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Hey guys, the guitar I'm building right now is getting Bill Lawrence L-500 pickups, and I want to direct mount them, since I don't have pickup rings that fit them nicely, and I can't find any. I have a nice template for traditional size humbuckers, but these pups are small compared to traditional sized. Does anyone know where I could get a template, or any advice on making your own templates? I had some nice sized pieces of scrap laminate flooring, which I thought would be a nice template, but this stuff is extremely messy and the bottom side gets torn up really bad, even with another piece of wood underneath. To cut these templates myself, I have a scroll saw, drill press, router and band saw. Anything else I should need here? i figured the scroll saw would be the best bet for cutting, after drilling a hole in the pattern, but I keep breaking blades. I have a perfect size piece of scrap mahogany, but one side is really rough, from being recut on the bandsaw. The problem here is that I still haven't figured out how to properly tension and track the belt on my upright belt sander, every time I turn it on, the belt almost goes flying off. It seems tight, but it won't stay straight. I can't even find an online manual for the dang thing.

Any and all advice will be GREATLY appreciated. I want a nice tight fit for these.

Hey Mark,
I made some pickup templates out of 1/2" thick MDF. I cut the opening with a scroll saw and then cleaned up the edges with files.
I made them large enough to be clamped onto the guitar body instead of using tape or screws.
Your belt sander may have a tracking knob that is used to tilt one of the rollers to keep the paper on track.
DZ

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I just ran into that same problem with a template. ( got it from Stew-Mac)

I used it to draw exactly where the pup would be and then
moved it side to side to mark the narrower sides as needed.( the ears and length were good)

I did half of the cavity and then moved the template and got the other half. Worked fine.