A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

One of the holes in the side of the Strat Pickup is to big and the screw to adjust the height is not catching. Any advice on how to make the hole smaller/get the screw to hold? THanks!

@Lamf77

Hey Mike.

A couple of ways to do this that are fast and effective:
- Go to a hardware store with the screw in hand, use their thread finder to determine what size & thread you have (standard for an American Strat will be 6-32 threaded). Buy a hex nut for it. Wet the bottom bobbin at the offending hole with a few drops of water. Flip it over so the bottom is facing you. Apply the littlest dab of superglue that you can on the nut, avoiding its threads. Center it over the hole and press it in place. This will have affixed he nut to the bottom of the bobbin. Let it dry overnight. After curing, dry-fit the screw without the pickup. If you buggered the thread, use an Exacto-knife tip to chip the superglue from the thread. If everything is smooth, remove the screw and install the pickup.

- In a pinch, take a little piece of copper foil shielding tape and fold it on both sides of the hole. Poke a little starter hole and thread the screw in.

Hope this helps!

Ok.... I don't have shielding tape. And I like the nut idea. I understand turning over the pickup and putting the nut on the bottom with a little bit of super glue. But what I don't understand is the water? Thank you!

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If I may, I'd like to add one thing to Rob's excellent instructions.
Before you glue the nut on, slightly enlarge the screw hole in the pickup.
Why? because you don't want it to interfere with the screw & nut.
If you enlarge the hole slightly before gluing the nut on, it is less likely to do so.
Hope this is helpful.

mickey wrote:If I may, I'd like to add one thing to Rob's excellent instructions.
Before you glue the nut on, slightly enlarge the screw hole in the pickup.
Why? because you don't want it to interfere with the screw & nut.
If you enlarge the hole slightly before gluing the nut on, it is less likely to do so.
Hope this is helpful.

Thanks! The super glue I have is the very watery thin stuff. Would thicker glue serve me better?

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Also....as long as I have a few experts attention @mickey and @andrewsrea ....I am showing the wiring for the bridge humbucker. It is wired to a three way switch. Currently up and down sound exactly the same. Middle shuts it off. The pickup looks to be an old DiMarzio. Hex/Rail style. If you follow the pickup lead. The red seems to be the hot going to one side of the last switch (bottom switch on second photo, the left switch on the bottom). The green wire goes to the other side. There are then jumper wires. The Green jumper goes for the one end of the red/hot side to the other lug. The Red jumper wire does the same on the green DiMarzio wire side.
No issues, it works. But I gather this was originally a coil split. The DiMarzio has a whte and black wire taped together. I couldnot find a diagram....so, I was just going to snip the coil split jumper, and attach the black wire to the far lug on the hot side (opposite the red DiMarzoio) and the white wire to the far lug on the green side. I am not sure if this is correct or makes sense! So any advice from anyone appreciated!

Water speeds up the crazy glue drying.

mozz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 7:17 pm Water speeds up the crazy glue drying.

Gotcha...a little by the hole. As posted earlier, the stuff I have is very thin, I ordered the gel type from Amazon....along with some Copper Shielding Tape just in case. I once used superglue in the kitchen and attached my forearm to the toaster over.....not very graceful with the stuff!

BTW....here is a picture of the screw. It is very small compared to other strat scews I have seen which is only a few. I had a screw set from Amazon I thought may work. However the threads are too close together although the length and thickness seem the same. Te pickup screw is on the left, the M3*12 on the right.

Thanks again all!

@Lamf77

@mozz hit the nail on the head. I sucked at superglue for 20 years until I found out that it has a chemical reaction cure that is water activated. You need a little moisture to get it started - damp. You could also use accelerator, but would have to work immediately fast.

As to your spaghetti, I mean wiring pictured above: I am guessing they were two coil cuts (or on-offs) and the bridge had / has a phase reverse switch. When you only choose the bridge and do that bottom phase reverse, it will not sound any different as you suggested. It will only sound different when combined with another pickup. it will be out-of-phase (hollow) when in one position and normal (rich & chimey) in the other.

So it was not originally a coil split, but a phase reversed? The DiMarzio is a replacement based on what @slowhand84 posted. There are no markings on the single coil, but DiMarzio. Is printed on the inside of the black plastic covers. I am going to leave wiring as is and just grab the nut for the pickup. Thanks!

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Lamf77 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:32 pm

mickey wrote:If I may, I'd like to add one thing to Rob's excellent instructions.
Before you glue the nut on, slightly enlarge the screw hole in the pickup.
Why? because you don't want it to interfere with the screw & nut.
If you enlarge the hole slightly before gluing the nut on, it is less likely to do so.
Hope this is helpful.

Thanks! The super glue I have is the very watery thin stuff. Would thicker glue serve me better?

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

My experience with super glue is the fresher the better , for critical sticking i pop a new one.

bc rich wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:01 pm

Lamf77 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:32 pm

mickey wrote:If I may, I'd like to add one thing to Rob's excellent instructions.
Before you glue the nut on, slightly enlarge the screw hole in the pickup.
Why? because you don't want it to interfere with the screw & nut.
If you enlarge the hole slightly before gluing the nut on, it is less likely to do so.
Hope this is helpful.

Thanks! The super glue I have is the very watery thin stuff. Would thicker glue serve me better?

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

My experience with super glue is the fresher the better , for critical sticking i pop a new one.

You speak true. I usually buy the 4 pack of mini tubes so I always have fresh sealed tubes.
Also skin is the best accelerator, I have to wear gloves and toothpicks are handy for application.

bc rich wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:01 pm
My experience with super glue is the fresher the better , for critical sticking i pop a new one.

Am I the only person who has to do this anyway, because no matter how carefully I sealed the tube of glue or caulk, it has dried up by the next time I need to use it?

I always refrigerate my super glue, lasts ages that way. I have the same container I bought before my 2nd daughter was born over 3 years ago and it still works flawlessly for fixing the kids toys

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honyock wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:23 pm I always refrigerate my super glue, lasts ages that way. I have the same container I bought before my 2nd daughter was born over 3 years ago and it still works flawlessly for fixing the kids toys

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Wait, what? Genius, I'll have to try that.

I also store mine bottoms up. Doesn't dry out as fast.

@Lamf77 , you might want to look at a speed nut as well. A sliightly larger screw can also work.

Any ideas on how to not loose your super glue even when you think you put it where it belongs.

honyock wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:23 pm I always refrigerate my super glue, lasts ages that way. I have the same container I bought before my 2nd daughter was born over 3 years ago and it still works flawlessly for fixing the kids toys

Sounds good except guess you have to be careful not to glue your beer in the fridge?

mickey wrote:

honyock wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:23 pm I always refrigerate my super glue, lasts ages that way. I have the same container I bought before my 2nd daughter was born over 3 years ago and it still works flawlessly for fixing the kids toys

Sounds good except guess you have to be careful not to glue your beer in the fridge?

Have a whole other fridge dedicated to beer...

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So.....could not find a nut match at Home Depot. Went with another option.
I wrapped some thicker black thread through and around the hole about 6 to 7 times. I then put a few drops of super glue on the thread and let it dry overnight. Checked it out today, and all good. I know no pictures or it didn't happen. But guitars already sealed up tight and I figured I would check back here with the fix.

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^ clever fix!