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strings don't line up with the middle of the pole pieces


Caddie

Question

I have a Studio and have seen this on other Studios, Specials, Artists and Duotones.  The strings don't line up with the center of the pickup pole pieces.  

  • Do I see a problem that is not really a problem 
  • Is this poor pickup mounting
  • poor nut cutting
  • poor bridge saddle cutting
  • all or some of the above
  • should I take it to my certified luthier for diagnosis and treatment

befuddled at Latitude: 41.86530233391187 Longitude:-88.10165047645569

caddie

 

 

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Could be any of the things you mentioned! Pictures will help. Likely bad pick-up alignment...

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Does it sound OK? Unless they're a mile off or you're really really anal about how it looks, leave it. Only dogs and Eric Johnson will hear a difference.

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1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

Does it sound OK? Unless they're a mile off or you're really really anal about how it looks, leave it. Only dogs and Eric Johnson will hear a difference.

I agree. A million players change their guitar pickups, and invariably the new set will not "align" with where the old set used to be, it really makes f**k all difference, plus when you get to your forties and fifties you can't hear shit anyway (personally speaking).

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On 2/28/2018 at 7:22 AM, hamerhead said:

Does it sound OK? Unless they're a mile off or you're really really anal about how it looks, leave it. Only dogs and Eric Johnson will hear a difference.

This x1000.  This is an odd obsession of one of my guitar playing buddies and he will waste way too much time and money trying to make them perfect.

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Switch to OBLs, SuperTrons or some other blade pickup - problem SOLVED!!

 

 

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On 28/02/2018 at 1:36 AM, Caddie said:

I have a Studio and have seen this on other Studios, Specials, Artists and Duotones.  The strings don't line up with the center of the pickup pole pieces.  

  • Do I see a problem that is not really a problem 

befuddled at Latitude: 41.86530233391187 Longitude:-88.10165047645569

Seems like the problem is me.  I read an interview with Joe Walsh a few days ago.  He said that he will not play a guitar with strings that do not line up with the center of the pup pole pieces.  Perhaps Joe did a little too much "coke, dope, smoke" as an Eagle.

I paid a little more attention to my faves. a VintS with 3 SD Cool rails, a Strat Plus Deluxe with 3 Gold Lace Sensor pups, an Eclipse with mini hums with no visible pole pieces a Duotone with conventional hums, and a Studio with hums.  They all sound great centered over the poles or not.

So like my Dad (RIP) said " Son, if it ain't broke don't fix it."

Thanks Dad for pulling me back from the cliff.  "Here's a nice frosty Hamm's. Dad  Cubs still losing?  From the land of sky blue waters Hamm's the beer refreshing.  Haaaamms!  Cheers Dad.

caddie

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On 3/1/2018 at 12:26 PM, cmatthes said:

Switch to OBLs, SuperTrons or some 7-string blade pickup - problem SOLVED!!

                                                                  ^^^^^^^^ Fixed it 

 

 

 

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The pole piece spacing on "neck" and Bridge" pickups is the same, so yes, they won't line up the same on both.

I know more than a few people who use "f-spaced" or "trembucker" pickups even on Gibson-style guitars because they get better pole piece alignment.

This really is one of those problems that's not really a problem.  If it sounds good, it's fine.

Don't even go near the "adjust the pole piece height" can of worms..

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On 2018-03-06 at 12:09 AM, tbonesullivan said:

The pole piece spacing on "neck" and Bridge" pickups is the same, so yes, they won't line up the same on both.

I know more than a few people who use "f-spaced" or "trembucker" pickups even on Gibson-style guitars because they get better pole piece alignment.

This really is one of those problems that's not really a problem.  If it sounds good, it's fine.

Don't even go near the "adjust the pole piece height" can of worms..

This is what I usually do to compensate the high E string, if it's far from the pole piece on the bridge pup. On most guitars it does not matter. But I have guitars where it's lower in output, because it's slightly off. Just adjust the hight to compensate for the signal loss. Takes 5 minutes of tweaking. Easy peacy.

Trembuckers are for Gearpagers. 

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Trembuckers are actually great. It's also why bridge humbuckers tend to be 2mm wider than neck pick-ups on many guitars nowadays...

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On 3/27/2018 at 8:24 AM, Disturber said:

This is what I usually do to compensate the high E string, if it's far from the pole piece on the bridge pup. On most guitars it does not matter. But I have guitars where it's lower in output, because it's slightly off. Just adjust the hight to compensate for the signal loss. Takes 5 minutes of tweaking. Easy peacy.

Trembuckers are for Gearpagers. 

Yeah, or with "old style" strat pickups made for the Wound G, they have that REALLY HIGH pole piece. Of course some people decided to use a grinder to get the output down, and ended up heating the pole piece enough to remove the magnetic properties.

I usually just set the D and E strings a bit higher, and the Low E and G strings a bit lower, and call it a day.

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I have an explorer that was so far off that I physically relocated the mounting rings.  The old holes are hidden by the rings so the evidence is covered.  Doesn't sound any different.

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