8
7. SUPERGLUE INSTALLATION FOR
PINLESS BRIDGES
Preparation
1.
Installation on pin-less bridges requires you to
drill two 1/16” reference holes in each end of
the saddle-slot. If the guitar already has a hole
in the saddle-slot for an under-saddle pickup you
can use this hole.
2.
Please inspect the bridge plate inside the guitar
with a mirror and a flashlight to make sure that
there is enough room for all 3 pickups. In
addition to that, please place the 3 pickups over
the saddle on the outside to check if they fit in
between the 2 reference holes.
3.
Use a fitting nail, toothpick or (that’s what I do)
the drill bit itself to stick it through the reference
holes so that it will extend about
½
” or so inside
the guitar and acts as a guide on the inside.
4.
Use this guide as a side-stop for your 2 outer
pickups (see diagram below):
5.
The 2 outer pickups are going to be placed with
their outer edges right next to the guides.
6.
Once the outer pickups are in place you can
remove the guides and install the center pickup
in between the 2 outer transducers.
7.
Unfortunately, you will have to install this one
by feel only.
Practice
1.
Before you actually superglue the pickups into
your guitar, you should perform some practice
runs without using the superglue gel. This is
important for learning the correct movements
and getting the feel.
2.
Find out which hand is feeling more comfortable
doing the installation procedure and put on a
latex glove.
3.
Get yourself some
double-side adhesive
tape (“carpet tape”
available in your
hardware store) and
stick a small piece onto
your fingertip (see photo below); the golden side
of the pickup is facing up. This makes holding on
to the pickup and aiming inside the guitar a lot
easier.
4.
Practice to place the outer pickup discs right
next to one of the guides in the reference holes.
5.
Later, when doing the actual installation, you
will have to firmly press the pickup to the bridge
plate to allow the excess glue to ooze out
around the pickup’s edges. At this point, the
pickup will most likely move a tiny little bit.
Please make sure that you will be able to
comfortably perform this final aiming procedure.
The pickup has to be pressed down and held in
place against the bridge plate for at least 30
seconds.
6.
The center pickup should only be installed when
the two outer pickups are glued in place. These
2 pickups need to be used as guides for the
installation of the center transducer. This means
you should practice with the center pickup only
after the 2 outer pickups are installed.
7.
On occasion, with pin-less bridges, we used
double stick tape for the center pickup while we
superglued the 2 outer ones. Interestingly, the
center pickup does contribute only about 15% to
the total sound (measured with a full superglue
installation). The 2 outer transducers definitely
carry the workload. The “peel and stick”
installation of the center pickup will only have
very little effect on the sound. In fact, on the
installations we did it like this, it came out very
nice and very balanced. It is a lot easier on you
in case you would badly misplace the center
pickup with superglue.
8.
Practice until you feel confident to do it right the
first time.
Final installation
1.
Apply superglue gel to the golden underside of
the first pickup. Spread a generous layer of the
gel with the tip of the tube so it will cover the
entire surface.
2.
Now install the first pickup to its corresponding
position at the high B and E strings as practiced.
Press it down and hold it in position for at least
30 seconds.
3.
Repeat above steps and attach the second
transducer to the corresponding position of the
low E and A strings.
4.
Check your work with a mirror and flashlight.
5.
Attach the center transducer by feel between the
2 outer pickups.
