HB polepiece question...

[Troisnoir]

I seem to remember back in the Eighties reading about shortening the screw polepieces in a HB pickup (flush to bottom?) to alter/improve the sound.

Ring any bells? Was it just voodoo rumor?

I ask because I'm building a guitar, and for cosmetic reasons I'm changing the polepiece screws to gold. When I changed them out today, I noticed the replacements were longer. Got me thinking...:scratchch

Do I need to shorten the screws? (for sonic reasons only - the pickup fits in the cavity fine)

 

[AlexR]

Re: HB polepiece question...

Usually provides more 'focus'. Bass will get tighter, which is what most of the high gain applications would have used it for.

 

[Mincer]

Re: HB polepiece question...

I know some people swear by it, but it is something I have never experimented with. What are you hoping to achieve with shorter screws? Have some replacements if you don't like the tone.

 

[Discharged]

Re: HB polepiece question...

Having the polepiece screws cut flush the baseplate makes all the magnetic flux to be directed towards the strings, optimizing the p'up's electro-magnetic design, as devised by Seth Lover in his original PAF design.

/Peter

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: HB polepiece question...

Seymour Duncan used to talk about that mod years ago, when he was interviewed about pickups.
Al

 

[Troisnoir]

Re: HB polepiece question...

I know some people swear by it, but it is something I have never experimented with. What are you hoping to achieve with shorter screws? Have some replacements if you don't like the tone.

Not trying to accomplish anything, really.

I'm building a guitar with gold hardware, and decided to put gold screws in the HBs I have. When I got them I noticed they were SIGNIFICANTLY longer, and wondered if I needed to shorten them to the original length (I probably will). That got me thinking about this subject, and what I'd heard long ago.

I thought as long as I was cutting them anyway, perhaps I should cut them flush.

 

[Mincer]

Re: HB polepiece question...

If you have some extra screws, it is worth it to experiment to hear how the different lengths affect the tone.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: HB polepiece question...

Not trying to accomplish anything, really.

I'm building a guitar with gold hardware, and decided to put gold screws in the HBs I have. When I got them I noticed they were SIGNIFICANTLY longer, and wondered if I needed to shorten them to the original length (I probably will). That got me thinking about this subject, and what I'd heard long ago.

I thought as long as I was cutting them anyway, perhaps I should cut them flush.

I would make sure you have them adjusted to the proper heights for each pickup before cutting the bottoms of the poles flush.
Al