This is only a small accessory, but I've been annoyed with the lack of good Dog Ear P90 shims out there for some time. They are available from one UK retailer (who always seems to be out of stock) but the ones they sell have a huge footprint that comes way outside the cover, are made of cheap, rather inflexible plastic (no good for the curved tops of semi acoustics). Many folks make them from old mouse mats etc, but those are made from the sort of rubber that can interact badly with nitro finishes.
Many of you will know that the only way to adjust the pickup height with a Dog Ear is via a shim, or a combination of several, so this ought to be something thats easy to get hold of ... it wasn't ... till now.
Off I went into the Oily Towers workshop ... fired up the CAD program, then the Laser, and produced these ....
Cut to close tolerances, they are just 1.5mm larger than the pickup base (to give it a stable footing), and are made of non reactive vulcanised paper fibre (just like pickup flatwork). They come in 2mm thickness, so a set of three will give you a 2/4 or 6mm lift (usually plenty of range unless your neck is wierdly set). They bend easily to accommodate curved semi acoustic tops, Yet are hard and durable. If you need thicker shims I can custom cut 3mm ones, but these bend to guitar tops less easily.
A set of two plastic ones from the UK retailer are £22.00 plus postage (ouch)
A set of three of these are £16.00 plus postage ...
Oh, and the fibre material can be glued together if required with ordinary wood glue once height has been determined ... will also take paint finishes like wood, so could be sprayed to match your guitar colour.
Comments
I bought some of those plastic shims - and they were shocking for the money. Plus they needed filing to fit the (Gibson) P90s properly.
This addresses a real gripe I had with product availability ... Jason Lollar does them over in the US, but nowt but Allparts plastic ones, as far as I could see in the good old UK.
Our laser is a huge boon in creating all sorts of useful bits and bobs ... from cutting and engraving our own flatwork ... and soon to be laser marking our own nickel baseplates and plated covers ... to creating the specialised tools and jigs we use in everyday pickup manufacture.
True the machine was a heavy investment ... and CAD software a steep learning curve, but our CO2 laser is the 'Swiss Army Knife' of workshop tools ... and a cool 'boys toy' too.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Thanks for doing these for me Ash - looking forward to getting them .
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Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
From a distance you don't notice them as the overall size is only slightly bigger than the pickup, looks just like a shadow. Close up they're quite obvious but of course they are...it's not an invisible mod
Top marks to Ash
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Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
https://i.imgur.com/6DvMhrk.jpg
If you're covering a factory route, I think you should be alright. I'll tag @TheGuitarWeasel as he'll be able to give you accurate dimensions or, alternatively, build you a humbucker sized P90.
MM
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message