I have seen other builds of the same kit, and they all appear to have the pickup surround intact, so either the way I'm measuring things is wrong, or I'm missing something. I doubt my kit would be any different to any others as they all come off the same CNC.

Whether cutting a chunk out of the surround, or making the cavity larger, neither are huge issues. It would've been nice if I'd picked up on it before i did the paint job though..