adjusting the non-adjustable ?

[vachterm]

Hi,
been a long time since the last time i posted here!
good to be back.

i have a technical question.
i have, in the past made wooden pickup covers for bass guitars, where the wood covers the entire pickup.

i am thinking of making some flamed maple covers for my pearly gates set to match my guitars curly maple top.
however i'd like to leave the pole pieces exposed and flush with the top of the new pickup cover.
the adjustable pole pieces are no problem as i can unscrew them an 1/8-th of an inch and all will be well.
but what about the non adjustable pole pieces?
i tried gently tapping out the non adjustables on an old cheapo squier humbucker and it went fine.

my question is, will this slight tapping out of the poles capable of causing any damage to the humbucker and they way it functions?
doesnt seem so to me, but seems like some of you guys are far more experienced and knowledgeable on the subject.

thanks,
Udi.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: adjusting the non-adjustable ?

It depends. Some makers glue the slugs into the bobbin which might make tapping more difficult, though I don't think Duncan does. So chances of damage are pretty slim as long as you're gentle.

Your main problem is the fact that by doing so, less of each slug will be in contact with the magnet, which will weaken the output from the slug coil and make the overall tone a bit thinner. (I learned this the hard way with some tall bobbins I made (I'm a winder) that left very little of the slug exposed to touch the magnet.)