Angling Pick Up Cavity to Match Neck Angle

will20fitz

Hi there,

Random question of the day! LOL!

My guitar has a 2 degree neck angle (the angle of the neck as it leaves the body). So the strings will leave the bridge at a 2 degree angle. 

I've made my pick up routing jig, but wondering about how the top of the pick up will present to the strings. I.e. if the pick up cavity is flat, the top of the pickup face will not be parallel with the strings. 

i.e. would you make a 2 degree angle in the top of the pickup routing jig so that when the pick up sits into it, it is effectively parallel with the strings? Does that make sense?

The routing jig is super tight with the pickup size, so there is no room to wiggle an angle if i routed it square with the body. 

Anybody any thoughts or experiences to share?

steamabacus

If the routing is 'super tight' with no wiggle room, then just angling the base won't be enough - you would have to angle the entire rout by 2 degrees. In other words the walls of the rout would have to be two degrees from vertical. From what you've written, it sounds like you've already routed the cavities?

Great idea, though, that I've not seen before.

will20fitz

Ah thanks, i've yet to route the pickup cavity (just one P90!).

So, yes, was wondering about making a 2 degree angle into the top of the jig prior to routing so, as you say, the angle of the pickup cavity walls (and base) would be profiled with the 2 degree string angle.

steamabacus

I'm no woodworker but that sounds a neat solution if you can manage it. I assume you're screwing the pickups direct to the body?

will20fitz

Cheers, this is my first guitar, so i have lots of questions which i'm not sure are daft or not!

Yep, the P90 will be secured with 2 screws that run from the face of the pickup into the base of the routed cavity. 

mart

2 degrees? That's pretty small! I'd be surprised if you'd notice if that the strings and pickup faces weren't parallel, if there were just 2 degrees between them.

ICBM

It's a bigger angle than you think, and yes it is definitely worth routing the cavities on the same plane as the fingerboard. It's not hard really - if you're doing it with a proper jig anyway, you just raise the jig at the bridge end.

will20fitz

Thanks ICBM, i'm my youthful folly, i thought about sanding a 2 degree angle into the top of the jig! Much better as you suggest to raise the bridge side of the jig up by 2 degrees.

And yes, it is quite a significant angle!

One reason is aesthetic, the other is sound (just wondering if the pickup will perform better with a more even relationship with the strings?)

ICBM

will20fitz said:

One reason is aesthetic, the other is sound (just wondering if the pickup will perform better with a more even relationship with the strings?)

No - even a humbucker isn't affected that much (you can try tipping it while you're playing to see!), and a single coil won't be at all really since it only senses in a line across.

But aesthetics matter .

mart

ICBM said:

It's a bigger angle than you think, ....

It may be a bigger angle than you think, but trust me, it's exactly the angle I think it is. (I was actually picturing a protractor as I wrote my comment.)

It's shallower than 1 in 28, so if your humbucker is one inch wide, the strings are less than 1mm further away on one side than the other. I still think that is too small to notice, but obviously YMMV.

OilCityPickups

OilCityPickups

OilCityPickups

OilCityPickups

Bollocks can't post properly!
The angle the pickup sits is determined by the angle the spring and adjustment screw hold the pickup face at ... not by angle of the rout! That is in it's turn determined by the 'slope' of the face of the pickup mounting rings.
The angle would be determined by the bottom of the cavity only if the pickup was body mounted ... and then you change the pickup angle with a 'wedge cut' foam pickup cushion.

Personally I would never rout a pickup cavity as tight as you have indicated. Pickup bobbin sizes, cover tolerances vary ... and if you ever want to change pickups you may be stymied.

The angle of the pickup face will make bugger all difference to the pickup sound anyway … unless you are a member of the My Paul Forum and can hear the tin content of solder!