Revised cavity depth info might mean no routing necessary, see page 2 (24-Mar-10)
Dimensions and cavity/aperture details for Kinman P-90 Hx pickup
(approximately to scale when printed onto A4 paper)
6-Sept-08 (Rev-9)
NOTE: The Hx-90 is about as deep as a Gibson P-100 pickup (stacked P-90) and will fit easily into guitars fitted with a P-100. Some other guitars may require the cavity to be deepened (see Page 2).
Gibson Les Pauls and similar guitars.
Included with each pickup is a handy drill guide template for positioning the screw holes of an undrilled project guitar. NOTE: To avoid drilling mounting screw holes out the back of the guitar be mindful the screws penetrate into the wood between 8 and 10 mm on most guitars.
Thin body guitars like the Gibson SG are only 38mm (1.5") thick so the tips of the screws will come to within 5mm of the back of the guitar. Be careful when drilling the holes, use a depth guide on the drill bit.
Gibson P-100 routs require Silicon Rubber tubes 13mm long for neck pickup and 7mm long for bridge pickup (included with pickup).
Stratocaster, Telecaster and other solid-bodies with pickups through a pick-guard.
I recommend using the inboard mounting screw system as distinct to the outboard mounting screws through an attached bracket. That bracket requires a longer rout in the body that can not be confined under the pick-guard of a Stratocaster at the neck position unless a custom pickguard is made to cover the excessive routing the bracket needs.
The existing and original inboard screws are a better method of mounting through a pick-guard since it provides a means to mount the pickup parallel to the strings and does not require excessive routing. Gibson Les Pauls and the like are particularly annoying because the pickup is parallel with the back of the guitar, and sits at quite an inappropriate and difficult angle relative to the strings and because P-90's are so wide the poles have to be raised quite a distance for good proximity to the strings. Pickups look and functions better when mounted parallel to the strings.
When mounting through a pick-guard it can be tricky positioning the mounting screw holes in the floor of the pickup cavity. I tried to make it easy for you with the plastic drill template included with your pickup which can be attached to the base of the pickup by driving the mount screws through the pickup and through the template. Try to position the screws in the middle of the pickup holes on the underside of the pickup before tightening, this is not crucial ... close enough to middle is probably good enough because those large holes intentionally provide a degree of misalignment for those screws. Then place the pickup into the pick-guard cut-out and rest the tips of the screws on the floor of the cavity. Fiddle with the pickup until you are satisfied it is sitting at the correct angle so that the top of cover is parallel with the strings and then tap on the heads of the mount screws (or turn them half turn forward half turn backwards several times with a screwdriver) to make an impression on the cavity floor. That impression now serves as a starting guide for a suitable drill.
If installing into a Strat or Tele the pickup cavity is should be least 21mm deep. At 21mm deep the pickup will sit direct on the floor of the cavity without rubber tube springs so there will be no height adjustment, but that's OK because the P-90 Hx has adjustable screw poles to take care of that. If it is deeper then 21mm the rubber tube springs can be cut to suitable length to provide some coarse height adjustment of the entire pickup. Strat cavities should be no deeper than 23mm.
Telecasters will have ample height adjustment with both cavities between 23mm and 27mm deep.
Mounting under an existing Dog Ear cover. Dog Ear covers must have pole holes spaced at 50mm. Dog Ear covers are not supplied by Kinman, it's far preferable to use existing covers but a good selection is available here http://www.guitarpartsshop.co.uk/acatalog/P90_Pickup_Accessories.html
Solid body guitars
Hollow body guitars with Dog-Ear covers. Use a special Kinman bracket under the pickup to mount in hollow body arch top f -hole guitars. An insulation gasket is included for use with metal covers.
A partial list of f-hole arch top guitars with suitable Dog-Ear covers is on next page.
The following is list of guitars with suitable Dog-Ear covers that we know about, more guitars will be added as information comes to hand. We believe all Gibson covers are suitable, but it's wise to check:
To install P-90 Hx into pickup apertures of Archtop hollow guitars designed for regular humbuckers cut or file the ends of the apertures as shown by the dotted line in the diagram below.
It might be helpful to print this page and cut out the dotted rectangle (make sure the dimensions are correct and adjust as necessary) and use as a template for the cut.
