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Topic: 1950 Fender Champion pickup attachment |
Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2020 11:45 am |
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Hi
I'm in the process of restoring a stripped-down 1950 Champion. All that's remaining is to mount the pickup (Seymour Duncan Heritage). The pickup mounts via a pair of wood screws, and it sits on a couple springs set into the plank.
Does anybody know the sizes of the springs and screws? I'd hate to damage the existing screw hole by using too wide a screw. I'm guessing it's a #5 x 1/2 or 5/8 round head wood screw, but I'm hoping someone out there knows for sure. Spring size is another unknown.
Thanks, all!
--Mike |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2020 8:51 am
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
If it were my Champion, I would drill out the existing holes to 1/8", plug the holes with 1/8" dowel stock, level the plugs, and drill new holes sized appropriate to the pickup mounting screws. Suitable screws and springs are available from StewMac, among others. Some folks substitute rubber tubing for metal springs.
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Thanks, Jack, but my tools and patience are both limited. The existing wood was all sound, so I attempted to locate the correct hardware.
UPDATE: It's all set up now and working right. Here's what I found:
Screws: #3 x 1" round head wood screw (3/4 threaded). Not exactly stuff you'd find at Home Despot. Fortunately Fender sells packages of a dozen, part #0016295049. "Jazzmaster/Telecaster pickup mounting screws" Philips head, nickel plated. (originals were black slot head)
Springs: Unfortunately every luthier supply place I checked only stocked 3/16 OD springs...too wide. My local world-class mom & pop hardware had 5/32 x 1" .028 wire diameter compression springs. These were cut down to 3/8" length. Tip: use your heaviest dikes to cut these; you'll destroy your nice cutters, trust me. 
Thanks to Drew's Vintage Guitars for sending me a photo of original hardware.
--Mike |
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