First Pickup; question

[David Schwab]

I'd put over wound pickups in it, preferably A5. I could be wrong here but the two and three piece bodies (glue) and the poly finishes (plastic) tend to create that magical plywood tone found also in many harmony and hondo guitars. I actually one owned a les paul copy that was made out of some unreal layering of plywood. Hotter A5 can overcome dead tone. Also, what's your amp?

Peace

Glue and finish doesn't effect the tone. That's a myth. Both glue and finish have very little mass compared to the body. And a three piece body sounds just like a one piece body, assuming they are the same weight and density.

Plywood bodies are stiffer and heavier, so that's why they sound that way.

I had a Hondo II P bass once that was actually a nice sounding bass, once I changed the hardware.

But I agree that different pickups are in order. I have a customer that had a new Jackson, and he didn't like the Duncan Jazz at the neck. On that guitar it sounded bland. So we replaced it with a hotter Evo neck, and that brought the tone out of the guitar.

Then the guitar that had the Evo neck, which was more of a vintage style Srat, sounded way beter with the Jazz at the neck.

So the Jackson, which was heavier, and had a Floyd, needed hotter pickups to sound good. Meanwhile the lighter vintage style guitar sounded better with cleaner pickups. The Jackson also didn't sound very good acoustically.

So over wound pickups may be in order here.

[ShannonH]

uhhh, what he said!

Glue and finish doesn't effect the tone. That's a myth. Both glue and finish have very little mass compared to the body. And a three piece body sounds just like a one piece body, assuming they are the same weight and density.

I was basically quoting everything I have heard before, with little first hand experience. Maybe it is that heavy bodies tend to get sent to the Squier factory, where they'll get the poly paint. I like the fact that the poly doesn't chip, flake or crack. My squier is actually decent acoustically, even with poly finish. It does have a biggish neck.

Fralin seem to think that the neck is the main factor in improving tone.

Welcome to Lindy Fralin Pickups: Fralin Replacement Guitar Necks - The Finest Guitar Pickups Available Today!

I can't say. Not enough experience. The Ibanez prestige necks are tiny, and some people love them. They also tend to be on guitars with good hardware and light high quality wood. Too many variables .

Peace

[David Schwab]

I was basically quoting everything I have heard before, with little first hand experience.

I've gone back and forth with people on this. I've based this on taking the very same guitar, and listening to it with and without finish. Now some people clam they have removed poly finish only to have the guitar sound better, but I think what's going on it, they had to sand the finish off, and also sanded off wood, and also the bare wood body then absorbed moisture.

Now a thick finish like that on an acoustic guitar wouldn't be a good idea, but on a solid body? I don't see it being a problem, but it's butt ugly! There are some very nice and expensive instruments finished in polyester.

Also, cheap guitars are still cheap guitars.

My squier is actually decent acoustically, even with poly finish. It does have a biggish neck.

Fralin seem to think that the neck is the main factor in improving tone.

Welcome to Lindy Fralin Pickups: Fralin Replacement Guitar Necks - The Finest Guitar Pickups Available Today!

I agree, and I said that back a couple of posts ago. The neck is the most prone to flexing, since it's thin and long and supporting the strings. If it flexes or resonates, it's absorbing energy from the strings.

Take as an example a banjo. It's loud and has little sustain, due to the energy from the strings going into driving the drum head. Now take the head and spray it with some poly, and it will probably sound the same... more or less.

The Ibanez prestige necks are tiny, and some people love them. They also tend to be on guitars with good hardware and light high quality wood. Too many variables .

A lot of variables. My Ibanez 5 string bass has a very thin neck, and it's also fairly flexible. But it's a nice sounding bass. I think some graphite would do it wonders however. You can hear the difference in the basses I built with two truss rods and graphite... they have a lot more presence.

[jwendt2003]

I have another dumb question: I just picked up an old strat bobbin out of my tool box, and the magnets in it are much stronger than my A5s. Do they make ceramic pole pieces for strat pickups, or am I not getting my new A5s magnetized good enough? I'm using a couple of the 'Neo' magnets from Stew Mac to do the magnetizing. (I don't have a gauss meter yet.)

[jwendt2003]

I just searched a lot of old threads; it looks like the 1" Stew Mac magnets aren't big enough to fully charge the pickup magnets, although I'm probably not missing out on much, just some volume. I'd like to try A3 next since it has more Fe than A5 and A2. A4 has more than A3, but I can't find any A4 rods for strat pickups from guitar part vendors...

[David Schwab]

Fully charged magnets sound brighter, not just louder.

How did you use the Stew-Mac magnets? Did you have them mounted on something? A small drill press vice works well.

You can also try sticking a steel bar on the bottom connecting all the magnets. That will increase the induction, and you should get a fuller tone.

[jwendt2003]

Thanks, I'll try the bar thing. I don't have a vise. I just left the magnets in their plastic holder, and stuck them to both sides of the pickup. I just let them sit for a while and then moved them a little at a time past all the poles. I assume you're not supposed to let them touch directly because most people use the vise which leaves them separated without touching. My pickups are not near as strong as the old one I found in my tool box, but maybe that's not that big of a deal as far as the tone goes.

[David Schwab]

Thanks, I'll try the bar thing. I don't have a vise. I just left the magnets in their plastic holder, and stuck them to both sides of the pickup. I just let them sit for a while and then moved them a little at a time past all the poles. I assume you're not supposed to let them touch directly because most people use the vise which leaves them separated without touching. My pickups are not near as strong as the old one I found in my tool box, but maybe that's not that big of a deal as far as the tone goes.

The way you need to use the magnets is have one on each side of the pickup, and the poles have to be the right way of course. You want to slip the pickup in and slide it past them and out the other side. Just sitting it there doesn't work well. You may need to do it a few times.

You should also pick up a cheap drill press vice. Having the magnets stuck on a steel vice increases their effectiveness because it's creating a magnetic circuit.

[Crate_GX-1200H_Owner_Newbie]

Do move the pickups as close to the string as you can without getting negative magnetic effects. Some luthiers recommend a nickel's thickness on the treble and two nickels on the bass side. I kinda start there at the bridge and then diddle with it until the volumes are even.

Hope that helps some.
Peace

That just helped a lot with this 80's Hondo guitar I have. I don't even know what it is a copy of, but once I got the volumes even this morning I wanted to thank you. It had been bothering me. The Hondo is a copy, I think, of an Ibanez, actually. Anyway, it is a workhorse guitar so I have kept it around long past my youth. I had the intonation set recently, but the uneven sound was a puzzle to me. Cheers!

[David Schwab]

That just helped a lot with this 80's Hondo guitar I have. I don't even know what it is a copy of, but once I got the volumes even this morning I wanted to thank you. It had been bothering me. The Hondo is a copy, I think, of an Ibanez, actually. Anyway, it is a workhorse guitar so I have kept it around long past my youth. I had the intonation set recently, but the uneven sound was a puzzle to me. Cheers!

Hondo's were actually pretty nice guitars. I had a Hondo II P bass copy. Later they changed their name to J.B. Player.