That cover buckling is something else. Does it fit in the cavity smoothly? I would replace the cover first. I would probably gently try to reform the pickups flatwork. +\- on the bending then get rid of the springs and use a dense fender type foam across the cavity. Those springs are probably too much for it.
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Pickup protruding pole pieces
- Thread starter Chris Chong
- Start date
Yes, I think at a minimum you have to match the radius. Or you could be like G&L and have adjustable poles. I have no idea why Sadowsky put staggered poles on their Chinese basses but flat poles on their other basses. Makes no sense to me, but not a big deal either.
I manage to isolate the bottom plate that holds the 4 split coils out and to my best effort levelled it.
And as advise by @walterw, put in a shim (1mm) under the cover.
Now the the G string is 2mm from the pole piece, A string 2.5mm, and B string 3mm.
But I’m used to a flat pickup, hence the low B and G is abit soft for my liking. This will be a temporary fix while I wait for the replacement BigMan5 pickup, which is flat.
And as advise by @walterw, put in a shim (1mm) under the cover.
Now the the G string is 2mm from the pole piece, A string 2.5mm, and B string 3mm.
But I’m used to a flat pickup, hence the low B and G is abit soft for my liking. This will be a temporary fix while I wait for the replacement BigMan5 pickup, which is flat.
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This drives me nuts. I get that it probably gives slightly better sonic performance, but any gain is negated by all the unpleasant transients I get when the strings hit the pole pieces. I encounter this on every single pickup I have with an exposed pole piece, even those that are relatively flush.
that sounds perfect to me, a nice even progression of distance from thin strings to thick strings; it should give you good string balance all the way across
that makes no sense to me, you're saying you like it when the outer two strings are louder than the inner ones?
Have been playing flat pickups for many years. Setting the strings to the board radius would mean low B and G string closer to the pickup, hence, a little louder, and the fingers would rmb to attack these string differently.
- Apr 18, 2008
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WOW!!! Push the pole pieces down!!! The absolute BEST way to destroy the internal windings of the pickup next to the bobbins.
Yes, that is how this happens, but this happens even when my pickups are set to a normal distance below the strings. On my Precision, the pickups have to sit well below Fender spec in order to fix this. The only way I've been able to keep my pickups at a normal spec without any popping is to cover the pole pieces with electrical tape.
- Apr 18, 2008
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That’s kind of my point. The correct distance isn’t “Fender spec”. The correct distance for you is “low enough that my strings don’t touch”.
Others might come along and suggest that your technique is also problematic. I might agree with them.
No. The correct distance is the distance at which the sound is the best. And my technique gets the sound that I want-- punchy and harmonically rich. If that makes certain pieces of the equation (like exposed pole pieces) undesirable, then so be it.
For closure, bought a replacement and installed.
Quite stiff.
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For what it's worth, I'm right there with you. One most of my basses, it's not an issue, but it was an issue for me enough times in the past that I've gone exclusively with pickups not having exposed pole pieces on future bass acquisitions. There are enough quality pickups and pickup makers out there for me to not ever feel like I'm losing out on good options.
Note, this is not a comment about anyone else's choices of pickup. I'm all about people making whatever choices they want regarding music gear -- and if something works for them, fantastic -- even if it doesn't work for me.
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Wow. Yeah, I often use springs under the pickups, often in conjunction with foam, but not a valve spring off of a small block 350…
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,015
- 1
- 31,729
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I don't know how many of mine are on springs versus foam, but I'm glad you posted this thread, cause I'll watch out for that. My Sire is foam, I think, but my Ibanez SRs are probably springs.
Just to clarify this is a very unique case, bcz the original split coils are hold together on a single plate below the coils, so it is easier to bend compare to single coils with continuous top and bottom plate.
