Direct mount pickups on Pro Mod Wild Card: not sure I like'em...

[Chad]

I just got a Dead Calm Aqua Pro Mod and am loving it, however, I'm not sure I care for the direct mount pickups. Visually, I like a pickup ring. But my main qualm is the lack of adjustment height. The routs on these things are so shallow that there's no room to go very far down. I like to run a JB fairly low and that can't be done with this guitar. As far as the singles, they are routed really shallow as well. I don't get it. The single coil routes on my SL1T are deep enough to allow a decent range of adjustment. I wonder why they are routing these so shallow?

Anyway, I opted to shim the neck pocket a bit more than factory, which caused me to have to raise the bridge height to reach the same action height, which gave more distance between the pickups and the strings. That seems like a convoluted method to adjust pickup height, but I like the trem to sit a little higher anyway, so it's fine.

BTW, there were two vinyl shims from the factory that measured around .022" total. I added another .012" shim, so the total shim height on the body end of the neck pocket is .034". Seems like a lot, but if it works, it works.

[Grandturk]

The permanent solution would be to take it to a good tech and have him route out the pickup slots to allow for rings and more adjustment.

[Chad]

Yeah, not sure I'm gonna go to that extreme as I don't think it would be worth the expense.....and would kill resale value. Also, I'd still want the singles to be direct mount and that would create more challenge/expense in getting it to look good with deeper routs.

I guess I mainly created this thread to ask "why" Charvel is doing the routs this way. Like I said, my Jackson SL1T has direct mount neck/middle single coils and there is decent adjustment range. I don't understand why Charvel didn't do it the same way.

[Grandturk]

I guess I mainly created this thread to ask "why" Charvel is doing the routs this way. Like I said, my Jackson SL1T has direct mount neck/middle single coils and there is decent adjustment range. I don't understand why Charvel didn't do it the same way.

Less wood cut = less time each guitar takes to build = less cost to manufacture = increased profit margin.

$$$ is the answer to all "why" questions when talking about manufacturing.

[Chad]

I don't see how it cuts any time to use a different depth setting on a router. Also, there are really finely routed wire rout channels on the Pro-Mod. I haven't had my SL1T apart in awhile, but I don't believe there were wire channels at all and if there were, they weren't as neatly cut as on the Pro-Mod. So I'd reckon they are spending more time/$ routing the Pro-Mods. Of course, if it's CNC the cost differential is probably nil either way.

[Grandturk]

You put in a program that takes 5 minutes to route out the controls and then a program that takes 6 minutes to route out the controls - run 1000 bodies through that and tell me there isn't a cost difference.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I noticed that the Style 1 (2H) bridge PU route is really shallow. So was my single-hum Pro Mod body. I'm guessing that they have it set up such that the pickup is screwed straight to the wood and that's that.

I'm surprised there was a shim in the neck pocket from the factory. Although I have heard other people say they found one, I have never seen a Pro Mod with one (and I've seen half a dozen or so) or that even remotely needed one. Hell my San Dimas's OFR is well over 1/4" off the face of the guitar.

I think you could get the singles routed deeper without destroying the paint up near the top, and just black it out down at the bottom where it's cut deeper, if the guy doing it was really careful. And if you put a ring on the 'bucker you're all set.

[Chad]

^Hey, thanks for the info. Keep in mind that the Wild Card Pro-mods have a recessed Floyd. But shouldn't that require LESS neck angle as compared to a non-recessed? Perhaps the Wild Cards are routed totally different including the neck pocket depth/angle.

I bought the guitar brand new, by the way. The dealer has their tech go over every guitar before shipping out...maybe he put the shim in there? I dunno for sure.

[Grandturk]

^Hey, thanks for the info. Keep in mind that the Wild Card Pro-mods have a recessed Floyd. But shouldn't that require LESS neck angle as compared to a non-recessed? Perhaps the Wild Cards are routed totally different including the neck pocket depth/angle..

Yes they are routed differently.

[Chad]

Yes they are routed differently.

Question:

Without the shim(s) in place, I'm guessing the top of the Floyd's baseplate would be flush with the top of the guitar or maybe a bit below the surface. Is that normal? With the shims in place and 4/64" low E & 3/64" high E (measured open at the 12th fret) action, the top of the baseplate is sitting about 3/64" or so off the top of the body.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

^Hey, thanks for the info. Keep in mind that the Wild Card Pro-mods have a recessed Floyd. But shouldn't that require LESS neck angle as compared to a non-recessed? Perhaps the Wild Cards are routed totally different including the neck pocket depth/angle.

I bought the guitar brand new, by the way. The dealer has their tech go over every guitar before shipping out...maybe he put the shim in there? I dunno for sure.

Ah, I forgot about the recessed trem.

Yeah, that would need a flat neck pocket. Not sure why you would want to shim that, unless you just like the bridge higher.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Question:

Without the shim(s) in place, I'm guessing the top of the Floyd's baseplate would be flush with the top of the guitar or maybe a bit below the surface. Is that normal? With the shims in place and 4/64" low E & 3/64" high E (measured open at the 12th fret) action, the top of the baseplate is sitting about 3/64" or so off the top of the body.

Well... It's hard to define "normal" - on my Charvels with recessed Floyds the trem is just a hair higher than the body, maybe .5 mm or so but they also have a deep-routed neck pocket. If it has the usual 1/8" or so of gap under the fretboard at the heel like a Strat would (room for the pickguard) then that seems a little low.

My Warmoths set up with the BOTTOM of the base plate about .5 mm down into the route, so most of the trem is visible from the side. I have no idea what is "typical" for those Wildcards, though. But that can be influenced by the amount of relief you like.

[Chad]

Ah, I forgot about the recessed trem.

Yeah, that would need a flat neck pocket. Not sure why you would want to shim that, unless you just like the bridge higher.

Yeah, I like the bridge a bit higher, so that was one reason I added to the factory (?) shim. The other reason was to gain some more distance between the pickups and the strings (the main topic of the thread).

[Chad]

My Warmoths set up with the BOTTOM of the base plate about .5 mm down into the route, so most of the trem is visible from the side. I have no idea what is "typical" for those Wildcards, though. But that can be influenced by the amount of relief you like.

That's interesting on the Warmoth...a recessed rout that was shallow enough that it setup close to non-recessed. I raised the Floyd via shims on an ESP bolty I used to own. My first guitar was non-recessed and the ESP was recessed. I wanted it to play similar to my first guitar, so I put in a neck shim that raised the baseplate to where it was almost above the body. I don't hear of many people doing that, but I reckon with a bolt-on, via shims, a person can make a recessed feel/play/setup similar to non-recessed.