Before the Ridler went out, it needed to have Thunderbird pickup inserts installed.
The buyer wanted to try and possibly keep both the Lollar Tunderbirds and Fralin HCP90Bs.
Understanding that, holes for the inserts need to be drilled...those are the inserts by the volume knob:
Here the inserts are installed in place, and you can see the difference between the two pickups and how they mount:
The Thunderbirds are mounted with 4-40 stainless screws and surgical tubing instead of springs.
There is a washer at both ends of the tubing, so the compression force is applied to the back of the pickup and the threads in the metal insert.
There is no pressure pushing against the body itself:
Last, the pickup ring is installed in place...a rock-solid and durable connection to the body: