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Sanding pickup polepieces

jesterbass

jesterbass

Apr 20, 2007
366
131
#1
Hello,

I recently acquired a set of open polepiece passive Js to replace my closed type actives, for 5 strings. The pickups work fine, only problem is, the polepieces are radiused, and the radius is less than the one on my bass' neck. Result is the A string sounds a bit louder than the others. I was thinking about sanding down the polepieces for the A string to even out the output. The difference is not that much and a little will go a long way. Is it highly likely that I will make a mess with magnet shrapnel or completely ruin my pickups? They aren't exactly inexpensive. :-) Can I expect a tonal change besides the output reduction, because I will have less polepiece material on? Any thoughts are welcome.
 
#3
brittle, too; good chance of it crumbling.

are you sure the string radius is right? the usual problem is just the opposite, that the outside strings are too hot.

the fix is the same in either case; back the pickup away from the strings a bit more, to lessen the differences between one string and the next, evening out the outputs.
 
#6
yeah, all the fender american standard pickups have poles insulated from the windings in a molded bobbin; you could push them right out of the pickup without hurting anything.
 
#7
Thanks for the responses guys. The output is a little higher even after trying my best at angling both the pickups as well as possible. I am also taking tone into consideration (e.g. I don't like the bridge pickup loud at the high strings), but even if I didn't and tried setting up only optimizing for even output, I 'd still have the problem.

walterw said:
brittle, too; good chance of it crumbling.

are you sure the string radius is right? the usual problem is just the opposite, that the outside strings are too hot.

the fix is the same in either case; back the pickup away from the strings a bit more, to lessen the differences between one string and the next, evening out the outputs.
Click to expand...

The bass is a Warwick Streamer LX 5 string with a radius of 26". Pickups are Nordy Js with 12" radius iirc. Also I play with a pretty light touch so I can't have the pickups too low, the output is too low then.

SGD Lutherie said:
Also, the strings never match the fingerboard radius at the bridge end. Usually the low strings are higher. So try adjusting the string hight and then angle the pickup.
Click to expand...

The bass has a 3d bridge that makes it easy to exactly "copy" the fingerboard radius to the strings, so it's pretty precise with respect to that.

I didn't realize heat from sanding could ruin a pickup. Could I try taking it slow, cooling the pickup in between? I wonder if there's anything else I could do.
 
#10
#11
jesterbass said:
The bass has a 3d bridge that makes it easy to exactly "copy" the fingerboard radius to the strings, so it's pretty precise with respect to that.
Click to expand...

That's not what I meant. All bridges with adjustable saddles can match the fingerboard radius. But that radius is for your left hand comfort, and has nothing to do with an idea setup.

In a normal setup you raise the bass strings higher than the treble strings because they forum a wider arc when they vibrate. If you keep them as low as the treble strings they can choke when you hit them hard.

Likewise, you lower the pickups under the bass strings because they are louder.
 
#16
the question is whether said paint would last more than a month of gigs before flaking off, and also just what sort of gold paint would look like plated gold hardware and not like tacky gold-colored paint.
 
#18
walterw said:
the question is whether said paint would last more than a month of gigs before flaking off, and also just what sort of gold paint would look like plated gold hardware and not like tacky gold-colored paint.
Click to expand...

It occurred to me that gold leaf with some clear lacquer might have some hope of looking good and holding up.

iJazz - Obsessing over detail planning for my project.
 

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