Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

[Trev]

May sound daft, but, are the poles pieces in the pick-ups suppose to go directly over the strings?????????? The Duckbuckers on my Mex Strat
are not in line with the strings, does it matter? The guitar sounds lovely though, and there is no apparent volume loss on any of the strings!
Any thoughts or ideas on this anyone!

 

[Artie]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

The pole pieces on my Stag Mags align with the spaces on the outside two strings - and they sound great. I don't think its that big of a deal.

It may depend on the guitar. and the p'ups.

 

[Mike M.]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

I could never figure this out. If you put a humbucker in the bridge position for a Strat it's advised that you get a pickup thats F-spaced. Why? So the pole pieces will line up to get the best response. But most single coil pickups I see on guitars (especially in the neck position) don't line up with the strings,especially on the high E and B strings. And it does make a differance--lining up vs. not lining up.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

... The guitar sounds lovely though, and there is no apparent volume loss on any of the strings! ...

you've answered your own question

i have a duck in the middle of my HSH ibanez ... i had to raise it quite close to the strings in order to defeat the 'fading' problem when bending strings, but i love the tone, and experience no ill effects from the positioning

even my non trem-spaced C5 (which SHOULD be, excpet i was an idiot when i ordered it :smack: ) has no ill sonic effects from misalignment .. it just looks odd to me 'cus i know it's there ...

cheers
t4d

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

Trev, have you tried replacing the pole pieces with ones like my avatar? No drop offs that way.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

fusion, is that real or just clever photoshopping? if so, where might i get some of those pole pieces? i'd love to try that to see if it really works

please advise
thanks
t4d

 

[Artie]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey tone; I believe that all adjustable pole pieces are just common hardware store screws. You can take one out, and take it to a hardware store, and just match it up with anything that has the same threads.

But . . . don't quote me on that. Thats just how they look. :22:

 

[tone4days]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks artie ... this might sound silly, but ... how will i know what material the screws should be made of? .. will any ferrous metal do?

cheers
t4d

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

Tone4Days, thats just photoshopping, but I want to try that someday in the custom shop with a hotter wound Duckbucker with the Invader polepieces. It would give it more oooomph as well as covering the spring drop off issues with the current ones.

If someone one here knows the size of the current screws they use in the lil or jr series then Im sure a black oxide hex screw of that size would work. I am just guessing it is 2-56 threaded as regualr pickup screws are 5-40 threads. If someone can confirm the size I will order a batch of those sized screws.

 

[Artie]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks artie ... this might sound silly, but ... how will i know what material the screws should be made of? .. will any ferrous metal do?

cheers
t4d

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure about that.

I did, however, come across this pic from the Benedetto web page. Its the bridge of a $6000 "Benny", with Benedetto A6 p'ups. (Made by Seymour Duncan.) They're obviously not all that concerned with string alignment even in this expensive of a guitar. I believe these guitars are handmade by Bob Benedetto.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting looking bridge on that guitar.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

There's alot of magnetic field all around the poles of your pickups...Cosmetically it looks right to have all poles line up nicely over all strings...Frankly the difference in tone is so minimal in change though if the poles don't line up perfectly..Cosmetically this issue drives me crazy,but tonally it doesn't..

John

 

[Artie]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting looking bridge on that guitar.

Yeah . . . it is. On the webpage, they refer to it as a "Tech-Tonic."
(Which was designed and built by George Blanda of Fender.)

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't see how pole pieces look's could bother you...wouldn't phase me a bit.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't see how pole pieces look's could bother you...wouldn't phase me a bit.

Call me anal! :smack: :13: I'm like this with everything I do though...It has to satisfy me before I can expect to satisfy anyone else... :wink: :burnout:

John

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pole pieces over strings!!!!!!!!!!!

that is a cool bridge!! id love to get my hands on a couple of them. as long as you dont notice any drop outs then i wouldnt worry about pole piece alignment.
ive had a few guitars that had a weak e string but it was always with buckers so i just raised that pole piece a touch and that cleared it up.