In another thread, Dallas mentioned that he had reset pole piece heights on MIM Standard Strat pups. Sounds cool. Anyone else doing this? What's the step-by-step procedure so you don't end up with a ruined pup?
-Mark
In another thread, Dallas mentioned that he had reset pole piece heights on MIM Standard Strat pups. Sounds cool. Anyone else doing this? What's the step-by-step procedure so you don't end up with a ruined pup?
-Mark
I think the key words here are 'MIM', and the implication is that if you screw it up they are cheap to replace. You just put the pups on the bench, and knock the magnets through with a drift, hoping you don't damage the insulation on the wires. Before you start have a plan as to what pattern you want to achieve, and the phone number of a shop to buy some new ones just in case.
Peak District, Derbyshire, England
Here's the thread I was referring to if you're interested:
http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/...ad.php?t=27769
-Mark
Don't know about the MIM pickups, but standard strat pickups have the wire wound directly around the sandcast magnets.
If there are any slight burrs on the magnets, they can snag the wire, ruining the pickup.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
I ruined a TX Special pickup this way but the other 2 came out fine.
The magnets are quite smooth ( they get pushed through the bobbin during assembly) and probably won't snag the wire but...
The magnet and bobbin assembly is coated in lacquer before the pickup is wound.
I think that's what the winding can stick to.
Also, don't use a drift punch or other metalic object to move the magnet. The metal is brittle and easily damaged and magnets can be demagnetized by shock.
I used a vise to apply pressure to move the magnets.
Judging by the odds that I saw, you have a 1 in 3 chance of ruining a pickup.
Make sure you have a line on a replacement before you proceed.
Many players used to a humbucker guitar, with adjustable polepieces, are stymied by single coils because the poles are not easily adjusted (I wouldn't even try it on anything other than a disposable pickup).
You could try out various slant heights for the bass and treble sides of the pickup, but then you are generally stuck with the relative volume of the middle strings being softer sounding relative to the bass and treble strings. I go further. I also like to adjust my individual string heights with an eye toward not only playability issues (buzzing, fretting out, stiffness) but also relative volume of the middle strings.
For example, I found that even a VERY slight adjustment (i.e., barely measureable increments of slightly less than 1/64, which will not be noticed much in the overall feel of the action) to the height of the G and D strings will make a big difference in the overall sound of chords. Give it a try.
My first strat was a MiM standard and I had at least a 30% volume drop on the high E string, no mater what I did. I was loaned a Squier Affinity Strat and it's pickups sounded just fine.
Last edited by photoweborama; 07-29-2006 at 05:24 AM.
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I thought Leo had the polepiece height right the first time. The rest is done by pickup height adjustment. Just my two cents worth.
FWIW, the pups in my relic are quite low, much lower than any of the pups I've seen on the millions of fenders hanging on the GC wall in my town. I haven't messed around with it yet, I'm still in awe of how nice it sounds.
Leo may have been close in the 50s WITH A WOUND "G"!
I happen to like the odd blend but sometimes it bugs me. I've lowered "G" magnets and Raised "B" magnets with great results.
Anything is better than the 70s flat magnet pickups. Those can be easily radiused without worry (I've never tried to mave an "E" magnet--that's where all the pressure is).
I've never seen a dissected single coil. I would have thought the magnets passed though cylinders in the middle of the bobbin without direct contact with the wires.
can anybody post pics of bare single coil bobbins? Now I'm curious.
The plastic bobbins are one piece and the old fiber pickups are two pieces.
Plastic bobbin pickups are wound around plastic and the magnets don't touch the windings.
the plastic was what I pictured. Were the fibre ones just a top and bottom piece with the magnets acting as the uprights?
can anybody point me to a good read on single coil construction/history? I think I want to learn more about this.
Why stop there when you can build your own?
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
er, man, whaddya trying to do? Put ideas in my head?Originally Posted by telecast
I just did it to the front and middle pickups on my '01 MIM fat strat. It made a HUGE difference for the better. All I did was remove the pickups and put them face down on my counter and push on the back of the pickup until all the poles sunk flush with the pickup cover, that broke them lose and now they all move with a decent amount of finger force. There all rather close to flat now with a VERY slight radius, like I'm talking 64th inch increments, and I sunk the G and raised the B a little out of radius. It sounds Fantastic now. It is clear as a bell, piano like when clean and doesn't get mushy and muddy now when driven. I really suggest doing it, if you don't like it you can push them back to the way they were, and like wilko said earlier the bobbins are plastic and it won't hurt anything.
Great info, thanks guys.
As Highway Chile said, I'm having to slant the pups quite a lot to get a reasonable string-to-string balance. I was thinking I'd have a bit more flexibility with respect to the various trade-offs adjusting the pups if I could adjust the pole piece height, particulalrly the high B and E.
I haven't had as much trouble as Phtot obviously has had, but in my limited experience, it is tricky to get the strings balanced on these pups. Actually, Strat pup height adjustment is at least 10x trickier to get right (or even reasonable) than any other guitar I've owned. I was lucky the guitar was actually quite well set-up when I bought it, so at least I've always had a reasonable fall-back reference point to return to after I'd stuff things up...
The one piece plastic bobbin used on the MIM pups explains why you can move them without as much chance of damage as in the "classic" design... which I'd always assumed these pups were, and why it hadn't even occurred to me that these pole pieces could be adjusted without a rewind. So thanks for that vital piece of info, Wilko.
I'll definitely give buellracer's procedure a go. If I stuff up, I can justify an upgrade, I guess!Actually, unlike many people, I quite like the MIM pups sound, and am quite satisfied with them for now, except for the trickiness in getting them properly balanced. From what I've read, I suspect they are trickier than most Strat pups to set-up well.
-Mark
I would not even know where to begin if i wanted to try something like this. I don't even know if I need to balance the output better. I'd be afraid of fixing something that ain't broke, know what I mean?
Yeah, I know what you mean.
In the case of vintage staggered pickups, they were set up for wound "G" string, so lowering the "G" string magnet is a no-brainer for a guy using plain "G" strings. Or even raising the "B" for more jangle or bite on one of the most commonly picked string pair while "soloing". It's a simple mod that adds some serious fattness to one's playing.
I guess the key then is to watch out for the fibre panel pickups. Are any of the current custom shop models of this variety? Would one be safe in assuming their pups have the plastic bobbins?
Do any of the aftermarket people take the non-wound G strings into consideration these days in the staggering of their polepieces?
Almost all are staggered because that's how the old ones are. That odd blend between the g and b is part of a strat's sound and is expected.
On my 1960 I've left the pickups alone, but I have raised "B" string poles on strats to get more "oomph" from that baby. FOr my playing it's very cool as I use lot's of that 3rd fret d note while playing cowboy chords. Even up the neck I use the b string a lot in my fills and I like it to stand out, specially compared to that typical g string bend in the pent box that is so ubiquitous in rock type music.
Virtually all 'vintage style' pickups have fiber bobbins.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
maybe a strange idea....
cut a strong flat magnet in small pieces, (you can get them cheap if you open an old worn out PC Drive)
and clip the pieces to the base of the pole piece/PUP, more magnetic force should give the same effect than a staggered pole piece....
tell me if it works.....just had no time to try it out yet....
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