Coil height on Fender Jazz Pickups

[Deanstm]

Hey everyone and greetings from Ireland (I'm new here )

Just recently bought a set of Fender Jazz pickups off ebay, second hand and removed of course, but the coils for the E and G string on both pickups (neck and bridge) are down alot compared to the A and D.

Upon inspection I noted that it is possible to raise those two poles from beneath the pickup but I am not sure as to the correct height??

Any help would be cool!

[Deanstm]

Sorry about that, it was only this afternoon that I realised I meant poles.

The sound is ok, but because the A and D poles are higher, I think they are a bit more responsive, so I think I'll probably higher the poles of the E and G islightly as they are barely out of the pickup cover, which might have occured when whoever was removing the pickups from their Jazz Bass.

Suggestions??

Thanks again!

[figuredbass]

Originally Posted by GlennW

Construction methods and materials vary, but a safe answer to your question is "No".

Many JB pickups have the coil wire touching the magnets, so if you go moving them up or down you run a high risk of breaking the wire and killing the pickup. Others will have tape wrapped around the magnets for insulation purposes, but the same risk is still there.

How is the sound - is it balanced across all for strings? If so, there's no need to adjust the poles. They were likey installed unevenly to correspond with the fretboard radius, and thereby produce even output across the strings.

+1 on all points. Been there - done that! Wrecked my pickup, that is. About 15 years ago I had stock pickups on my '77 Jazz bass and I moved the E and G string magnets DOWN in order to create a coutour that was more compatible with the fretboard & bridge radius of the bass. It worked beautifully. I had much better balance of output and tone string to string. Until one day...I decided to tweak it further: I pushed a few of the magnets again...put the bass back together...then...NOTHING! When I had moved the magnets this time a magnet had snagged the coil wire and BROKE the coil. Bye bye pickup! Once that inner coil winding is broken, there's no way to fix it.

The lowered magnets on your pickups are that way intentionally, again, to compensate for the bass's string radius. They probably will sound best as is, without modification.

[GlennW]

Another thing about pushing poles, the bobbins are probably about .060"-.090" thick, so there isn't much room for adjustment or error.

You could get a piece of 3/16" mild steel rod from a hardware store and cut little pieces to put on the ends of the low magnets. That might help, and if you don't like it just take them off - no risk to the pickup.

[Chef]

The poles are different heights to account for the curvature of the fingerboard.
Leave 'em be.

[Juniorkimbrough]

My problem is opposite of yours. My Jazz has the 7.25? radius and the E and G strings are louder than the A and D.

How can I go about trying to fix this?? fyi, I have Fralin's in this bass.

[steve66]

Originally Posted by Chef

The poles are different heights to account for the curvature of the fingerboard.
Leave 'em be.

+1 Leave them alone.. My stock Fender MIM pickups are the same way. The A & D string poles are a little higher than the E & G string poles

[Deanstm]

So, I read all the advice here too late.

I raised the poles on the E and G slightly, however I shall not be doing any further tweaking following the advice so far.
I raised them mainly as the poles were barely out of the pickup cover, now that this problem is solved the response is now even.

Thanks again

[Juniorkimbrough]

Originally Posted by GlennW

Another thing about pushing poles, the bobbins are probably about .060"-.090" thick, so there isn't much room for adjustment or error.

You could get a piece of 3/16" mild steel rod from a hardware store and cut little pieces to put on the ends of the low magnets. That might help, and if you don't like it just take them off - no risk to the pickup.

Wouldn't they be at risk of being knocked off though?

[#include <MK>]

Some pickups are designed for pole adjustment and others are not. The ones that are usually have adjustable screws. Moving the magnets on pickups is hit and miss.

In saying this, some pickups that are made with plastic bobbins are more likely to allow for it but not all and there is a risk with those also. Mucking around with a pickup where the windings are wrapped directly around the magnets or even taped magnets, well what can I say to that but make sure you have some dollars saved for another one because if you bought them new you would void the warranty. It might work the first time, but don't count on a next time.

I think the normal adjustment screws on pickup covers are enough, I have never needed to do this to any pickup in a bass I owned.