Fenderbird project questions!

[iloveturtles]

Hello all.
I am building a Fenderbird.

Parts that I’m in possession of
- Epiphone thunderbird body, sunburst. Stripped of hardware, neck is sold. Made in China.
- A fender licensed neck from USA custom guitars (jazz bass 70’s style)
- Pickups from Thunderbucker Branch (arriving shortly)
- Hipshot supertone, a direct replacement bridge

The pickups are 41mm by 92mm and will not fit the epiphone body rout/cavity.
So I have two choices, either to use a dremel so that I can countersink the pickups, or two, to use shims.
Lollar pickups have a video on youtube for installing pickups with shims. The only thing I don’t like about using shims though is that
the pickups get really high up, like big soap bars. I can’t stand the huge gap between the strings and the body.
My goal is to get the pickups to sink down into the cavities so that they will get the [i]Gibson [/i]profile.

My question to you is, is this easy to do? The neck joint of an Epiphone is different from a Gibson neck joint.
Would I have to make the Fender neck sink really deep in to the neck pocket so that I can have my strings lowered
down as if it was a Gibson?
I can imagine that the pickup height has to correlate with how the neck is fitted…

Thanks

[dannybuoy]

The Hongkongbuckers I've seen are very thin too compared to the Epiphones:

http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Thunderbird-Bass-Pickup-Vintage-Style-for-GibsonChromeNickel_p_2287.html

Also, you want the pickups at the height where they sound best, not where they look best! I've seen people have to put spacers under the pickup rings to give the necessary support once the pickups are raised up close enough to the strings.

Edited May 30, 2016 by dannybuoy

[iloveturtles]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1464588194' post='3060447']
See what the pickups look like in the flesh. The repro '60s T-bird pickups I've seen have been much thinner than the Epiphone pickups. They are practically surface mounted.
[/quote]

Yeah you guys both have a point. I should think of the sound first and foremost and get correct space measurements for the string and pickup-gap.
And yes, the pickups are way slimmer than the Epiphone-ones. Maybe I'll be allright with shims.

http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/index3.html

Above is a link to pics of the pickup, they are very much alike the Hongkongbuckers, only better I assume!
Sure cost me enough. The pickups from Thunderbuckers are actually cheaper than Lollar and Lull t-bird repro's though
and for the money's worth they seem to get the best ratings around forums etc.
Clarity, finally! Not just mud