help with pickup installation

[derridiandrift]

I've been playing db for about a year now. I've got lots of gigs, but I'm still struggling with achieving decent tone and controlling feedback.

Is my K&K pickup installed correctly? The wings on my bridge don't have parallel surfaces to smoothly insert the pickup.

[Eric Hochberg]

If you stay with a wing pickup and that bridge, you should flatten out both surfaces parallel and then shim to fit for maximum pickup contact..

[derridiandrift]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

If you stay with a wing pickup and that bridge, you should flatten out both surfaces parallel and then shim to fit for maximum pickup contact..

I also have a Schaller magnetic pickup on this bass. I love the tone, when the bass is turned to eliminate all the noise :-(


Stupid question... once I flatten out the surfaces, what should I shim them with? More specifically, where do I get very thin pieces of wood?

[Marc Piane]

Old sax reeds work great as shims. I've also used matchbox covers. Proper fit makes a HUGE difference.

[derridiandrift]

Originally Posted by fingers

Proper fit makes a HUGE difference.

I suspected that was the case. Time to get out the file.

[Vic Koler]

Originally Posted by derridiandrift

I also have a Schaller magnetic pickup on this bass. I love the tone, when the bass is turned to eliminate all the noise :-(


Stupid question... once I flatten out the surfaces, what should I shim them with? More specifically, where do I get very thin pieces of wood?

If you have a hobby shop nearby, you can buy various thicknesses of wood laminate. Usually, they come in approx. 9"x4" pieces. This is what Bob Daugherty recommended when he refit my bridge back in the day.

Note: reeds are not flat.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by Vic Koler

Note: reeds are not flat.

Just going with what has worked for me. You only use the vibrating end. It's before the extreme taper so it's pretty flat and very thin.

[Fletcher Lanning]

+1 on sax reeds. Especially when the surfaces aren't parallel and you are afraid of sanding, using a little bit of the taper to fill the gap is wonderful.

[fdeck]

Looks like you have a "Bausch" bridge like I have on my Kay. It was a big hassle to fit a wing pickup to it, with those pointy little wings. My luthier suggested adding some wood to the wings, which I did. That made mounting the pickup (in my case an Underwood) a whole lot easier.

[uprightben]

The best place to find a thin piece of wood is in a thick peice of wood. You either saw or split off a piece and plane it true. You will not get very good results tryin to flatten your bridge wing with a file alone, you will end up with a rounded surface, a bad fit and your pick will not sound its best. To not get this done by a professional is a false economy, and new bridge is typically $300-$400, and this is a half hour job for someone who knows what they are doing.

[bigolbassguy]

I don't think it's advisable to start filing the wing. If you have an x-acto knife, you could buy some door shims for a dollar or two at the hardware store and squeeze them in (between the pickup and the wing) until your pickup is making decent contact. It won't be pretty, but you won't do any damage to the bridge.

That chamfering is all done by hand. I would guess that someone put a lot of time and effort into fitting it.

[derridiandrift]

I used some coarse sandpaper around a file and worked really slow. Once the surfaces on either side were somewhat more parallel, I used wood from a matchbox to shim one side. It's not pretty, but it sounds much better.