Re: Blade vs. adjustable pole pieces
Thanks GuitarDoc!
"YES. Absolutely! You are missing something here. There are different reasons for choosing blade vs pole pups other than volume differences. It is ONLY a "better design all around for most players" IF by "most players" you are implying that they are either beginners who don't know the choices available to them, or players who just don't care or don't want to be bothered (and this would also imply beginners)."
But we haven't really got down to what those differences are, exactly, aside from saying "tonal differences." What would happen if we took very popular pole piece designs and changed them to blade designs? How would their sound change in general? If we say, "Well that depends on other factors..." then we really are going nowhere because we haven't identified what things make a difference and in what way.
Also, if someone is experimenting with a pickup for the first time (effectively a beginner even if he has experience with other pickups) and does not know what it sounds like or what guitar it will go in, again, the blade is useful because you do not have to worry about string spacing. It becomes more modular than a traditional pickup that way if string spacing for pups is important to you, and it is to me.
"It is certainly acceptable to ask such questions and to interject your personal opinions as in your original post, but when other very knowledgeable and experienced players answer your questions or point out the fallacies in your assumptions why do you argue with them as if you are the sole authority on the subject?!"
Because previous people were quibbling and not addressing the question *within the context I gave them*, which was mainly focused on ease of swapping out pickups combined with the usefulness of adjusting string height *when screw height made little to no difference in string volume balance.* My annoyance with said person was that I could not even make the most harmless, general observation without his contesting it, not only on this thread but on other ones also. Disagreement is fine, but the tone with which it is voiced is important.
By saying, "Blades make a (vast) tonal difference," (which I was not aware of beyond that blades tend to be associated with designs with more treble thanks to the Lawrence design), we introduce a new context, and so the question takes on a broader dynamic. When people began bringing up things I had forgotten about, like screw length and alloy type, I began to see things I had not considered.
It may render the narrow premise of my previous question invalid from a tone standpoint, but not completely *for my purposes.* The reason why is there are so many variables that go into tone that I feel that focusing on pickup design aspects like magnet, screw alloy, length, and type is excessive when I am not willing to modify pickups to that extent. Therefore, for me, the tonal differences in a blade pickup do not override its ease of use as far as string spacing and experimentation. One has to also ask what is ultimately easier--modifying a pickup one's self, or simply buying a production line pickup that sounds very similar to what one is going for and accepting the compromise. I have nothing against pickup modification, but I need to have a better idea of how the many variables affect tone. Combine that with finding the right guitar and the permutations become nearly endless. So for me modifying a pickup becomes impractical when a tweak of EQ in the DAW will make enough of a change.
"And if you indeed are the sole authority, then why do you ask the questions in the first place?"
Everyone here is their own sole authority because tone is an individual thing within their own context and within their own genres. There's no accounting for taste. My question focused more on practicality and utility and less on perceptions of tone.
I asked what was the usefulness of a pole piece design relative to blades in the context I outlined. People have corrected me and said that the context is wider than that because the poles make a tonal difference. I have narrowed the context again by saying that the tonal difference made by poles is somewhat moot by the complexity introduced in a pole design regarding the components.
Essentially what it comes down to for me is not having to worry about the string spacing with a blade and not having to deal with screw height when adjustment seems to make little difference. The pole pieces may make a huge difference in tone in my favorite pickups (in my case, the Full Shred's hex poles), but, chances are, if I could have that exact same tone in a blade, I would probably take the blade because I could move the pickup around to different guitars with ease and not have to worry about string spacing.
Hope this answered your questions.
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