Can older-style humbuckers be installed in the newly shaped pickup cavities?

[moanjam]

i tried a bongo a few times with the newer designed pickups that has the smaller thumb room on them and didn't like it. i found that i wanted the thumb groove to be made deeper than they are. i was wondering, can you buy an old style music man pickup (with the two curved pieces in the pickup where the screws go) into the new pickup cavity?

here's a pic in case i wasn't clear in the description:

 

[bdgotoh]

I dropped two older alnico Stingray pickups into my Bongo years back and they fit fine but you'll need a custom pickguard to cover the opening between the tabs.

By the way, all of the new pickup coils are attached to the covers by screws and glue so it's a risky task to swap covers.

I quickly put my Bongo back to stock because it sounded better that way.

 

[MingusBASS]

I quickly put my Bongo back to stock because it sounded better that way.

Pay attention to this part of his response. It's not worth all trouble you'd have to go through. Try the floating thumb technique, then you won't be so dependent on a thumb rest.