# Direct mount Vs. Pickup rings



## ZeroSignal (Jun 2, 2007)

Direct mounting and using pickup rings (or Strat type pickguard things).

Differences? Which is better?

Go nuts...


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## D-EJ915 (Jun 2, 2007)

Seeing as pickups make sound from string vibrations alone, it shouldn't make a difference.


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## OzzyC (Jun 2, 2007)

Eric Johnson may have a word on it, but to the rest of us, it's no real difference.


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## Stitch (Jun 2, 2007)

Direct mount, simply because it looks better and suggests more skill in manufacture than pickup rings to hide the damage. 

Actual effect on tone is precisely equal to the chances of Drew finishing his album this year.


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## Hellraizer (Jun 2, 2007)

Same as above. I think direct mount look much better, but other than looks there is realy no difference.


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## daemon barbeque (Jun 2, 2007)

There differences in possibilities.
Direct mounting looks well and needs mostly better workmanship ,but you can't adjust the PU height as you can do with a ring.This is mostly relevant ,when you use actives ,or when you like the tone of a "hot" neck PU and want to adjust it lower than the average Neck PU.


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## Stitch (Jun 2, 2007)

Correct. However, you can still have 'tall' neck pickups - you just add spacers to the screws and pickups.

The only upside to a pickup ring is it hides someones crap installation or allows quick _on the fly_ adjustment to height - ultimately, if you dont mind a bot of work, a surface mounted pickup can go to any height a ring-mounted one can.


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## soldierkahn (Jun 2, 2007)

you absolutely can adjust pup height with direct mounts, i do it with my 7 all the time. heres what you do......

get a set of springs like those used in pup rings, then as you are intsalling them, put the spring between the guitar body and the bottom lip of the pup. works just like a pup ring with no ring.

now if you are talking pups like EMGs 81-7 where the screw is set inside the pup with no lip, just take some soft foam (like the kind that comes in the EMG boxes) and you roll it up like a fattie, i mean uh, cigarette...lol. Anyways, depending on how much pressure you want the spacer to place on the pup, you would cut the length of it accordingly. Once youve cut your piece, place it inside the pup cavity to go between the bottom of the pup and the botoom of the cavity, then install you pup. Youll notice that it is now harder to get the pup to screw all the way to the bottom which is that added pressure of the foam pushing up on the pup. adjust to preferred height and rock out!

Me personally, I use DiMarzios in my seven and I use both methods, just because i love my pups to be stable as hell. Give it a try, it works.


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## Cool711 (Jun 3, 2007)

Yeah, I do it in my 7 with EMGs all the time.


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## dpm (Jun 3, 2007)

First up, a pickup that is loosely mounted can oscilate and feedback. Firmly direct mounting minimizes _one_ possible source of squealing. 
There is one other possible benefit of solidly direct mounting but this is kind of a theory of mine, and I have no way of proving it scientifically. I believe that a loosely mounted pickup can vibrate/oscillate in sympathy with the sound coming from the speakers, and that movement isn't necessarily in phase with the movement of the string. ie, There can be some phase cancellation between the moving string and the moving pickup at some frequencies.


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## soldierkahn (Jun 3, 2007)

Cool711 said:


> Yeah, I do it in my 7 with EMGs all the time.




^^^^^


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## Stitch (Jun 5, 2007)

Cool711 said:


> Yeah, I do it in my 7 with EMGs all the time.



[dirty snigger]hahaha [/dirtysnigger]


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## Drew (Jun 5, 2007)

stitch216 said:


> Actual effect on tone is precisely equal to the chances of Drew finishing his album this year.



 

I DO believe there's a tonal difference between pickguard-mounted and direct/pickup-ring-mounted pickups, however, that changes the way the body of the guitar itself resonates. It's tough to describe, but my experience has been gutiars with pickguards tend to have "deeper" sounding, more resonant bass and slightly smoother attacks than those without. I personally like this. 

This could be do to countless factors, of course, so don't take this as gospel, but my impression is there is a pronounced difference.


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## D-EJ915 (Jun 5, 2007)

A guitar with a pickguard sounds different because it's essentially a chamber like in semi-acoustics/chambered guitars. That has nothing to do with the way the pickups are mounted and everything to do with how everything vibrates.


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