Provided by the courtesy of www.kinman.com

Recommended method for mounting Kinman Strat and Tele pickups direct to wood
- no pickguard

IMPORTANT:

You might want to avoid this kind of mounting as it demands a high level of skill (and a drill press) because it is difficult to accurately position the screw holes so the pickup does not lean, is at right angles to the centreline of the strings, and so the pickup sits in the middle of the cavity and does not contact the cavity wall.

WARNING: For mounting without a pickguard direct to the wood it is imperative that no foam (or very little) is packed under the pickup as spring / support material. The correct method is for the Silicon rubber tube springs we provide to be placed over the screw between the wood and the pickup (do not use metal springs as they might short the signal).

Pressure resulting from using excess foam packing under the pickup will lead to mechanical de-formation (bending) and eventual failure of the pickup. A minimal amount of medium density foam (as shown above) to help prevent the pickup from leaning is OK.

Mounting screws: Applies to Strat as well as Tele pickups. Do not use countersunk screws. It's best to use Pan head or Round head self-tapping screws or wood screws with a maximum outer thread diameter of 2.5mm (0.1") x 16 to 20mm long (depending on depth of pickup cavity and the distance the strings lie off the surface of the guitar). You will have to do some experiments to determine the best length for the screw. Refer to >Support >Adjust & Set-up page for recommendations for info about pickup adjustment.

The screws should be of a diameter that pokes easily through the tapped screw holes in the baseplate of the pickup without damaging the thread in the baseplate (so the pickups can be mounted on a pickguard using the correct screws on a future occasion).

The screws should penetrate into the wood fairly easily. If the screws are too tight in the holes there is a possibility they can be broken by screwdriver action. To avoid breaking screws in a hole that is too small enlarge the holes a small amount so the screws go firmly into the wood without danger of breaking. Also the screws should not penetrate more than approximately 6mm to 10mm into the wood.

The screws we include are intended for mounting on a pickguard. It is preferable not to use these into wood because the threaded hole in a Strat or Tele bridge pickup baseplates would have to be drilled out to 3.5mm (9/64th inch) and in a Tele neck pickup 2.8mm (0.11 inch), but then the pickups will no longer we suitable for mounting on a pickguard on a possible future occasion. Only as a last resort for all Strat &Tele bridge pickups drill a 3mm hole in the wood and for Tele neck pickups drill a 2mm (.075") hole into the wood for the provided screws to self thread into. NOTE: the metal thread screws we provide with the pickups work quite well in wood providing the hole diameter is suitable.