Pickup string spacing/pole piece height

rico

Something is really niggling me about the spacing of strings relative to the bridge pickup on my LP. The string spacing relative to the fretboard is offset but align over the neck pickup pole pieces however they do not align over the bridge pup pole pieces, see below:





As a result the high strings (particularly B & E) don't sound as loud as the others - this may well be my imagination.

Is this the result of an incorrectly spaced nut?

As an aside, is there a particular way to set the pole piece heights? I was thinking of using a decibel meter app on my phone and setting them so that they all have the same 'output' - or is there a better way?

WezV

You won't hear the difference on a humbucker, the drop off between poles is hardly there at all.

but I wouldn't be happy with that alignment on the fretboard.  I would be re-notching the bridge so they are centred on the board better.  Wouldn't help the pickup alignment at all though

richardhomer

Simply the string spacing at the nut is narrower than at the bridge - so the nearer you get to the bridge, the further the strings are apart.

Gibson (and to the best of my knowledge no other maker) has specifically sized their pick-ups to fit either the neck or bridge positions. I genuinely doubt you'd hear any difference, even if they did.

A decibel meter is not the way to set height. Fretting at the last fret, adjust both pick-ups until they are 3 - 4mm away from the low E and slightly closer of the treble side. Using a clean amp tone tweak the heights until each pick-up sounds balanced - and with each other.

If it doesn't please your ear, it doesn't matter how it reads against a decibel meter....

steamabacus

A friend has an old 70s Gibson L6S that has the bridge fitted squiffy leading to a similar problem - you'd have thought Gibson would have improved by now.

That guitar was sorted by re-notching the bridge saddles as Wez suggests - it really improved the intonation too!

WezV

richardhomer said:

Gibson (and to the best of my knowledge no other maker) has specifically sized their pick-ups to fit either the neck or bridge positions. I genuinely doubt you'd hear any difference, even if they did.

not traditionally, but many do now produce wide spaced at 53mm rather than the more usual 50mm (49.4mm if you want "authentic PAF tone", but 50mm is commonly used instead these days).  and you get some at 52mm i think

You do sometimes find wider spaced pickups in the bridge on guitars you wouldn't expect.  Don't think Gibson have used them on Les Paul's, but they have on other models like SG's and V's - never understood why.

Anyway, 3 different spacing are available, its mostly an aesthetic choice.   wide spaced in the neck  or normal spaced in the bridge of a floyd equipped guitar can look really bad

WezV

i forgot the early PAF's used in the neck on Jazz models which are closer to 46mm.   funny that gibson was doing two different sizes in 1959 for those models, but never bothered for the les paul

Voxman

Surely that very slight spacing difference isn't going to make any perceptible difference to tone or volume? 

rico

Is there a simple way to re-notch the saddles?

guitars4you

Similar comments to above - Original humbuckers are designed to fit neck and bridge - at the time they were not voiced, wound or designed for just neck or bridge - the same pick up went in either position - As such this has been the bench mark for years - Generaly for Trem/Floyd Rose based guitars you can buy humbuckers with different width on pole pieces - The strings over the bridge pole pieces looks worse than it actually is - If it was an issue with alignment, then it would be worse when you bend strings, as they are now further away from the original alignment - And as we now it makes little/no difference

rico

Thanks all - I am less concerned about the pup/string spacing now.

One thing I would like to sort out though is the string/neck spacing. How can I go about correcting this in the simplest way possible?

Do I get some new saddles, mark and file new grooves? What sort of files do I need? 

WezV

There was a good tutorial on Stew-mac, but I can't find it right now.  Basically you align the strings where you want them, then tap with a soft mallet.   This gives you a mark you can use to slot properly.  Nut files are best for this

rico

WezV said:

There was a good tutorial on Stew-mac, but I can't find it right now.  Basically you align the strings where you want them, then tap with a soft mallet.   This gives you a mark you can use to slot properly.  Nut files are best for this

Yeah, I just found it through some googling.

Do I need particular sized nut files? If I measure the offset can I pay someone to slot some saddles for me? Paging @ICBM ;

steamabacus

rico said:

WezV said:

There was a good tutorial on Stew-mac, but I can't find it right now.  Basically you align the strings where you want them, then tap with a soft mallet.   This gives you a mark you can use to slot properly.  Nut files are best for this

Yeah, I just found it through some googling.

Do I need particular sized nut files? If I measure the offset can I pay someone to slot some saddles for me? Paging @ICBM ;;

Where in London are you? Jon Dickinson at Antenna Studios down in Crystal Palace did a very good job with my mate's L6S.