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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
 Posted - 05/06/2009 : 12:59:01
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I have just bought a Les Paul Studio with 490R and 498T humbuckers, normally I like single coils much better. But this is for sure a good sounding guitar anyway.
The �problem� is that the pickups differ a lot in output, and the neck pickup has a quite lower output as well as a rather woolly sound.
And I have tested many ways to get a good middle position sound, but for the most part that sound the same as the neck pickup alone. One solution was to roll the volume of the neck down to about 7, that gave a distinctive middle sound.
I have lowered both pickups much lower than Gibson�s recommendations, and think it sound better that way. I have also raised the pole pieces on the neck pickup about 2 mm above the cover. This give me a little less muddiness.
Well, my question is; how do you adjust your humbuckers????
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 14:26:45
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| I use the measurements in set-up guides as a starting or reference point, then I just use my ears, hands, and a screwdriver from there... |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 15:17:44
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Congratulation Goran...
quote:
I have just bought a Les Paul Studio with 490R and 498T humbuckers
Regards Dr. Bob |
Edited by - Dr. Bob on 05/06/2009 15:32:11 |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 16:56:32
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on les pauls i generally crank the bridge humbucker up pretty far and keep the neck bucker slightly above the pickup ring height with fine tuning for volume matching.
cranking the poles up will definitely yield more bite but you get some odd string behavior then (unnatural decay characteristics caused by magnet pull) and volume spikes on the attack.
i don't like lowering them too much (especially at the neck) as you get some weird pickup tilt as you get too low. |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 17:35:06
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I think the 490 in the neck is inherently wooly..
The way techs I know do it is to get the bridge pickup 1/8-1/16 below the strings (at whatever point you like the tone) and then play with the neck pup until the volumes match. If you can't get a good sound you could have a bad pickup.. I've seen it happen more than once.
WTG on the Les Paul. I need one. Well, I don't, but I want one.  |
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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 19:17:51
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| Congrats Goran! I set the bridge lower on my prs se tremonti which brought the pickups a lot closer to the bridge and it didn't sound great so I had to lower them, it had a really unnatural pick attack that didn't suit the guitar at all. I haven't ever really tried adjusting individual pole pieces however. |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2009 : 00:56:04
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| I would check out the height of the pick up it should be about 3/32 from the bottom of the string |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2009 : 05:18:24
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congrats, Goran! 
IMHO, you should probably make sure the action and overall setup is to your liking before adjusting the pickups. I adjust the polepieces to match the fretboard/bridge radius, usually with the low-E string polepiece lowered as far as it will go. then I adjust the overall volume by raising/lowering the pickup within its mounting ring. I rarely ever use the neck and bridge pickup at the same time, but usually do leave the neck pickups volume pot at about 8 and the bridge pickup's pot at 10. |
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Topic |
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Adjusting humbuckers
