Non magnetic pole piece screws

NickB

I have a Gibson ES339 which sports 57 classic pups. I found them to be muddy so removed the screws. Much better. Does anyone know if there are nylon screws available as a replacement to fill the holes? Cheers. 

jasonbone75

You can buy nylon threaded rod and nylon screws in various sizes. I haven't found any UNC threaded stuff which I suspect those pickups will need. There are metric varieties available and you can cut off the heads or just use a rod and cut off sections. Possibly there will be some UNC type threaded nylon at a model maker fastener supplier.

jasonbone75

Here you go: https://www.modelfixings.co.uk/nylon_screws.htm 

Both metric and UNC available in the UK. I have used these guys for bridge hardware replacement screws once I think.

NickB

Thank you Sir much appreciated. Are there any other options that could be considered? Thank you 

jasonbone75

You could try stainless steel grub screws as "fake metal" pole pieces? Some stainless is magnetic and the A2 stainless grubs I use in various sizes have a mild attraction to a magnet. It might be worth a try as they won't contribute much if anything and they give a nice shiny hex head look.

UNC grubs: https://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/A2_ScrewBolt_GrubCup_UNCoarse.html 

Metric grubs: http://https//www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/A2_ScrewBolt_GrubCup_M.html

NickB

Sir you are a legend! Thank you! Is this the correct size? 5-40 x 1 UNC Grub Screw Cup Point in A2 Stainless

jasonbone75

Ah, this is where we might need another fretboarder I have never owned anything like this so have no knowledge of the threads or dimensions!!! DiMarzios and Duncans are about all I have ever used.

OilCityPickups

NickB said:

I have a Gibson ES339 which sports 57 classic pups. I found them to be muddy so removed the screws. Much better. Does anyone know if there are nylon screws available as a replacement to fill the holes? Cheers. 

What you would really want are non magnetic 5-40 UNC Slotted Fillister headed machine screws ... god knows where you'd find such a thing .... Hex headed on a ES339 would look very odd. 

jasonbone75

Here you go: https://www.accu.co.uk/fillister-screws/71862-SFI-5-40-1-A2

OilCityPickups

jasonbone75 said:

Here you go: https://www.accu.co.uk/fillister-screws/71862-SFI-5-40-1-A2

Personally I'd opt for the shortest they have ... probably 1/4 inch shaft, that way the the 'pole' shaft won't reach all the way to the pole shoe and then if there is some magnetic quality to the screws there will be one heck of an air gap with the magnet which would render them totally ineffectual. 

Well actually I had 57 classics in a couple of Gibsons ... and rectified it a slightly different way ... 

jasonbone75

OilCityPickups said:

jasonbone75 said:

Here you go: https://www.accu.co.uk/fillister-screws/71862-SFI-5-40-1-A2

Personally I'd opt for the shortest they have ... probably 1/4 inch shaft, that way the the 'pole' shaft won't reach all the way to the pole shoe and then if there is some magnetic quality to the screws there will be one heck of an air gap with the magnet which would render them totally ineffectual. 

Well actually I had 57 classics in a couple of Gibsons ... and rectified it a slightly different way ... 

Sounds like a great idea! The Fretboard delivers again.

NickB

You fine chaps are legends. I have ordered some screws. Will report back.... 

N

stickyfiddle

I don't suppose anyone can find the same thing in gold...?  

jasonbone75

stickyfiddle said:

I don't suppose anyone can find the same thing in gold...?  

I did find some brass ones but specifically 5-40 thread seemed to be missing if I recall!

jasonbone75

@stickyfiddle you didn't say it HAD to be in the UK right? Bloody StewMac: https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/pickups/pickup-parts/humbucker-pickup-parts/polepiece-screw/ 

Arguably, I could do it with anything gold coloured as long as the head was at least big enough because it is easy enough to turn down a screw head to diameter. Side hustle...

OilCityPickups

jasonbone75 said:

stickyfiddle said:

I don't suppose anyone can find the same thing in gold...?  

I did find some brass ones but specifically 5-40 thread seemed to be missing if I recall!

5-40 really isn't super common 

jasonbone75

Yeah, I need to check in the workshop tomorrow because I would think we have 5-40 dies amongst our threading assortments. We could do tFB specials hand crafted on the lathe in material of choice

NickB

jasonbone75 said:

Yeah, I need to check in the workshop tomorrow because I would think we have 5-40 dies amongst our threading assortments. We could do tFB specials hand crafted on the lathe in material of choice

Oh that would be marvelous!

jasonbone75

NickB said:

jasonbone75 said:

Yeah, I need to check in the workshop tomorrow because I would think we have 5-40 dies amongst our threading assortments. We could do tFB specials hand crafted on the lathe in material of choice

Oh that would be marvelous!

Steady on - you haven't seen the price yet!

NickB

jasonbone75 said:

NickB said:

jasonbone75 said:

Yeah, I need to check in the workshop tomorrow because I would think we have 5-40 dies amongst our threading assortments. We could do tFB specials hand crafted on the lathe in material of choice

Oh that would be marvelous!

Steady on - you haven't seen the price yet!

They better be forged out of the finest tonal materials and hand rolled in an angels tears…..

CavemanGrogg

NickB said:

I have a Gibson ES339 which sports 57 classic pups. I found them to be muddy so removed the screws. Much better. Does anyone know if there are nylon screws available as a replacement to fill the holes? Cheers. 

You can demagnetise any metal that is magnetic, it's very cheap and easy to do, in fact you probably have everything you need to do it in the house already.  Personally I'd just leave the originals in a wee baggie in the case, buy a set of ones as close to, if not identical to the originals, and then just spend the 2-3 minutes it will take to demagnetise the new replacement screws.  Personally I would strongly advise against any and all forms of nylon and other synthetic screws, I use a hell of a lot of them, or rather a lot of the RC stuff uses them, and the first thing I do is replace them with proper metal screws, especially for screws that are intended to be adjustable.

Or better yet, just spend a tenner and get yourself a demagnetizer/degausser, that way you can magnetise and demagnetise the original screws as and when you want to, and as often as you want to, in seconds, and do a proper A/B comparison every few string changes, even experiment with number of screws and the positions of the ones that have been demagnetised.