Quarter Pound P/U pole height

[JamesonFan]

I acquired a NOS Seymour Duncan Baselines Quarter Pound bridge pup for my ‘97 PJ Bass. I’m noticing the pole pieces are flush with the actual pup and therefore sunken with the pup cover. Is this normal? Can they be adjusted so as to be flush with the pup cover?

THX

 

[Mincer]

According to this pic, that isn't right. Every one I've seen in person is just a hair over flush with the cover. And it generally is not adjustable..you can break the coil pushing on them. Can you post a pic of the bottom?
Maybe someone else here has seen that before.

 

[JamesonFan]

According to this pic, that isn't right. Every one I've seen in person is just a hair over flush with the cover. And it generally is not adjustable..you can break the coil pushing on them. Can you post a pic of the bottom?
Maybe someone else here has seen that before.

Here’s the underside of the pickup. The poles extend slightly beyond the surface, maybe about 1/32".

 

[Artie]

For what it's worth, my QP Jazz pup is sunken like yours. (Old school JBR sticker.) But my QP P-Bass pups are flush with the top.

 

[Mincer]

Oh good, so we have at least 1 other example of that happening. The other question is...how does it sound?

 

[formula73]

This has been asked more than once and nobody will answer.

 

[Artie]

Oh good, so we have at least 1 other example of that happening. The other question is...how does it sound?

My P-bass QP's are sweet. Nice punch and attack. I think the Quarter Pound concept really lends itself to bass well. I don't have the QP Jazz installed because I bought the Apollo set too. The QP Jazz was a sidenote on another deal. (forum bro Itsabass, I think.)

On the Jazz pup, I'm guessing that the cover was an afterthought. The poles are flush on the pup itself. (The "inner" part.)

 

[Mincer]

On the Jazz pup, I'm guessing that the cover was an afterthought. The poles are flush on the pup itself. (The "inner" part.)

Maybe, but on the product page, it doesn't look like it.
So my guess is that something changed between the product photos, and the actual product. If this is the case, it would look better on the bass without the cover.

 

[Artie]

Maybe, but on the product page, it doesn't look like it.
So my guess is that something changed between the product photos, and the actual product. If this is the case, it would look better on the bass without the cover.

Yeah. Maybe they said "oops." That doesn't look right, and fixed it.

 

[formula73]

Something changed between the ‘BASSLINES’ QP and the version we have now. Even the holes in the covers are different. They are NOT interchangeable.

I swear to god, I knew I wasn’t crazy.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-bassment/328179-quarter-pound-polepiece-height

Nobody knew 2 months ago, either. Good luck getting an answer, this time.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

The J I sold this summer had QP pickups in it that I installed back in the 00's. The poles and covers looked exactly like OP's pickup. Flat to the bobbin and not the cover.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Here I found a photo of the bass. These pickups were from the mid 00's

 

[Mincer]

Well, there's the answer...that is the way it is designed. But not the pic on the product page.

 

[formula73]

Well, there's the answer...that is the way it is designed. But not the pic on the product page.

The problem is nobody seems to want to say why it was done. I asked Falbo about it and he seemed a little surprised at the change.

 

[Mincer]

The problem is nobody seems to want to say why it was done. I asked Falbo about it and he seemed a little surprised at the change.

My guess is that no one really knows for sure...but I bet it was designed to be installed without the cover, and then somebody said 'you can't do that! We need branding...just use a cover, even if it doesn't look right!'

Or something like that. But I might install it without the cover.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

But the covers are what holds it in place on a Jazz pickup.

 

[formula73]

But the covers are what holds it in place on a Jazz pickup.

Yeah...can’t do that lol.

On the old ones, the poles can’t pass through the covers, as the holes are too small. I’ll take pics of all this after I get back from Xmas at my moms.

The strange part is that the poles are the same, just that on the old versions, they protrude from underneath as opposed to the new ones, meaning the coil is effectively higher in the magnetic field. I don’t have the means (or the ears, honestly) to do a side by side comparison like that ridiculous JB thread but from a design standpoint, that HAS to effect the signal in some way.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Honestly the QP's are so powerful that the covers don't affect them at all. They are ridiculously good pickups.

 

[Mincer]

Oh, haha, you're right. Well, then, this is a mystery indeed.

 

[Artie]

Honestly the QP's are so powerful that the covers don't affect them at all. They are ridiculously good pickups.

I 2nd that motion.