Members soundgardener75 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I adjust the height accordingly, tweaking it between my clean and distorted tone, and my pole pieces to look like / / / . That, to me, makes a considerable difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 i've got all mine like this - - - - - - just because i figured the magnets would cover the strings better. what will turning them left or right do exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 i've got all mine like this - - - - - - just because i figured the magnets would cover the strings better. what will turning them left or right do exactly? I didn't pay attention to the angle I set mine, I was just going by ear. But regardless of the angle, moving the polepieces closer to the string will make that coil a bit louder than the other and tighten the tone. Moving the polepieces away from the string softens the attacks and gives a smoother tone. You have to take small steps and listen as you go, it does make a good difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 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. I really doubt the tiny little bit of wax that comes out when you adjust makes any difference. Wax potting is for everything, polepieces, plate coils, windings etc... just removing a little bit of wax around the polepieces won't change things much, your pickup still has 99.9% of the wax it had before, even around the polepieces, and the potting around the coils, plate and winding remain unchanged. I actually noticed that once I adjusted it, I could reduce the gain and treble on my amp a little bit, making my whole rig LESS likely to squeal. I understand if you don't want to do it out of superstition, but you simply do not invalidate or damage the wax potting in any significant by adjusting the polepieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 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. I really doubt the tiny little bit of wax that comes out when you adjust makes any difference. Wax potting is for everything, polepieces, plate coils, windings etc... just removing a little bit of wax around the polepieces won't change things much, your pickup still has 99.9% of the wax it had before, even around the polepieces, and the potting around the coils, plate and winding remain unchanged. I actually noticed that once I adjusted it, I could reduce the gain and treble on my amp a little bit, making my whole rig LESS likely to squeal. I understand if you don't want to do it out of superstition, but you simply do not invalidate or damage the wax potting in any significant way by adjusting the polepieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chrispsullivan Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I've never felt the need to. Adjusting the height has always been good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jenksdrummer Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 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. FWIW, it doesn't take much heat to remelt the wax on the polepiece. Take a soldering iron, clean the tip to spotless, and stick it on there for 5 seconds, if that. Heats up the polepiece, melts the wax, done. That or just stick it in the oven for a minute or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rampage Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Occasionally I will. My Charvel's Tone Zone really responds to adjustments to both the overall pickup height and pole piece height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr.Picklebottom Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 i always told myself i didnt need to either until one day i was bored and started messing around with a pickup and it ended up sounding a lot closer to what i was wanting. still wasnt able to make the POS seymour duncan jazz pup sound good, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 yeah- i never noticed any more or less microphonics from adjusting polepieces. if you're really SUPER worried about it-- take a hairdryer to the face of the pickup and remelt it. I think this is one of the major major keys to a good setup job. and certainly just as important as intonation and action! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike LX-R Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'll be delving into pole-piece adjustment soon. I'm still just a tad bit noobish on setting up a floating trem guitar right, but I'm really committing to taking my time and adjusting everything little by little. Nut height, saddle height, truss rod, bridge height, and pickup height. Making a couple adjustments here and there, playing for a week or so, and thinking and tweaking some more. It's particularly tricky on this JS-1000. Most Ibanez floating trem guitars don't have the kind of neck radius that this thing has and it's been a bit of a bitch to really dial it in. I could take it to a tech, but i'm denoobing myself. Pole piece adjustments to come.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sgt mukuzi Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 i used the magnets from an old broken fender jazz bass pick up, they slotted right in to a ceramic mag single coil, now i have alnico with really long magnets, it works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rydock Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I've been fairly happy with my Duncan pickups with factory polepiece heights. Usually I'll adjust the overall height of the pickup to get the sound I want. Never felt the need -- not yet anyway -- to adjust the individual poles, but this thread has really opened my eyes about considering this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sahlomonic Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 I never did until I read the owners booklet that came with my PRS SE, and there was a section on polepiece adjustment. I used that as a guide, then just tweaked a little bit from there. Did I notice a difference? I was expecting a night/day difference, so not really. Perhaps that's the point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DEADBYDAWN Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 I have but it didn't do much. I stick with adjusting the pu height and that's fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members maggotspawn Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 It's like the final tweak after you get the height sorted out. I wouldn't worry about the wax too much, most of the noise comes from loose coil windings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 yes, of course. I just do it by ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mamberg Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 You must have really odd-shaped ears to be able to adjust polepieces with them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 You must have really odd-shaped ears to be able to adjust polepieces with them!you shouldn't make phun of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ENdtime Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 It's like the final tweak after you get the height sorted out. I wouldn't worry about the wax too much, most of the noise comes from loose coil windings. Exactly.. There is no way a few turns of the pole piece will cause noise or loosen the a wax and that pole piece will vibrate. in fact most pickup manufacturers will recommend adjusting the polepieces to tweak the tone.. Even before billy posted this thread, I was tweaking away on one of my guitars yesterday. It's obviously not a monster change in tone, but I think it's very audible the difference.. And generally I do it for the slight extra attack on the low strings.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kardula Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 hell yes I adjust them.....the trick is to get all but the g string in line with the radius of the neck/bridge. The g string needs to be lower that the adjacent ones because for some reason it ruins the sound when that one too follows the radius of the neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 hell yes I adjust them.....the trick is to get all but the g string in line with the radius of the neck/bridge. The g string needs to be lower that the adjacent ones because for some reason it ruins the sound when that one too follows the radius of the neckI don't totally follow that idea. I just go by balancing each string's output to match the way I want it to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike LX-R Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 hell yes I adjust them.....the trick is to get all but the g string in line with the radius of the neck/bridge. The g string needs to be lower that the adjacent ones because for some reason it ruins the sound when that one too follows the radius of the neck I haven't done the pole piece adjustment yet, but each string oscillates differently and I imagine the pole heights might look nothing like the radius of the neck/bridge, especially considering the variable responses each pickup gives to different frequencies. It's all about what's heard and perceived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr.Picklebottom Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 quick question- how do you adjust the height of a polepiece of a single coil w/o a screwdriver groove? my first instinct is beat on it with a hammer but thats my reaction to everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rampage Posted June 26, 2012 Members Share Posted June 26, 2012 quick question- how do you adjust the height of a polepiece of a single coil w/o a screwdriver groove? my first instinct is beat on it with a hammer but thats my reaction to everything. Ask it nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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