I decided to change my pickguard, and the one that I had gotton for it is a little different than the original, I got the pickps and all the nobs and etc in the right places, but I think Ill have to drill new holes to hold the whole thing on correctly, will that hurt it in any way? and my major question is, now that I have put a different pickguard on my pickups go way too close to the strings when I put the screws in all the way - what should i do? Ill go back to the old pickguard if I must, but I would rather not. How far away are the pickups supposed to be from the strings? would a different screw help me? Thankyou a lot if anyone will help.

There hasn`t been much happening on this guitar forum (or any forum here) lately. One never knows whom to take seriously, or trust these days. It sounds like you have a Strat-type of guitar, or something very similar. It`s almost always a Strat, when the aftermarket pickguard doesn`t line up. In this case drill new holes in the right places, and make sure they are way undersized. Also, many haven`t seen this happen, but the paint around a new hole will crack, when you put a pickguard screw into it. It would be under the pickguard, but could spread out like a crack in a windshield. So, top pros and manufacturers are countersinking the holes a bit - you can do this by simply reaming it out just through the layer of paint on the surface, with a good sharp philips screwdriver. The paint is polyester now - that`s why it cracks. But it`s otherwise tough, and low maintenance. About those pickups being high, lower them with the adjustment screws on either side. Make sure the springs or rubber tubing are forcing them down as well. Let us know how this works out.

Go to www.Guitarnuts.com to get a step-by-step guide to changing pickups and doing every other guitar modification. They also have a groovy scale mixer.