Albert Lee Question

[guitardan]

Are the AL's pick guards & pups interchangeable?

There's a cool deal on an SSS AL at my local GC, but I'd really rather have a MM90 or HH setup.
Is there anything else that needs to be done to convert one besides swapping the PG & Pups?

Thx - Dan

 

[Magic Jason]

The HH doesn't have the battery cavity. Battery is used for the silent system.

I think you could swap mm90 and SSS pickguard and pickups.

 

[A.J.]

They are not interchangeable without routing. Not even the SSS and MM90.

 

[A.J.]

Also, the MM90 is routed pretty shallow as those pickups aren't very tall. They mount via screws that screw into the top of the pickup in between the pole pieces.

 

[streck]

Aren't there any issues with body? Are bodies for HH and for SSS same or there are different cavities?

 

[beej]

Well, they're different woods (Mahog for the HH and Ash for the SSS), and as AJ said, the routes are different for each pickup type. So nothing is interchangeable without routing or speciality pickups.

 

[guitardan]

Okay thanks guys.....
Seems to me that would be a cool selling point / feature of the AL if it had a common cavity so you can interchange according to your needs. Plus it would save on producing different variations of the body.
I can see that w/ the HH not needing the battery cavity would keep it non-common.

 

[Tollywood]

Hi Dan,

You can have the Albert Lee routed to fit your pickups. If you ever go back to orginal, the original pickguard would hide the new holes.