Pickups way too unbalanced!

[waltschwarzkopf]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Just raise/ lower any one those two until you achieve the balance you desire. You know I encounter the same issue with my LP with JB/ 59. The neck sounds louder than the bridge with the height being the same, but only when played clean. With distortion they sound balance.

I tried that already. The neck is as high as it will go, pressing the string on fret 22 leaves very little clearance for the screws; but I'll try lower the bridge as low as possible to see it changes.

 

[Discharged]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Great, thanks. So that's all you get from 15 years moonlighting fixing people's guitars? (that's sarcasm in case you don't get it).

Oh, c'mon, don't snowflake on me for so little... don't tell me; the refill of your meds didn't reach your usual pharmacy in due time; am I right?

/Peter

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

So the solution is pretty simple.

Replace those cheapie unprofessional pickups with a set of Duncans, Dimarzios, Fralins....whatever turns you on.

Problem solved.

You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear...and your cheapie pickups are the equivalent of a pair of sow’s ears.

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Thanks for the explanation! I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know what I find.

Check the resistance at the output jack by plugging in a cable and probing at the tip and sleeve. With neck only selected and the neck volume on 10, it should be just a little under the DCR spec'd for the neck pickup. Then do it again for the bridge only. For an 8k neck (that seems a bit high, but whatever) and a 300k volume that comes to 7.8k. For a 14k bridge and 300k pot it's 13.4k. Note the actual figures will likely be slightly different than the numbers I gave depending on the values of the pots and true DCR values of the pickups. Ballpark values should suffice (~7k-8k for the neck, ~12k-14k for the bridge).

Was there enough slack in the leads for the cables when you removed the pickups so that you didn't pull anything loose?

If the values look to be OK and there was enough slack when you removed the covers then the problem could be the pickup heights. With the 1st and 6th strings held down at the 22nd fret raise the neck so it is no more than ~2 mm from the highest point of the neck pickup and the bridge so it is no less than ~4mm. Another approach would be to raise the neck so it is ~1-2mm below the neck pickup and see how low you have to drop the bridge so the two pickups balance. Since I'm apparently a complete noob I'll happily defer to the wisdom of the elders regarding acceptable heights.

Only after this exercise would I start probing in the control and switch cavities and then start disconnecting things if the values don't look right. Remove the hot lead of each pickup first and measure their resistances to ground. Then check the resistances of the lugs at the pots (center lug to each of the outer lugs with the volumes at 0 and again at 10). Then the continuity between the output of each volume control to the jack with the switch in all three positions. If all checks out then disconnect the tone pots and try again.

If there are no issues then reconnect what you have disconnected and measure the DCR values at the jack again. If they are OK then maybe the problem lies in the expectations you have for the relative outputs of each pickup, understanding that a vintage neck should be bassy and not overly dark (I expect you know how that neck pickup is supposed to sound) and a hot bridge should sound very full in the mids. It really boils down to whether the neck pickup sounds right compared to the neck pickups in similar guitars with the same or similar neck pickups which you apparently already own. From your original post it seems the bridge pickup sounds just fine.

FWIW, I recommended changing the magnet in the bridge pickup to an A2, which I would do before replacing either pickup, but I like Lew's post. I'll go one further by being a zealot and saying that if you like a pair of vintage output pickups in each position avoid DiMarzio unless you like the idea behind some of their non-traditional sounding pickups. I would avoid anything by DiMarzio labeled with PAF if you actually expect something that sounds like a PAF. Some will find it hard to believe but that is my honest opinion.

 

[UTGrad]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Just my opinion but the stock Pro Buckers sound great in my Epi LP Standard Plus Top Pro. I made sure to play it for a while before making a decision on pickups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Oh, c'mon, don't snowflake on me for so little... don't tell me; the refill of your meds didn't reach your usual pharmacy in due time; am I right?

/Peter

Peter, you need to give it a rest. This forum is infested with professinals who are true experts in their fields so we don't need another self-aggrandizing 'expert' brandishing his/ her superficial knowledge for the 'long lost' credit....lol.

Here's a tip for you pal: Spend more time on that work bench studying SD pickups from the 80s. You never know, somebody might post a JBJ that never surfaced in Euroland. Talking about saving face. Ring a bell?

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Peter, you need to give it a rest. This forum is infested with professinals who are true experts in their fields so we don't need another self-aggrandizing 'expert' brandishing his/ her superficial knowledge for the 'long lost' credit....lol.

As someone who is not a true expert in any fields besides wankery, nitpicking and noodling I'll gladly take this advice even if was meant for someone who is an expert at '50s vs modern wiring.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

As someone who is not a true expert in any fields besides wankery, nitpicking and noodling I'll gladly take this advice even if was meant for someone who is an expert at '50s vs modern wiring.

Yeah...he's just an expert as Thanaton, PicoRiveraTele, LeeveC and Plessure...lol (same people, different accounts). True experts don't brag about themselves, they help people.

He's a Frank Falbo wannbe, looking for praise but his ego gets in the way and ends up loosing his face.

 

[StoRMiE]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

I have a 2005 Epi Classic sitting in the back in a case, the uncovered 57ch/hotch pickups sounded incredibly shrill to my ears with certain amps and seem to refuse to take pedals, regardless of any adjusting the neck always sounded too muddy and weak and the bridge was always shrill and would break up instantly.

I had to practically bury the bridge pickup in the body to make it usable in a recording setting. If you don't want to sink money into it, sell it, if you want it to sound halfway decent ditch the pickups.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Bridge overpowering neck -- very unusual complaint generally but especially with humbuckers. I wonder if the neck mag is weak...

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

I had a pair of Duncan/Ibanez pickups that sound great by themselves provided I adjust the height of each pickup to be optimal for that pickup and adjusted my amp to be optimal for that pickup. However, when I adjusted the bridge for its optimal height and set the amp to give me the optimal tone, the neck was extremely weak. Raising the neck too high made it boomy for cleans. The middle position split to the inner coils and I had to take the volume on the bridge way back for them to blend properly. These pickups are basically a 59 Neck and a double screw JB+.

I now have a Duncan Designed 59 Bridge with the 59 Neck and removed the inner-coil combo and that guitar now kicks ass in all three positions, clean or dirty without having to make drastic changes in relative height or volume controls. In the interim that guitar had a Full Shred Neck in the neck and a Screamin' Demon in the Bridge. It was an awesome combo, too! The relative output between the two are far closer than what the OP currently has on his hands.

My Les Paul Custom (a Norlin Gibson) has a T-Top in the neck and middle and an SH-5 Custom in the Bridge. The neck and bridge work very well with gain. The neck by itself as well as the middle+bridge combo sound great clean. The Custom in the bridge with cleans? Not so much, but I feel that way about all high output pickups wired in series mode (Custom, JB, Distortion, etc.). I'm sure I'd feel the same about the JB in Clint's guitar. Even a JB2 has something to be desired for me when it comes to cleans.

So while I may be a newb who is just learning (lol), I've been able to enjoy both approaches and will choose one or the other based on the application.

I guess it's a mortal sin to have a traditional Strat with each pickup having the same output. How does anyone manage to get by with one? Not to mention all the other guitars with identical bridge and neck humbuckers (PAF Pro/PAF Pro, Super-D/Super-D, Gibson PAF/Gibson PAF). Sigh.

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

ends up loosing his face

...and will never admit it because he suffers from the very traits he projects onto others.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

I don't think the bridge pickup overpowering the neck pickup is that uncommon. To me, that's always been the case with the ever-so-popular high-output monster bridge pickup/vintage PAF-y underwound neck pickup combos. Hell, I had trouble having the PAF Pro in the neck keep up with a Dominion (which isn't all that hot) in the bridge!

JMO.

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Hell, I had trouble having the PAF Pro in the neck keep up with a Dominion (which isn't all that hot) in the bridge!

I have The Breed Neck in my bridge position (weaker than a Dominion) with a PAF Pro in the neck and have no troubles whatsoever.

As you well know it was PAF Pro and PAF Pro which I could get to work by dropping the neck and raising the bridge but not by all that much. The trouble was a weak bottom end with the PAF Pro in the bridge. However, some people like it that way; especially those who like to play clean and want something dynamic with a sparkling top end?

Why is that so hard to understand?

 

[Discharged]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Peter, you need to give it a rest.

I don't think of anything that I need right now.

This forum is infestedwith professionals who are true experts in their fields

An odd choice of words, to say the least... let's break it out. From the Cambridge Dictionary:

INFEST
Verb: infest, past tense: infested; past participle: infested; adjective: -infested

1.to live in or overrun to an unwanted degree or in a troublesome manner, especially as predatory animals or vermin do:
Sharks infested the coastline.
2.to be numerous in, as anything undesirable or troublesome:
the cares that infest the day.
3.Archaic. to harass.

So, by your own written word, what bothers you are the, and I quote, "professionals who are true experts in their fields", so much that you consider'em "predatory animals or vermin". You're such a nice fellow... but again, just take your medicines and and everything will be fine again.

Well, at least the handle you self chose to use doesn't hide your own nature, and the avatar you also self chose to illustrate your web character contains the word "Prozac", which definition by the FDA is "Prozac is an antidepressant. It is mainly used to treat major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder. That's what I call a major Freudian slip!

/Peter

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

As usual the retort is to nitpick and resort to personal attacks.

Icing on the cake after Alex's typical snark and condescension.

 

[Discharged]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

As usual the retort is to nitpick and resort to personal attacks.

And you LOVE every single one of them, specially when they're not specifically directed to you.

Icing on the cake after Alex's typical snark and condescension.

How do you feel having not one but two nemesis? Oh wait! There's also Lew... now I get why you're here: it makes you feel like you're a superhero like Batman, isn't it?

/Peter

 

[AlexR]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Icing on the cake after Alex's typical snark and condescension.

Pot and kettle quite frankly. This is something you are quite well known for too - and you are well aware of it.
Mine however is only ever directed at those who have already displayed this as their normal way of posting.

 

[gregory]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

One could always choose to take the high road.

FWIW, I don't assess my worth based on how many friends or enemies I have.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Pickups way too unbalanced!

Why is that so hard to understand?

I wasn't refering to your post where you said you can't get the PAF Pro/PAF Pro combo to work. I was refering to Zhangliqun's post before yours where he says he finds it unusual for the bridge to overpower the neck.

Concerning that, TBH, I have the DiMarzio PAF 36th Anni neck model set at the same distance from the strings I have the '59B in the bridge at, and the DiMarzio can BARELY keep up with the '59, even though they're in the same vintage-output league, supposedly, and pickups tend to be louder in the neck position.

I'm just trying to say I've never had the whole modern bridge pickup/vintage neck pickup combo work for me.