Redrilling Holes for Pickup Rings

Redrilling holes for pickup rings may be necessary if you are replacing the pickup rings of your guitar and the new ones don't fit the stock holes. On a solid body guitar this is an operation you can do yourself with some basic tools, but if you dont feel comfortable drilling into your guitar you should take it to a professional. This is a nice guitar customization to be able to do yourself that may come in handy in the future.

Once you have the current pickup rings removed, you should have four corner holes left in the guitar. To drill new holes you will need to fill these holes in with toothpicks dipped in a little bit of wood glue. After the holes have been filled with the toothpicks and left to dry for a few hours you need to cut the toothpicks off flush with the guitar body. After this you should have the holes completely filled and a flat surface left on the guitar. You may need to do some light sanding or just lightly mash the toothpick tips down to get the surface as flat as possible.

Next you should used a scratch awl to mark where the new pickup ring holes will be drilled. Make sure you use the new pickup rings to do this and that you have them place in the right spot. After the holes are marked you are set to drill the new holes. Remember that the holes do not need to be that deep and just drill carefully because you may be near the edge of the pickup slots.

Once you have the new holes drilled you can screw in your new pickup rings and put your guitar back together. This operation can be redone if you need to move the pickup rings holes again.

This is one of the more complicated guitar customizations that you can do yourself but it should go alright and save you some money as well as give you some guitar modification skills.