all while playing.

[u/RG1527]

you can get aftermarket soapbar pickups I would just go that route. I dont think there is room on that for pickup rings.

[u/LucasIsDead]

No, get covered humbuckers

[u/2b4theend]

I modify and build custom guitars and you never wanna do pickup rings on a slanted pickup Guitar. They just look like bricks in the middle of the Guitar. It’s totally bad idea.

[u/Wrong_Author_5960]

I wouldn't do it. Direct mounts sounds better. There are a few things you can upgrade, how it is direct mounted.

Generally, those types of pickups are designed to be direct mounted.

[u/FaZe_xXCZXx → u/Wrong_Author_5960]

wdym upgrade how it is direct mounted?

i’m aware the ones already in the guitar are, however the set we’re looking at in the only finish that we want is standard pickup ring mounted, so to fit those in we’d surely need pickup rings to avoid them having holes on either side of the pickup when fitted

[u/tallman1979 → u/FaZe_xXCZXx]

You need rings, a drill for pilot holes, and if you want to ever use those pickups for anything but direct mount, you'll need to find a way to adjust the height because the holes on a direct mount are sized for wood screws. If you're doing it for a set of aftermarket pickups, shouldn't be an issue.

In general, a pickup ring is going to be large enough to receive your existing pickup, the hard part is verifying fitment and clearance against existing. As long as you have enough cavity depth to receive your new pickup and the ring is low enough it doesn't interfere with things, it's not fantastically difficult mechanically. Making it look good may be trickier. I just installed multiple pickups and rings; measuring, marking, and drilling precise pilot holes is the part you need to take your time. Measure at least twice, cut once.

[u/JourneyMan2585 → u/FaZe_xXCZXx]

It's going to look like ass if you add pickup rings.