Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

[El Supremo]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

Won't be enough of a difference to warrant the extra trouble of getting the pickup to proper height for me. I need the ability to tweak with ease when desired.

 

[Mrkensei]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

I run my Nazgul and Sentient set on direct mount due a lack of other options (The rings provided with them have too shallow a side frame to cover up the pickup routs in my Ibanez). And I've found them little different to the Pickguard mounted Evos in my Jem. Obviously they sound different (i.e MUCH better IMO) but the characterisitcs that tend to be associated with direct mounting (Sustain, clarity) are not noticeably different to me.

The main difference as far as I am concerned is that they are a PITA to mount and set up. Getting screws to fit the baseplates without damaging the screws or the plate is really difficult (read: virtually impossible in the UK, having tried all of the major fastener suppliers in the UK, cant even special order them by the 1000) so some damage is inevitable, padding/springing the back of the plates to adjust height is a real pain, it's a balancing act between a rattly pickup with wonky alignment or stripping the tiny holes drilled into the body.

If you have the choise go for ring or pickguard mount IMO, if there's a difference I cant hear it and the setup is a nightmare.

 

[Guitaraxz]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

Not enough to care about.

HTH,

thats what I thought. I once went thru hell to remove a set of EMGs that were direct mounted to a Dean, the screw heads were stripped before I even tried it, absolute hell.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

Would somebody like to furnish some demonstrable and repeatable data? As in, a guinea pig guitar and pickup. First, tested with direct-to-wood mounting. Then, tested with screw, spring and plastic "ring" mounting. (This way, not even the screw holes can contribute any differences between tests.) Anything else is bad science.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

Would somebody like to furnish some demonstrable and repeatable data? As in, a guinea pig guitar and pickup. First, tested with direct-to-wood mounting. Then, tested with screw, spring and plastic "ring" mounting. (This way, not even the screw holes can contribute any differences between tests.) Anything else is bad science.

I thought I had done that already but can't find any clips.

Doing this should probably involve long legs to really drive out the difference.

 

[ba6412]

Re: Does without pickup ring direct mount sound better?

I think it looks better (except on LPs where I think it is pretty equal aesthetically), but don't think it has that much effect on tone. Most guitars that have pickups "direct mounted" actually have them mounted with foam between the pickup and the body to act as the spring so you can adjust the height. I doubt that would make any difference tonewise. The only way I can see it affecting tone or sustain would be if it is hard mounted directly to the wood, or using something like this: http://www.fu-tone.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=96&products_id=261

-R

Thanks for replies, many high end guitar brands adopt the direct mount without pickup ring design already e.g. Suhr, Anderson or Music man etc...
I think they might have their reasons or consideration of tones, any thought?

Btw, this thing seems very interesting, does anyone actually tried it? Wondering how it works?