7.25" Pickup Adjustment Problem

[Old Fart]

I have a '63 AVRI Precision that I LOVE. Split coil pup heights can be adjusted to match each string. No problem.

I have a '75 AVRI Jazz which also has the 7.25" neck radius. Jazz pups are one-piece and cannot be adjusted for each string. With this neck radius, there is a substantial difference in gain because the E and G strings are substantially closer to the pickups than the A and D strings. Has anybody noticed this phenomenon and, if so, is there anything I can do to minimize this problem of gain differences.

 

[ddnidd1]

If its really pronounced an external approach would be a quality compressor.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

You can push the center pole pieces up to match the radius better.

 

[Old Fart]

You can push the center pole pieces up to match the radius better.

The pole pieces seem to be pressed into the bobbin. Tightly. I'm not familiar with moveable pole pieces.

Shirley this has been discussed before, but I don't know what word to search for.

 

[Old Fart]

STAGGERED POLE search gets few hits. Huh. Shirley....has this not been discussed before? There is a substantial difference in output on the E and G strings compared to the A and D strings. Nobody hates this but me?

 

[Old Fart]

It probably has, and don't call me Shirley. It is my understanding that the pole pieces should still move with a little persuasion without damaging anything.

Interesting. I'm a Precision guy, and my split coil pickups are visibly cocked to adjust for this. Occasionally playing a Jazz, the E string BOOMS by comparison.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I have pushed pole pieces up to compensate.
It's more pronounced on a 5er.
They may not want to move, which is better than moving on their own.
I used a Torx head screwdriver to put a lot of area on them, then pushed.
It may require supporting the rest of the top of the pup and giving that screwdriver a tap.
Move a little at a time and try it to prevent having to move it back.
This is one of those things many people will not want to try.
I'm sure it's possible to hurt the pup with too much force or
too many adjustments or plain old clumsyness.
The thing is if it isn't ever going to be good enough as is,
you have nothing to loose.
If you move the pole pieces and it fixes the uneveness, you win.
If it breaks the pup and you end up buying DeMarzios pups with
screw adjustments, you win.
The least you can accomplish is learning something.

Oh, there are a few pups out there that are contoured to match the radius.
Keisel comes to mind.
The thing about that is that they may be made for a different radius than your bass.