Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I've been playing actives for so long I forgot you could do that. I adjusted the polepieces on my SG and my HSS strat last night and wow major difference, specially on the strat, I was about to get a new HB for the bridge for that guitar and now I don't need to, tweaking the polepieces made the pickup sound much better CSB, I know. It's Monday morning so work with me guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr.Picklebottom Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 oh yeah, you can really fine tune how much bass/ treble you get to match the specific guitar. you laugh but i bet most people dont do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NinjaRaf Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I didnt even realize this was possible...mighta been useful when I had painkillers. Ive never done it, needless to say, but then again, Ive got 2 guitars setup and sounding EXACTLY the way I want them to, so I dont have much of a reason to do it now either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oblivion DC Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I had picked up a Bare Knuckles Aftermath and found it to be mushy, indestinct, and a little boomy. Come to find out that its almost a "known issue" and the fix is to back out the pole screws (hex bolts) a little less then a quarter turn. I was doubtful but I tried it and it made a world of difference. The Aftermath is now tight, deep sounding and has nice note separation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NinjaRaf Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I had picked up a Bare Knuckles Aftermath and found it to be mushy, indestinct, and a little boomy. Come to find out that its almost a "known issue" and the fix is to back out the pole screws (hex bolts) a little less then a quarter turn. I was doubtful but I tried it and it made a world of difference. The Aftermath is now tight, deep sounding and has nice note separation. That would drive me nuts if its a known issue...thats something that, IMO, should be handled before shipment if its a known issue. I can definitely understand tweaking the heights to better fit a specific guitar and that kinda thing, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ENdtime Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I tweak the polepieces, overall height, magnet strength.. Whatever I can to get the pickup to behave how I want.. Basically if the pickup is close to how I want it from the start, I know I can tweak something to get that little extra needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I tweak the polepieces, overall height, magnet strength.. Whatever I can to get the pickup to behave how I want.. Basically if the pickup is close to how I want it from the start, I know I can tweak something to get that little extra needed. I have never swapped magnets, maybe I should try that too. How hard is it and where can you buy the magnets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ENdtime Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I have never swapped magnets, maybe I should try that too. How hard is it and where can you buy the magnets? A place called addictionfx on Ebay.. I think you said you have a 500t and that uses an oversized magnet, and I haven't found the oversized yet. Also Duncan distortion and A ton of Dimarzio's use oversized magnets.. Stuff like the jb, custom and many other pickups use a "standard size" n guitar magnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dicky sofa Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pepi Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Sure do !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Filter500 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 So how do you guys do it? Do you follow any specific method (like matching it to fretboard radius etc) or just go by ear? I adjusted mine by ear, just trial and error until it sounded the way I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Aibric Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I always adjust, it can make a huge difference. I'm about to order an alnico8 mag for the TB-5 I have in my Peavey Limited, but it will be the first time i've swapped a mag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GibsonVMan Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 The closer you adjust the pickup to the strings, the thicker/ beefier the tone, with the trade off being less sustain. The magnetic pull on the strings reduces vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Filter500 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 A combination of radius and ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I use it to balance volume on all the strings. Raise and lower pickup for overall output. If you don't do this you are a noob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Aibric Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 So how do you guys do it? Do you follow any specific method (like matching it to fretboard radius etc) or just go by ear? I adjusted mine by ear, just trial and error until it sounded the way I wanted. Yeah pretty much that. Depending on what it is you are trying to change, you pretty much should know what to do. Raising the bridge side pole pieces generally gets you more attack and treble, while raising the pickup generally gets you more of everything, output, lows, mids, highs...get too close and things usually get boomy, and the string pull of the magnet can make things sound off. If you have a pickup with adjustable neck side pole pieces, raising those can boost lows and mids while still adding some attack. It just depends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Yeah pretty much that. Depending on what it is you are trying to change, you pretty much should know what to do. Raising the bridge side pole pieces generally gets you more attack and treble, while raising the pickup generally gets you more of everything, output, lows, mids, highs...get too close and things usually get boomy, and the string pull of the magnet can make things sound off. If you have a pickup with adjustable neck side pole pieces, raising those can boost lows and mids while still adding some attack. It just depends... That's absolutely, 100% true. I noticed it instantly how my attack increased when I started to raise the low E polepiece, but yeah.. you need to be careful because after a certain point, it starts to sound thin. I adjusted the low E for the attack I wanted and then adjusted all others to match. It's a HUGE difference, like having new pickups on the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I don't, because, as soon as you move them, you've undone the wax on that polepiece. You've just given the pickup a reason to be noisy. I like to leave the pup as is! I've never had any tonal balance problems that couldn't be solved by raising/lowering one or both sides of the pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NinjaRaf Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I don't, because, as soon as you move them, you've undone the wax on that polepiece.You've just given the pickup a reason to be noisy.I like to leave the pup as is! I've never had any tonal balance problems that couldn't be solved by raising/lowering one or both sides of the pickup. I agree with the last part of your statement. I wouldnt wanna do it because I wouldnt wanna risk making that {censored} noisey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ron Burgandy Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I don't, because, as soon as you move them, you've undone the wax on that polepiece.You've just given the pickup a reason to be noisy.I like to leave the pup as is! I've never had any tonal balance problems that couldn't be solved by raising/lowering one or both sides of the pickup. I didn't know the part about the wax but makes sense. Luckily, like you, I've been able to adjust the overall height to get pickups dialed in just fine. Remaining little issues can be solved with tweaking pedals or the amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 okay, so turning the screw part of the pole piece either direction does what? also, how do you raise and lower the pole pieces themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I don't, because, as soon as you move them, you've undone the wax on that polepiece.You've just given the pickup a reason to be noisy.I like to leave the pup as is! I've never had any tonal balance problems that couldn't be solved by raising/lowering one or both sides of the pickup. I did not notice any increase in noise or feedback at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 okay, so turning the screw part of the pole piece either direction does what? also, how do you raise and lower the pole pieces themselves? The screw IS the pole piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I did not notice any increase in noise or feedback at all. I'm not saying it automatically makes it noisy, but you've moved something that was locked in place by dry wax. It is no longer locked into place. You've broken the seal on that particular pole piece. It's probably fine, but I've found I've never "helped" a pickup by disassembling it or messing with it. I like it to be SOLID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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