Anybody Got Any Gold Screws?

[Mossman]

Gold pickup height adjustment screws that fit the taps in an Epiphone Pro-Bucker, to be precise....

I got up the gumption this evening to swap out the pickups in my Ibanez AS93 for a set of Pro-Buckers that I bought from @tobijohn many moons ago. I gave the Super 58s more than a fair chance (a few months and much tweaking), but they're just not for me. Besides, I can't get the sound of the PB-equipped Sheraton (that I briefly owned) out of my head, and was hoping I could get close to that by dropping Pro-Buckers in the Ibanez. Unfortunately, the screws that are on the Ibanez pickups are too small, and all the other pickup screws I have are chrome. I really hate having to track down these kind of screws online, and then hope the threads are the right pitch, so if anyone has any gold Epiphone pickup screws lying around that they don't need, I'd sure appreciate it.

[tobijohn]

I probably do, let me know what the minimum length necessary is though. However, didn't I include screws when I initially sent you those pickups? That would have been uncharacteristic of me not to include those and springs...

[mickey]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

[Mossman]

I probably do, let me know what the minimum length necessary is though. However, didn't I include screws when I initially sent you those pickups? That would have been uncharacteristic of me not to include those and springs...

I'm sure you did include the screws and springs, but those pickups originally had chrome covers (I swapped them for gold covers from a set of B&G pickups I had laying around), so the screws would have been chrome.

The screws that came with Super 58s are about 1-5/32" long, measured from just under the screw-head... Thanks for looking.

[Mossman]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

While I was posting this thread, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a comment like that... I didn't think it would be you, Mickey.

I thought it would be @Tonray's Ghost

[Tonray's Ghost]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

While I was posting this thread, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a comment like that... I didn't think it would be you, Mickey.

I thought it would be @Tonray's Ghost

Hey !!! I resemble that remark !

[tobijohn]

I probably do, let me know what the minimum length necessary is though. However, didn't I include screws when I initially sent you those pickups? That would have been uncharacteristic of me not to include those and springs...

I'm sure you did include the screws and springs, but those pickups originally had chrome covers (I swapped them for gold covers from a set of B&G pickups I had laying around), so the screws would have been chrome.

The screws that came with Super 58s are about 1-5/32" long, measured from just under the screw-head... Thanks for looking.

Right, I forgot about that. What do you figure the minimum shaft length should be? I don't have them sorted out my make/model....

[Mossman]

Right, I forgot about that. What do you figure the minimum shaft length should be? I don't have them sorted out my make/model....

I don't know what you mean by "minimum shaft length", other than the length of the screw.

[Chocol8]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

How much gold did she screw you out of?

[tobijohn]

Right, I forgot about that. What do you figure the minimum shaft length should be? I don't have them sorted out my make/model....

I don't know what you mean by "minimum shaft length", other than the length of the screw.

Exactly, the minimum length of the screw that will work for you i.e. how much longer than 1 5/32"?

[mickey]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

While I was posting this thread, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a comment like that... I didn't think it would be you, Mickey.

I thought it would be @Tonray's Ghost

I feel certain he has a little redhead or two in his background.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I probably do, let me know what the minimum length necessary is though. However, didn't I include screws when I initially sent you those pickups? That would have been uncharacteristic of me not to include those and springs...

I'm sure you did include the screws and springs, but those pickups originally had chrome covers (I swapped them for gold covers from a set of B&G pickups I had laying around), so the screws would have been chrome.

The screws that came with Super 58s are about 1-5/32" long, measured from just under the screw-head... Thanks for looking.

Right, I forgot about that. What do you figure the minimum shaft length should be? I don't have them sorted out my make/model....

It's aint the meat it's the motion....

[Tonray's Ghost]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

While I was posting this thread, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a comment like that... I didn't think it would be you, Mickey.

I thought it would be @Tonray's Ghost

I feel certain he has a little redhead or two in his background.

Partially correct...one little one and one big one !

[Mossman]

Right, I forgot about that. What do you figure the minimum shaft length should be? I don't have them sorted out my make/model....

I don't know what you mean by "minimum shaft length", other than the length of the screw.

Exactly, the minimum length of the screw that will work for you i.e. how much longer than 1 5/32"?

1-5/32" is actually longer than I need. If I lower the pickup until it's flush with the pickup ring (as we sometimes must do with neck humbuckers), that requires just a touch over 7/8" of screw length. I can't imagine having to drop the pickup any more than that, so a 1" screw would be long enough.

[Mossman]

Aah! Yes! Reminds me of a little redhead I once knew!
If ever there was a "gold screw" that would be her!

While I was posting this thread, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a comment like that... I didn't think it would be you, Mickey.

I thought it would be @Tonray's Ghost

I feel certain he has a little redhead or two in his background.

Don't we all?

[tobijohn]

OK, you mean the diameter of the screw, right?

[Mossman]

OK, you mean the diameter of the screw, right?

No, I mean length. I don't know what the diameter is, but it's nowhere close to an inch.

I'm sure if it fits an Epiphone humbucker and is at least an inch long, it'll work.

[tobijohn]

I was able to find a set of four and test fit them in another Epi Probucker. The actual threaded shaft is a little over 1 1/16" (there can be a few different diameters). PM me your shipping info and I'll drop them in the mail tomorrow. I thought I had it saved from when I sent the Probuckers out to you but I guess not...

[tobijohn]

What's confusing me is you stated earlier that the Ibanez screws at 1 5/32" were too short but now anything over 1" with the same Epi thread pattern would work. What am I missing? I don't want to frustrate you further by sending something that won't work...

[Mossman]

What's confusing me is you stated earlier that the Ibanez screws at 1 5/32" were too short but now anything over 1" with the same Epi thread pattern would work. What am I missing? I don't want to frustrate you further by sending something that won't work...

Ok, I think I understand why you asked if I meant the diameter... Yes, when I said the screws were too small, I didn't mean they were too short. I meant the diameter was too small for the taps in the Epiphone pickups.

[tobijohn]

Ok, I think I understand why you asked if I meant the diameter... Yes, when I said the screws were too small, I didn't mean they were too short. I meant the diameter was too small for the taps in the Epiphone pickups.

These should work then, PM me your mailing info and I'll put them in the mail tomorrow

[Mossman]

Ok, I think I understand why you asked if I meant the diameter... Yes, when I said the screws were too small, I didn't mean they were too short. I meant the diameter was too small for the taps in the Epiphone pickups.

These should work then, PM me your mailing info and I'll put them in the mail tomorrow

PM is sent... Thanks John!

[Mossman]

I want to give a shout of thanks to @tobijohn. I received the pickup screws on Friday (thanks for sending the springs too), and installed the pickups Saturday morning. As I was hoping, it sounds fantastic with the Pro-Buckers in it, and after years of searching, I finally have a semi-hollow that I'm happy with! Maybe I was too fussy... maybe I should have spent more money... maybe I just had bad luck... I dunno, but this Ibanez is now officially a keeper. Eh, who am I kidding? If I didn't like the Pro-Buckers, I would have put something else in there. I fell in love with this guitar even when it had pickups I didn't like.

But before I could mount the pickups, I had to deal with another problem. This guitar was sold as "open box" (customer return), but it should have been B-stock, or a blem. Both of the pickup rings were cracked. I couldn't find the other one, but that ring was cracked on both sides. This guitar took a thumping somewhere along its travels.

I can't really blame anybody for missing it... It looks pretty obvious in that photo (because I was trying to highlight it), but I didn't even notice they were cracked until after I had owned the guitar for a couple of months (and I had adjusted the pickup heights before that). When I discovered it, I inspected the guitar pretty closely, and couldn't find any other signs of damage, so I think the pickups/rings took the brunt of it. I would say some FedEx worker probably dropped something on it while it was all boxed up.

Pro tip: If you have an AS and you ever need to get new pickup rings for it, don't get the kind with curved bottoms. I assumed they would have to be curved to accommodate the arch of the top, but Ibanez uses flat-bottom rings, and the arched ones have too much of an arch.

There, I just saved you $5.95.

I also replaced the plastic nut with a Tusq one. It was exactly the same height as the Ibanez nut, so I didn't bother to test fit it to see if I needed to sand a little off the bottom. I just just glued it right in. Of course, all the slots still required just a little bit of filing. The strings were slightly sharp at the first fret, so I finally got to use the nice set of Hiroshima nut files that I bought over a year ago:

I had been getting fed up with using those welding nozzle cleaners as nut files, and I came across this set for a price I couldn't refuse. But after I bought them, I didn't have any nuts that needed filing until now.

Oddly, I did not replace the pots. They're dime-size MIK pots, but they feel good and have good taper. They're not on/off switches. If they were audio taper pots like they put in most import guitars, I'd change them, but if it ain't broke, don't break it. The switch feels good, too. The tuners look like generic Asian tuners, but they don't feel that way. They're smooth and precise. I came to appreciate that when I was filing the nut slots and had to repeatedly check the intonation at the first fret on all the strings, so I'm not thinking of changing those, either.