Loose waggly pickup screws?

[alanfc]

hi,
so when I lower the pickups on my strat, like really low (trying all ways), the heights screws rise up above the pickguard. And they are a bit wiggly. But the pickup itself isn't.
For those of you who are bringing your pickups down 1/8" or almost flush with pickguard, is this the same way with you too?
Thanks

[Tele-Bob]

It almost sounds like the p'up is bottoming out in the cavity. Depending on the type of p'ups you have in there, and the type of wiring, you might be hitting the bottom of the p'up cavity.

OR, your adjuster screws threads are biting the pickguard and just coming up out of the holes because the p'ups are as low as they will go.

Try pulling on the screw. If the p'up pulls out of the hole, you have unscrewed it too far and it has lost contact with the p'up. Time to take the pickguard off and put it back together.

If you're using some form of noiseless p'up or stacked humbucker, the p'ups may be bottoming out in the cavity because they're taller than stock.

There are a number of possibilities here.

[alanfc]

OK thanks-
this is the bridge Texas Special on my new Strat-
I've been playing around with it and have been reading about people's experiences/likes/dislikes about them. Alot of people I read have brought them =way= down from the strings.
I got this guitar:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/alanfc/strat.jpg

for its neck and its feel- it is the best I've ever had. Honestly, not really for its single coil Strat character.
I've always been a humbucker & Marshall (now Rivera) type guy and really want to try something new, to get the Single coil sound to work !
There's something missing , the grind, something... I can't put my finger on it. Mids maybe? I cranked the mids on the Rivera and have gotten closer. Then I read that Texas Specials too high can be messy. I have indeed noticed that there's a little of a smeared/splattery sort of tone with moderately overdriven tones. Less string definition on the G-High E. Can my string buzz contribute to this too ?
thanks

[Tele-Bob]

I am a big Rivera fan as well. I have a Chubster 40 that I like a lot.

I have discovered that, for me it sounds best with the master volume up around 8 and then I use the pre-amp volume to set the overall level. The single coils really come to life then.

The EQ section of the amp is active and saturates very easily. Not good for single coils. If you feel that you're missing midrange, try NOT cranking up the midrange, and instead lowering the bass and treble. I seldom if ever set any of the tone controls above 6 because of the way the amp saturates so easily. It just gets dirty and flabby sounding.

Texas Specials are pretty raspy in a Strat and have lots of midrange so I don't think the p'ups are too much to blame. Perhaps they just don't get along with the body/neck combination of that particular guitar. Try a couple other Strats and see if they get you closer to what you're looking for.

[alanfc]

OK thanks
Yes , all my amp adjustments are done in 1/2 increments ! I have a
Rivera R55-112 which I add a 2x12 cab to.
I will try the subtractive EQ, I know thats a better method in mixing, why not on my amp !
With any guitar I've used with this amp, the highest the Mids have gone is 6, Bass4.5, trebl 4.5, presence 3,4,5 or so. Thats at full band volume.

[Tele-Bob]

The 55 is a nice amp, but as you found, works best with an extension cabinet. They sound a little thin as just a 1 x 12 combo.