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Strings not lining up with pick up poles?

krfoss

krfoss

Supporting Member
Nov 29, 2007
3,039
4,505
Orange County, CA
#1
I whipped out the high school bass and thought I'd make it a BEAD bass, which is amazing but not the focus of this thread.

I noticed the pickups are a little off of the strings. I replaced the mim pups around 2001 with DiMarzio ultra jazz and discovered then that the mim jazz at the time routed both pickups for the same size, so that may be an issue.

But, is this a problem, or should it be ok?
 

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#2
krfoss said:
I whipped out the high school bass and thought I'd make it a BEAD bass, which is amazing but not the focus of this thread.

I noticed the pickups are a little off of the strings. I replaced the mim pups around 2001 with DiMarzio ultra jazz and discovered then that the mim jazz at the time routed both pickups for the same size, so that may be an issue.

But, is this a problem, or should it be ok?
Click to expand...
Both pickups or just one?
 
#4
They look fine to me. The double poles for each string are under the string.

If the bass is set up correctly and the string height is correct and the pickup heights are correct… and you’re not losing volume on the pickup/string that you think is misaligned, then it’s fine.
 
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#6
That's definitely well within the bounds of "normal" for relatively cheap import instruments (and sometimes even pricier US-made examples) IME, and shouldn't really be an issue at all. Could definitely be related to mounting one of the pickups a bit off since the original holes on one pickup wouldn't have lined up with your new pickups.

Often though there's a little trick you can do with Fender bolt-on neck instruments to improve neck alignment slightly- just loosen the neck screws a bit then carefully pull the neck one way or the other once you've found proper alignment then retighten the screws. Do be careful though as it can be easy to chip the finish around the edge of the neck pocket if you push too hard one way or the other. There is often enough play in the tolerance between the neck and the neck pocket in the body that you can make up for little inconsistencies like what is pictured here- in fact I think this "slop" in tolerances was a deliberate part of the original Fender mass-production model, which made it easy to just grab any neck and any body and mate them together in the factory without having to do any custom fitting of the parts before final assembly.
 
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#8
sunbeast said:
That's definitely well within the bounds of "normal" for relatively cheap import instruments (and sometimes even pricier US-made examples) IME, and shouldn't really be an issue at all. Could definitely be related to mounting one of the pickups a bit off since the original holes on one pickup wouldn't have lined up with your new pickups.

Often though there's a little trick you can do with Fender bolt-on neck instruments to improve neck alignment slightly- just loosen the neck screws a bit then carefully pull the neck one way or the other once you've found proper alignment then retighten the screws. Do be careful though as it can be easy to chip the finish around the edge of the neck pocket if you push too hard one way or the other. There is often enough play in the tolerance between the neck and the neck pocket in the body that you can make up for little inconsistencies like what is pictured here- in fact I think this "slop" in tolerances was a deliberate part of the original Fender mass-production model, which made it easy to just grab any neck and any body and mate them together in the factory without having to do any custom fitting of the parts before final assembly.
Click to expand...
That's a sneaky trick. I'll give it a try.
 
#9
krfoss said:
I whipped out the high school bass and thought I'd make it a BEAD bass, which is amazing but not the focus of this thread.

I noticed the pickups are a little off of the strings. I replaced the mim pups around 2001 with DiMarzio ultra jazz and discovered then that the mim jazz at the time routed both pickups for the same size, so that may be an issue.

But, is this a problem, or should it be ok?
Click to expand...

I’m thinking the new pickups were not designed for the the taper from the bridge to the nut on your bass. Which makes the alignment with the E and A string on the neck pickup off a bit. You will notice the strings are aligned on the bridge pickup.

Myself, unless you can tell a difference in the sound, which I doubt, I wouldn’t worry about. Even if you notice a drop-off of gain, just raise the pickup on that side to offset the loss.
 
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#10
The bridge pickup looks correctly aligned, while the neck pickup not.
Give it a try at playing them separately to see if you can hear differences in output, etc.
My guess you will not be able to -althought, to me alignment is fundamental but from the visual standpoint only- as the magnet function is to magnetize the strings. The position of the pickup coil relative to the strings will have more impact on sound, etc. and by the looks seems the neck pickup is just fine.
 
#14
More often than not, the reason is carelessly installed pickup screws. Remove the screws and put the pickup in place to see if it aligns better. If it does, fill the existing holes (I use a toothpick) and try to re-screw.
 
#15
krfoss said:
I whipped out the high school bass and thought I'd make it a BEAD bass, which is amazing but not the focus of this thread.

I noticed the pickups are a little off of the strings. I replaced the mim pups around 2001 with DiMarzio ultra jazz and discovered then that the mim jazz at the time routed both pickups for the same size, so that may be an issue.

But, is this a problem, or should it be ok?
Click to expand...
It still works, doesn't it?
 
#20
krfoss said:
I whipped out the high school bass and thought I'd make it a BEAD bass, which is amazing but not the focus of this thread.

I noticed the pickups are a little off of the strings. I replaced the mim pups around 2001 with DiMarzio ultra jazz and discovered then that the mim jazz at the time routed both pickups for the same size, so that may be an issue.

But, is this a problem, or should it be ok?
Click to expand...
It's probably okay.
 

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