Tapping down staggered pole pieces

[Matt_Public]

Someone told me about improving the sound of Texas Specials by simply using a small hammer and a wooden dowel rod to tap down the staggered poles. Has anyone done this or heard anything about this procedure? What effect would it have?

[Dr Wanker]

bump

[guitarman_nebr]

i have never heard of it to improve those pickups specifically, but the procedure is feasible.

 

it is the same as adjusting the screws on a Seymour Duncan JB for example. the lower the pin, the less the output of the string above it.

 

it is mostly used to even out the output of the strings. i don't see where it is going to improve the sound of the pickups. try lowering the whole pickup to get a little darker sound with less output.

[Ancient Mariner]

It's certainly a procedure I've heard of, but it's risky.

 

I've been thinking about replacing some strat PUs, but didn't want staggered (why would you want unbalanced tones - stuff vintage authenticity!).

 

 

So I emailed Jay at GFS.

 

His reply was that it's not a good idea, as you can break the windings while pushing the pole through. Try it at your own risk if the PU isn't super-expensive.

[LaXu]

I've never understood the thing with staggered pole pieces, they just seem to make adjusting pickups more difficult.

[Professor Tom]

You can do this to reduce the volume of one string, usually a G but I wouldn't tackle it at home.

 

Leave it to a repair man.

 

Please !

[walfordr]

On many staggered pickups (but I am not 100% sure about the Texas specials) the polepieces are actually different lengths. The only way you'll get them level is to punch them through the bottom of the pickup. I don't think you want to do that.

[Ancient Mariner]

 

Originally posted by Professor Tom You can do this to reduce the volume of one string, usually a G but I wouldn't tackle it at home. Leave it to a repair man. Please !

 

 

What do you think a repair man will do differently - apart from replacing your PU on his insurance?

[T3]

you could remove the pole piece and shorten it.

[Wyatt]

The forumites here are right, it won't change the sound or tone of the Texas Special. What did you expect it would do? Were you thinking of doing it just because someone said they sound better?

 

The reason people adjust pole-piece height is because the old stagger was designed around string sets with a wound G string. Since the core on the wound G string was the thinnest of the set, the magenet was staggered higher to compensate. Unwound G-strings have huge cores, relatively speaking, and the vintage stagger makes them too loud in comparison to other strings.

 

So, some manufacturers (Fralin, some modern Fender PU's)) now use a hybrid stagger which corrects for this.

 

You can tap down the pole pieces in many single coils with *plastic* bobbins and alnico pole-pieces, but you should never try it in vintage-style fiber bobbins. You also can't adjust the pole pieces on many ceramic pickups because they usually use a bar magnet underneath.

 

But, you really have to decide what it is you want to improve and go from there. String balance? Tone? Etc.

 

 

 

-Y.

[silverkw]

i heard that if it was seperate from the winding you could push it down.

 

if it's wax potted, then it might stuck, use a hot solder gun to warm up the pole piece a little then you should be able to push it.

 

at your own risk though.

[Ancient Mariner]

 

Originally posted by Wyatt You can tap down the pole pieces in many single coils with *plastic* bobbins and alnico pole-pieces, but you should never try it in vintage-style fiber bobbins.

 

 

This is a good point.

 

+1 to the rest too. Changing height won't affect tone much but it will affect balance.

[angus_old]

aren't they screws?

[Wyatt]

Originally posted by onbongos aren't they screws?

 

Not on most traditional Fedner-style single coils. They are just slugs.

 

 

-Y.

[Auggie Doggie]

Originally posted by Matt_Public Someone told me about improving the sound of Texas Specials by simply using a small hammer and a wooden dowel rod to tap down the staggered poles. Has anyone done this or heard anything about this procedure? What effect would it have?

 

I've done it twice. The stagger on those pickups was not conducive to a reasonable string balance, so I decided to try evening them out before simply replacing them.

 

I didn't have any trouble (ie I didn't break anything), and it worked decently. Of course, since I no longer like the Texas Specials, I'm going to replace them anyway.

[angus_old]

Originally posted by Wyatt Not on most traditional Fedner-style single coils. They are just slugs. -Y.

 

got to grab them with a pliers then

[Keystring]

Originally posted by T3 you could remove the pole piece and shorten it.

 

By 'shortening' you mean cutting, then it's not a good idea if the poles are actually magnets.

 

Cutting a magnet will shorten it's life span and you may find yourself with a 'dead' string that's over the pole you shortened.

 

Read Bill Lawrence's 'Pickupology' for the explanation why you shouldn't cut pickup poles.

 

http:\www.billlawrence.com

[tremblox]

I've done this maybe 5 or 6 times and with fibre bobins too. I caused a wire break on one occasion and had to have the pickup rewound - (scatterwound by Bareknuckle which is a *good* thing!).

 

Here are my tips:

1/ don't start the job unless you have the money available to either have the pickup rewound or replaced!

 

2/ Do NOT use a dowel and hammer to tap the magnets as vibrational shocks can cause permannet magnet to loose their magnetism ( not so permanent I guess )

 

3/ Do use a soldering iron on the pole you want to move but apply it to the underneath of the slug , i.e. on the bottom of the pickup. Use a finger on the top of the slug to feel when it's nice and warm - i.e. hot enough to melt wax in contact with it but not super hot which may again affect the magnetism.

 

4/ Support the pickup from the back with two hands and fingers placed firmly either side of the hot pole to be shifted. This is to ensure that the whole coil formers and windings do not shift - just the pole you want relative to them.

 

5/ Now press the pole in question firmly against a solid surface. Something like a table or a door jamb. Do NOT addly shock, just add more force gently until the pole starts to move. It may move suddenly overcoming a "stickiness". Once it's moved initially tho moving it again back or forth is much easier and less force is required. If it sticks the wax has re-stuck to the pole. Warm again.

 

6/ Use a meter to determine if you screwed up! Take it gently. If you feel you are applying too much force, warm the pole and try again. The pole will eventually move and if you have done it right, without the windings. In my experience at least.

 

hope this helps and good luck

tremblox

[walt0915]

I can't think of a good reason to do that. First, the difference in string volume is small compared to the effect your picking style has. Second, the idea is to produce a particular mix of the different strings based on the fact that some are wound and some are plain. Its part of the vintage sound. If you don't LIKE the vintage sound, buy another set of pickups. You can sell the TS's for enough to pay for most of a set of GFSs.

 

I mean, if you have pickups just lying around and you want to screw with something to see what it doesn, have fun. Otherwise I think its kind of silly.