pickup foam / rubber question

Comments

• NicoAdie Frets: 37

  October 2023

  I used a bit of sponge from a scourer pad beneath the neck pickup on my Tele and 3 years on it’s still doing the job.

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• Dave_Mc Frets: 2462

  October 2023

  NicoAdie said:

  I used a bit of sponge from a scourer pad beneath the neck pickup on my Tele and 3 years on it’s still doing the job.

  Did it improve the clean tones?
  
  (Sorry  )

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• BillDL Frets: 9018

  October 2023

  NicoAdie said:

  I used a bit of sponge from a scourer pad beneath the neck pickup on my Tele and 3 years on it’s still doing the job.

  I found the sound to be a bit rough, as though it was soaking up the tones.

  
  

  @UnclePsychosis ; The "proper" way would be to:

  Slacken the strings off, slide something thin down between the edge of the pickups and the body, and mark then measure the existing pickup heights.  Also as a double-check, measure their heights from the body surface.

  Unscrew the pickup screws and lift the pickups out.  Work out from the pickup thickness and the other measurements how thick you need the foam to be under the pickups to raise them to a bit higher than you will want them to be set.

  Cut some pieces of foam to the needed thickness and the right shape with a sharp knife or scissors and place them in the cavities.  If there's already foam in there (should be) you could just add thin pieces of foam on top.

  Rub a candle or smear something waxy on the threads of the screws before replacing the pickups.

  
  

  The black foam that comes in effects boxes and other musical equipment usually has the right amount of bounce vs firmness to push the pickups upwards without making the screws too hard to tighten.  You can usually get a good idea by just squeezing it with your fingers.  Try to use the foam that's softer and denser and with smaller bubbles than the "drier" and "scratchier" foam with larger bubbles, because that doesn't perish into powder as fast.
  

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• SteveRobinson Frets: 7343

  October 2023 edited October 2023 tFB Trader

  It doesn't have to be all foam, just enough to allow adjustment. You can always use something hard such as a piece of thin wood to give a bit more height.
  

  Lacquer demos here: https://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/category/finish/

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• UnclePsychosis Frets: 13371

  October 2023

  Thanks folks.
  
  I had to order something else from axesrus anyway so for the sake of a few quid I've just thrown in some thicker pickup foam to the order. Much easier than faffing about. 

  My trading feedback

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• Dave_Mc Frets: 2462

  October 2023 edited October 2023

  BillDL said:

  NicoAdie said:

  I used a bit of sponge from a scourer pad beneath the neck pickup on my Tele and 3 years on it’s still doing the job.

  I found the sound to be a bit rough, as though it was soaking up the tones.

  
  

  That's much better than mine, but I got the LOLs! Maybe it's because it was hidden in a bigger post- I've noticed that before, someone posts the same joke a few posts up alongside a longer post and gets no LOLs, while someone posts near enough the same thing- by itself- a few posts later and cleans up on LOLs...
  
  Life's not fair... I've given you an LOL anyway.
  

  UnclePsychosis said:

  Thanks folks.
  
  I had to order something else from axesrus anyway so for the sake of a few quid I've just thrown in some thicker pickup foam to the order. Much easier than faffing about. 

  Yep that sounds like the most sensible plan
  
  As an added bonus it might stop me making low quality jokes.
  
  
  
  It probably won't, to be honest.

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