Question for those with Warmoth pickguards on their SoCals

[Newc]

I've seen it mentioned that the bridge humbucker route is slightly too close to the bridge, meaning the pickup will butt right against the body and there'll be a small but noticeable gap between the front of the pickup and the edge of the hole.

My question is, what of the middle and neck positions? Any such issues?

I'm thinking of getting a couple, but for the setups I want I'm not sure if I can put up with the bridge pickup route issue. I'd rather order it with a blank bridge route and do it myself, but if the neck and middle aren't having the same problem, then I'll have those pre-cut (costs the same whether I want those pre-cut or not).

Also, with Warmoth's default blade-switch route position, did you have any trouble getting a standard/vintage-style Fender switch to fit in the body (the ones that are wider than the sealed/import-style with prongs on each side)?


Lastly, before I commit to Warmoth, has anyone (Dave/Budman, specialty pickguard houses, etc) added SoCal-spec pickguards to their regular product line yet?

[Newc]

As well, anyone measure the thickness of the standard guard? The battery in my calipers is dead so I dunno if I need/want .09" or .06".

[XSSIVE]

my so-cal is "out for delivery" so i can't check one of the warmoth guards i have kicking around just yet. however i have a feeling that people are having the issue of the bridge hum being too close since they're not aware that a warmoth guard has a 2 3/16 neck route and a so-cal has a 2 1/4" neck. you can use a 2 3/16" pickguard with that 2 1/4" heel neck it just pushes the guard forward towards the bridge. you won't notice it's doing that unless you look under the fingerboard overhang and see the small gap it causes, making the bridge hum closer to the bridge. i don't have any first hand experience with it yet on a socal but i have a 2 1/4" heel charvel mutt using a neck from a new pro-mod with a warmoth guard and it did just that...pushed the guard forward. i see several people talking about the guard fitting fine but screw holes being off and the bridge hum being close to the route and all of it adds up the the guard sitting a hair forward due to them not opening up the neck route to 2 1/4" and the people not noticing under the neck overhang that there's a gap there where the guard isn't flush up against the neck in all areas. so, long story short...put the guard on with the neck off and line up all the screw holes then open up the neck pocket route to match the body and you should be good to go.

-Mike

[john.w.lawson]

I do not know about the socal! But I do have two guitars with warmoth pickgaurds, model 1a and an stx custom. but are slighty off,in the case of the stx has a schaller trem, order floyd cut.I had to grind it at the neck and trem cut out.The pickgaurd ! but had no problems with pickup placement.

[john.w.lawson]

Here is a pic.

[Newc]

Hmmm. Makes sense. Someone else did mention the neck pocket cutout being too narrow, and that would cause both the screw hole and the bridge pickup misalignment.

Welp, off to Warmoth to place me orders

Thanks fellers

[XSSIVE]

my so-cal just landed, as i'm swapping all the hardware over in 5 minutes from now (yeah it just got here and i'm tearing into it already after 10 minutes of play time lol) i can check one of the warmoth guards i have if you like.

-Mike

[DHardmanJr]

I put two different Warmoth pickguards on two different So Cals and they fit without any issues. The neck does need to come off to accomplish the change but I didn't have any neck pocket issues or bridge humbucker issues. At least none that I noticed.

[DHardmanJr]

oh and the Warmoth pickguard had the standard 5-way selector position and I used one of those 5-way megaswitches from stewmac and it fit fine.

[Newc]

Sweet. Thanks

[6string40]

I put two different Warmoth pickguards on two different So Cals and they fit without any issues. The neck does need to come off to accomplish the change but I didn't have any neck pocket issues or bridge humbucker issues. At least none that I noticed.

I also put 2 of their guards on 2 different So Cals without any pickup or neck issues. Only minor issue was with the screw holes (11-hole) not lining up on exactly, just as everyone seems to have.

I bought the guards with no control routes...just routed my own using the original flat blackie for a template.

[Newc]

That's what I was planning to do if the bridge pickup route was indeed too close to the bridge.