Tele height adjustment - neck pickup

[Robert Smallwood]

Hi.
I have inadvertently 'stripped' the self cut thread in the pickup base. I might not have or be able to source slightly bigger dia screws to redo it.

Are there any quick fixes analogous to putting shavings or a sliver down stripped threads in the neck or body?

Could I gently melt the holes closed or narrower?

Thanks,

Rob.

[Mark Swanson]

I have taken a piece of material similar to the base of the pickup, and cut a small tab the shape of the end of the base where the hole is. Then I glue it on there with CA and drill and tap a new hole in it. Glue it to the bottom of the pickup and not the top, so that you won't risk hurting the windings.
You could also use wood screws to screw the pickup down to the body. I believe this adds a better tone to a telecaster, and I mount all my pickups this way. You need to find the right height adjustment, and make a small wooden shim that will fit below the pickup. That can be a bit of a task at times because the bottom of many pickups have magnets that protrude and I make a shim that makes room for the magnets, so that the pickup has real good contact between its base and the body. I swear this makes a better tone!

[Pete Halliday]

Another quick option is to drill out the hole just to clear the threads and throw a nut on the underside of the pickup plate. With a star washer you may even be able to adjust the hright without loosening the pick guard.

[Robert Smallwood]

Thanks guys....I thought about a nut of some sort...but I settled on supergluing a strip of plastic binding to the underside & re-tapping. The next 10 years will tell.. )

[Warren May]

Glad you found a workaround. Lots of ways to fix it and it's probably a common problem since there isn't much meat in the bobbin works to hold a screw. Another fix I've used is to go to a slightly larger size screw, drill and tap the hole and slightly enlarge the hole in the pickguard. I recently bought a set of Seymour Duncan Everything Axe pickups and really liked that they have a brass insert that is tapped for a machine screw and that could also be a fix for stripped out screw holes if you could find or make a brass insert to glue into an enlarged hole. As Mark says, you have to be careful not to disturb the wiring but it's usually enough out of the way to enlarge the hole.

[Jamie Unden]

You could also use those little tabs that come with DB9 backshells. I've never tried it but have thought about it.

See the clips in the top-right of this photo:

"http://www.norcomp.net/image/tabtitles/dsub-hdw-2.jpg"

[Edgar Jessop]

See the clips in the top-right of this photo:

http://www.norcomp.net/image/tabtitles/dsub-hdw-2.jpg

Your right or my right?

.

[Jamie Unden]

See the clips in the top-right of this photo:

http://www.norcomp.net/image/tabtitles/dsub-hdw-2.jpg

Your right or my right?

.

Oops... Top left. ;-0