rickenbacker type neck pickup wont sit flat

[sky]

hi, so i changed the pickguard on my fernandes rb80 rickenbacker copy and i just cant seem to get the neck pickup to sit flat. it was fine with the old pickguard. the pickup is a little tight in the hole in the pickguard but not massively could it be that or would it be crappy springs and lack of foam?

[ezbass]

Try enlarging the pickguard hole a little, I find nail files are good for this. Of course it could be the foam has perished a bit. Best way to check is to for the old pg again and see if the fault remains.

[sky]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Try enlarging the pickguard hole a little, I find nail files are good for this. Of course it could be the foam has perished a bit. Best way to check is to for the old pg again and see if the fault remains.

enlarged the pickup hole and still having the same issue, problem only happens when i screw the pickguard down and when i do so the pickguard between the top of the neck pickup and bottom of the neck bulges upwards. ive attached a picture but its quite hard to see.
i think maybe the different pickguard has the pickup route minutely closer to the neck than the original and maybe the bottom of the pickup plate is getting caught on the edge of the pickup route. might try taking a hacksaw to it and cutting off a little bit of the bottom plate when i next go to visit my parents but i think for now i might put the original white pickguard back on.