Pickup magnet poles and string alignment

[bthiemann80]

Hi, I just bought a Schecter Diamond J (VERY nice bass at any price point) in which the strings, especially the E string and the neck pickup, do not seem to align well with the pickup magnet poles :



It doesnt seem to have a negative effect upon the sound or balance from string to string but I probably don't have the best ears to know better either. Is this something I should be concerned about?

[testing1two]

In the case of low output or vintage pickups with small pole pieces it does make a difference. However, those Schecter pickups have enormous Music Man style pole pieces so I would be more concerned about having them too close to the strings where the magnetic string pull would affect intonation and sustain.

[SGD Lutherie]

Is that a bolt on neck? If it is, loosen the strings slightly (not too lose) and then loosen each neck bolt about a turn.

Then sit the bass in your lap in playing position, and lean your body onto the bass body to keep it stable, and give the neck a yank to pull it up towards the bass strings. That should even out the spacing over the poles. If it doesn't move, try loosening the bolts another half turn.

Then tighten them up, and get the strings back up to pitch. That's a very common thing with some bolt on necks.

If you can't get the neck aligned, I wouldn't worry about it, unless you are noticing the low E being weak. Those are big poles though, so you should be fine.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

...give the neck a yank to pull it up towards the bass strings. That should even out the spacing over the poles. If it doesn't move, try loosening the bolts another half turn.

Then tighten them up, and get the strings back up to pitch. That's a very common thing with some bolt on necks.

+1

what you're looking for is the G and E strings to both be about the same distance from the edges of the neck. if the pickup is still a little off, i wouldn't sweat it. (big polepieces and all.)

a side benefit of this trick, which is why it's a routine set-up step of mine, is that when you loosen the neck bolts a little while the instrument is strung up, it allows the strings to pull the neck down hard into the pocket, eliminating any gap where they press together. as often as not, after i tighten the bolts back up, the guitar sounds a little better.

[bthiemann80]

I really appreciate all your input guys, it is in fact a bolt neck and I'll definitely try it!

[Vakmere]

They look close enough to not matter. However see if the neck pup is in the neck position and the bridge in the bridge position. Some manufactures size the bridge poles a little wider due to the wider spacing at the bridge.

[supracat]

I have a J Bass custom with this same problem of poles and strings alignment but bridge on this bass is a Hipshot .687 string spacing and pup's are Nordy NJ4SV neck and NJ4SE
bridge, So I wonder if changing this pup's for a pair of magnetic blades type like Barts or Delano would be a good decision

[line6man]

Originally Posted by bthiemann80

Is this something I should be concerned about?

No.
It doesn't matter at all, unless the aesthetics of it bother you.

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by supracat

I have a J Bass custom with this same problem of poles and strings alignment but bridge on this bass is a Hipshot .687 string spacing and pup's are Nordy NJ4SV neck and NJ4SE
bridge, So I wonder if changing this pup's for a pair of magnetic blades type like Barts or Delano would be a good decision

Not really if you like the way the Nordstrands sound. If it is because of the alignment (From the pic) I can assure you, you are fine.

M

BTW, did you set the saddles that way on purpose? (on Hipshot's "A" bridges you can slide the saddles sideway) It looks like the spacing is not even. The G - D and E - A spacing is closer to each others than A and D, which is further apart....
(hope it makes sense)

[walterw]

if it were mine i'd trade out that hipshot for one with wider spacing; if you like the pickups closer to the strings like i do, then that polepiece spacing does make a difference, if a subtle one.

leo fender thought it was important enough to patent the idea.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by walterw

if it were mine i'd trade out that hipshot for one with wider spacing; if you like the pickups closer to the strings like i do, then that polepiece spacing does make a difference, if a subtle one.
[

I think his neck is to narrow for a wider bridge. Plus it's not set up correctly. You can see that the E is too far to the right, and the rest of the strings look wonky too. I can't even tell if that bridge is centered.

you can get 1/16" side-by-side adjustments from those bridges.

The pickups are for a wider spacing.

leo fender thought it was important enough to patent the idea.

funny how he abandoned that idea for the MM and G&L pickups.

[supracat]

Originally Posted by maurilio

Not really if you like the way the Nordstrands sound. If it is because of the alignment (From the pic) I can assure you, you are fine.

M

BTW, did you set the saddles that way on purpose? (on Hipshot's "A" bridges you can slide the saddles sideway) It looks like the spacing is not even. The G - D and E - A spacing is closer to each others than A and D, which is further apart....
(hope it makes sense)

Yes, I tried to move the saddles to get more space between strings aligning'm with polepices but the bridge is not wide enough

[supracat]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

I think his neck is to narrow for a wider bridge. Plus it's not set up correctly. You can see that the E is too far to the right, and the rest of the strings look wonky too. I can't even tell if that bridge is centered.

you can get 1/16" side-by-side adjustments from those bridges.

The pickups are for a wider spacing.


funny how he abandoned that idea for the MM and G&L pickups.

Ok David, thanks for your comments, so, maybe the best at this point would be a good set up before taking another step isn't it ?