Pickup poles distance and alignment

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

On that bridge pickup if you play a downstroke quite hard/heavy on the high e string, you should hear a drop in string signal strength compared to when you play an upstroke with same strong attack. It used to happen with a dimarzio super d that i had alligned in that exact way, except the polepices on there were much smaller than duncans here. Height adjustments didn't have much effect either for me. Though for everyone YMMV

You'd think that, looking at it, but magnetic fields don't work that way. (See AlexR's post above.) I experience neither volume loss on downstrokes nor relative gain on upstrokes. It's all about staying within the magnetic field, which is actually quite wide (and forgiving).

 

[dominus]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

You'd think that, looking at it, but magnetic fields don't work that way. (See AlexR's post above.) I experience neither volume loss on downstrokes nor relative gain on upstrokes. It's all about staying within the magnetic field, which is actually quite wide (and forgiving).

So you say that it's absolutely impossible for a volume drop on the outer e strings?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

So you say that it's absolutely impossible for a volume drop on the outer e strings?

I'm saying that the guitar in question doesn't experience one... and the high E is very noticeably off from the pole.

Is it the pickup? Maybe. Is it my EQ setup? Maybe. Is it my ear and/or tastes? Maybe.

But all these things seem unlikely. I have 4 other electric guitars WITHOUT pole/string-matching issues that I run through the same rig and, aside from the expected differences from varied pickups and guitars, I notice no difference. In particular, I notice no difference in volume variations with the high string on any of them.

Is it absolutely impossible? Hell, ANYTHING'S possible! But in my experience, it's doesn't seem very likely... I've had no problems whatsoever.

Maybe some of us (like me) are not picky enough or maybe others are too picky. The answer to that is purely subjective. I'm just trying to encourage a guy who is concerned about a possible problem to ease his mind and explore the possibilities.


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[Mincer]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

When this issue comes up, the general thought is that it doesn't matter. Can we find examples of where it does matter? Like the flux pattern does not pick up the outer strings? Or if they are noticeably unbalanced? I always thought, if I hear a problem, there is a problem. If not, it is just OCD.

 

[dominus]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

I had a volume drop on the outer E strings on a Telecaster using an Invader. Had to angle the pickup towards the bass side (I'm a rhythm player anyway) to make it sound right.

Most people have never had the problem, but I have. If you already have the pickup, it doesn't hurt to try it. If you're ordering a pickup, get the correct one the first time.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickup poles distance and alignment

Cool, I mean, not cool that you had a problem, but cool that it confirmed that it can be a problem. Even with something as powerful as an Invader!