Mounting a Kent Armstrong Suspended Jazz Pickup

The #5068 Suspended Jazz Pickup is intended for mounting to the end of a guitar's fingerboard. The two mounting tabs wrap around the outside of the fingerboard and the pickup is attached with the four supplied screws. Once you have the tabs properly profiled to fit the neck, mark the four mounting tab holes on the edges of the neck and drill 1/16" pilot holes for the screws.

The tabs can be bent with pliers to match your fingerboard's width and profile. Wrap the jaws of the pliers with electrical tape to protect the pickup. You may also find it necessary to "tweak" the angle of the mounting tabs relative to the face of the pickup. This will insure that the pickup is parallel to the stings. When bending the tabs, grasp them near the pickup housing and gently bend them the desired amount. Try to avoid re-bending.

There are two solder lugs on the bottom of the pickup ready for your wiring. We recommend using shielded or coaxial wire to reduce hum and noise. The lug closest to the mounting tabs is the ground or shield lug, and it should be wired to the coaxial wire's outer braid. The inner conductor of the coax will connect to the inner or hot lug.

You can run the pickup straight into an #1521 output endpin jack, or you may choose to use onboard volume and tone controls. These controls can be mounted to the instrument's pickguard, or into holes drilled into the face of the guitar. Diagram #1 and #2 are sample volume and tone pot wirings. Use 500k for brighter tone, 250k for warmer tone.