Prototype/phantom pickups
- Thread starter Citrus
- Start date
On my Phantom Custom, I found I had to fiddle with the pickup heights quite a bit before I got happy with it. If it's a matter of just too much level, but the tone is good, just lower the pickup a little. If you'd like less level and less grunt/more top, lower the pickup and raise the polepieces a little.
Just a suggestion before you get out the soldering iron and the cusswords.... /emoticons/default_cool.png
Just a suggestion before you get out the soldering iron and the cusswords.... /emoticons/default_cool.png
i have never been a big jb fan so i took that one out of the '97 phantom (thanks stonge) almost immediately. a '59 doublee black went in. much better, imho, for this guitar. the sc next to the bridge hb is a little trickier because it has a straight sided base to slide up close to the bridge hb. most regular single coils won't fit. some replacement pickups are made with this base but they are a little hard to find. fralin will make one for an extra $5. rio will make one for an extra $25 (iirc). i have a sd quarter pounder on the way with the right base and will have it in next week. i am a serial pickup changer, i know i have a problem.
Oh, I shoulda mentioned, mine came with a Rio Tallboy humbucker that couldn't keep up with the single coils and sounded too thin for my taste. I replaced it with a Duncan Custom 5 (very similar-sounding to a Rio BBQ) and THEN fiddled with the heights.
I'm curious, what is the difference if you lower the pickup, but raise the polepiece?
Wouldn't that be the same as keeping the pupwhere it is??
I really have zero pickup knowledge, except for the little I have gleaned from this board and some mags, so pardon any ignorance on my part.
Also, would playing with the stoptail hight have any affect on this as well??
Wouldn't that be the same as keeping the pupwhere it is??
I really have zero pickup knowledge, except for the little I have gleaned from this board and some mags, so pardon any ignorance on my part.
Also, would playing with the stoptail hight have any affect on this as well??
Lowering the pickup lowers the overall level and raising the polepieces will increase treble/air/bite, etc. Tweaking polepiece heights can also even out string-to-string imbalances.
Fooling with the stoptail height can have an effect on overall attack and sustain, but not on individual pickup volume.
Fooling with the stoptail height can have an effect on overall attack and sustain, but not on individual pickup volume.
On my phantom custom I took out the JB (hated it, like you said, too hot/brittle/crappy) and put in a 9.5k High Order A5 humbucker. I really like it. Now the humbucker sounds as alive as the acoustic sound/single coils.
the picture is a little blurry, but it's a double adjustable coil humbucker. I also went with a zebra one. What do you guys think of the look of it?
the picture is a little blurry, but it's a double adjustable coil humbucker. I also went with a zebra one. What do you guys think of the look of it?
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I like the look of the zebra. I don't have a shot handy of mine with the zebra C5 in it, since that hallened later the same weekend as the shot below, but I did change the guard to a toroiseshell one (last one they had at the factory). I just thought it looked better and didn't yell "PICKGUARD!!" quite so loudly... /emoticons/default_cool.png
Oh, he burst is actually a lot less red/yellow than this, more a sienna, actually.
Oh, he burst is actually a lot less red/yellow than this, more a sienna, actually.
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