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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 14:32:35 GMT
Hey HB friends, please have a look at this:
As you can clearly see, a couple of strings totally miss the pickup's polepieces. I have seen this on lots of guitars (but never so dramatically as shown above), even on quite expensive ones.
Would this misalignment have a negative influence on the sound/performance of the instrument? Or do you think the problem is overrated? I'd love to hear your thoughts…?
PS: yes, the instrument above is a Harley Benton guitar. The pic comes from the Thomann website.
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 14:42:20 GMT
What I clearly see is that the picture is taken at an angle, so obviously the strings don't look aligned with the pole pieces.
And yes, such a "problem" is vastly overrated when it does occur. Pick-ups with weak magnets would possibly be at a disadvantage in such a case, not modern ones. All is left in a modern guitar is a visual thing, when it is there at all.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 15:54:09 GMT
I have a squier strat with misaligned pole pieces on the neck especially. The top E is much quieter until it is bent to be over a pole piece.
Exactly what I was thinking. I have a Squier bass with similar tonal behaviour, but I wasn't sure this could be the cause.
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 15:54:50 GMT
I have a squier strat with misaligned pole pieces on the neck especially. The top E is much quieter until it is bent to be over a pole piece. Interesting. I would expect a Squier to have strong ceramic magnets and therefore no issue with the misalignment. You did not upgrade them with AlNiCo II weaklings, did you?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 16:02:10 GMT
In this pic there's not really an angle. The misalignment is still there and clearly visible. To be completely honest, I think I would send the instrument back if I received one like this. It just doesn't look right.
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Post by MartinB on Mar 10, 2020 16:05:13 GMT
I think I noticed this on a few of my guitars but never really noticed any problems with it.
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 16:50:47 GMT
Looking up my ST-62's, the comparison reveals something interesting. The old Wilkinson pick-ups had 50 mm between poles (E to E) while the replacement Roswell have 52 mm. As a consequence, new guitars with Roswell are all offset by 2 mm one way or another:
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Mar 10, 2020 16:54:53 GMT
I have a squier strat with misaligned pole pieces on the neck especially. The top E is much quieter until it is bent to be over a pole piece. Interesting. I would expect a Squier to have strong ceramic magnets and therefore no issue with the misalignment. You did not upgrade them with AlNiCo II weaklings, did you? It did have ceramic ones that sounded very nice. I just upgraded the neck to try to sort it out using an AlNiCo 5 5.9K pickup that was supposed to be for the neck but the poles were still off!
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 17:20:13 GMT
Looks like my Squier Leo. Try bending that top E down or up and hear the volume increase. It doesn't, it chokes abruptly the moment it passes the edge of the fret
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 17:23:01 GMT
I think I noticed this on a few of my guitars but never really noticed any problems with it. I did get annoyed at the discrepancy in level on the high strings on my ST-62 with Roswell, now I see there is another reason for it than staggered pole pieces. Then I have 9s on it, which I ought to change.
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Post by MartinB on Mar 10, 2020 17:26:46 GMT
Being more exact the problems were with Jazzmasters and I never really noticed it, maybe due to the extra wide coils and the fact they were strung with 11s or 12s
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 10, 2020 17:39:34 GMT
Being more exact the problems were with Jazzmasters and I never really noticed it, maybe due to the extra wide coils and the fact they were strung with 11s or 12s The Jazzmaster/Jaguar bridge is made to work with 12's, which was the standard gauge when it was designed. This has nothing to do with pick-ups but several issues people have with these models simply come from lighter strings. The weak break angle, especially, is a source of problems that will come up with 9s or 10s. The "output" of strings is proportional to the square of their diameter, so moving from 9 to 11 makes a real difference in sensitivity on the treble side. I guess I'll put 11s on next. In any case, this ST-62 blunder illustrates the flaw in Harley Benton guitars: they are not designed, or at least there is no one verifying the design when parts change. The ST-62 was made to fit the Wilkinson spacing and no one took note or cared that the Roswell replacement was not identical. This is sloppy and disappointing but also the price of getting a Strat' for 119€.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 18:00:14 GMT
In any case, this ST-62 blunder illustrates the flaw in Harley Benton guitars: they are not designed, or at least there is no one verifying the design when parts change. The ST-62 was made to fit the Wilkinson spacing and no one took note or cared that the Roswell replacement was not identical. This is sloppy and disappointing but also the price of getting a Strat' for 119€. Exactly! I'm slightly bummed out by this.
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