Direct mount pickups

[Diocide]

So my new Balaguer has direct mounted humbuckers.

I found a pickup I want to swap in there but it’s a normal threaded pickup.

Can I just drill the ears out and use it in my direct mount? Is that the only difference?

[GuitarBilly]

as long as the pickups have short legs, yes.

[BroSlinger]

I insist on using pickup rings now.

But, yeah, you can just drill them. The only problem is, they'll never work in a normal pickup ring again.

[Hipster Salad]

I like using something like the FU Tone PMS - Pickup Mounting System. It's a threaded baseplate that you mount the pickup to, with threaded ears. That way you don't have to worry about messing up the wood screw holes in the guitar, and have a consistent mounting base if/when you swap pickups. I feel the FU Tone one is quite overpriced, but over the course of owning whatever guitar you put it in, might not be a big deal - I say that because I could make my own here at my job and the cost to me is literally pennies.