Hi good people, i happened to notice in some pics of strats, like those in the post titled: hello everyone! (see 1st pic below) where the magnets are positioned sumpin' lika so: 1st string magnet- about 1/16th above pickups top surface. 2nd string- flush with t.s. 3rd string- about 1/8th above t.s. 4th string- about 3/16ths above t.s. 5th string- about 1/8th above like 3rd string. 6th string-a touch lower than 5th string. They seem to be like that on all three pickups. The magnets and pickups on my strat are very much different, (see 2nd, 3rd pic below) where also, the bridge pickup is tilted so the 1st string end is only about half as high off of the pickguard top surface. I'm hoping for opinions on how to set these things for things like tone choices, playing styles, blues, rythm guitar, country etc. Thanks!


http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/ ... 0664ue.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/ ... G_0479.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/ ... 6-copy.jpg

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Dave,

The magnets are the polepieces on better Strat pickups such as your's. Design wise, these polepieces have had several alterations to them over the years from their first designs back in the early '50s.

I'll confine myself to the major polepiece alterations here among Strat pickups only. I could write books on these pickups but I'll try to keep this brief.

Back when Strat pickups were originally designed, there was no such thing as light gauge strings. 12s were the standard gauge set and they all came with a wound G string. The magnets were staggered in different heights to facilitate sensing each of these strings at an even volume, one to the other as heard through the amp.

Over the years, lighter gauge strings were introduced and became popular along with their unwound G string. A problem arose as the original magnet stagger didn't work too well with these strings. The strings were now much closer in gauge size, one to the other within the set and depending on the set, some strings would be louder, others softer. There were stil other players who saw no noteworthy difference except for what everyone with light gauge strings readily agreed on: The G string was overbearingly too loud in comparison to the other five. In response, the industry (re)designed Strat pickups with a lower G polepiece where it was height wise, similar to that of the B string or even lower. Other designs were where all the polepieces became equal in height due to the closer proximity of the lighter gauge sets string run where in fact, the strings were indeed, picking up more evenly across the board.

Then there was the Strat purist who resented any altering of the original polepiece stagger as it affected the original tonality of the pickups. They demanded the original stagger be maintained in spite of its shortcomings. And let's not forget too, many players still used 12 and heavier gauge sets WITH a wound G string right up to this day.

Lastly and to appease and appeal to the largest market to the extent possible, yet another less extreme polepiece stagger like the original but not as extreme, where in addition, the G string was lowered to give a 'happy medium' was introduced. As any manufacturer would have no way of knowing the end users' gauge of string set but to where said end users would still would be attracted to and use was the aim.

NEVER operate under the premise that pickups are adjusted to their optimum height at the factory. This is an assembly line function and all heights and angles are 'ballparked'.

In spite of what books and pamphlets tell you, the baseline for setting your pickups is this: Fret the E on the 12th fret of your 6th string. While continuing to fret the E, and adjust the bass side of each pickup so that the string is the equivalent of two nickels' thickness away from the respective pickup's 6th string's polepiece. Having accomplished this, release the E, flip your guitar over and fret the highest fret on your first string. Adjust each pickup so that their E polepiece is about one nickel's thickness away. From here, you can use your ear if you feel any imbalance still exists or you are looking to accentuate one side over the other.

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Thanks a million martian, i see that setting it all to my liking will be a long term adventure, as my ear's experience develops. I guess this brings me to another query, how does one adjust the pole piece? are they threaded in order to be rotated inward and outward? Also, with no slot or indentation like one that a phillips screwdriver could engage, i wonder what kind of tool other than small pliers with something around the pole piece to protect it from damage could be used to rotate them? thanks!

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I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

You're welcome.

Most cannot be adjusted, this is why there were so many design changes. However, if you have a more recent American Strat and not one of the reissue models, the polepieces can be adjusted by pushing up or down on them. Unfortunately, to push up on them involves removing the pickguard and pushing the polepieces up from underneath the pickups themselves.

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Wow, thanks very much again indeed martian, you are really helping me in a huge way. It really is a privilege to be able to post here, and get the kind of sage advice from good people like you, who are willing to help a novice like me out by sharing your invaluable knowledge! I sure hope that you get your tele bass!

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I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

Glad to help!

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Martian, just out of curiosity, would it be safe to grind down a pole-piece with a dremel or something of that nature?

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Some good information from Jason Lollar of Lollar Pickups;

Quote;
If you compared a flat-pole pickup to a staggered-pole pickup wound the same way, you would get a little more presence ( like a Fender Amp presence knob), a little more bass and a little more overall output from the flat-pole pickup. Another way to think about it is that a flat-pole pickup will generate a little more output without putting more wire on the pickup coil. Adding more wire changes the frequency response, usually by losing some treble and gaining some bass. If you are already use to using staggered-pole pickups, you may find that you will need to turn the bass down slightly on the amplifier because with a flat-pole pickup you will no longer have to make up for weak low strings.

In most cases the flat-pole pickup will give you a better string balance. The high E won't get buried in the mix like a staggered-pole pickup can. You will also notice that the two low strings are louder than a staggered-pole set, and the G string does not overpower the others.

Staggered-poles create more of a smeared tone when you play more than one note at a time—you may or may not like it. On a staggered-pole pickup the low strings rarely overpower any amp, but they can also sound somewhat subdued or weak. The volume on the G string tends to dominate all others. If you have previously played using only staggered-poles and you don't notice any discrepancies with string-to-string volume balance, you have learned to compensate for them. If you decide to try a flat-pole set, it may take some time to adapt but once you get familiar with the sound, you'll find they work better in most cases than a staggered-pole design. For example, all teles up until around 1956 had flat-poles—no one ever comments that their 1952 telecaster has bad string balance. Also, most Telecasters, Jazzmaster, Mustangs and Fender bass guitars have historically had flat-pole pickups. On Gibson guitars no one ever staggers the adjustable poles as much as strat pickups.

End quote

Notice at the end he says all Fender Tele until 56 were flat pole and that Jazzmaster Mustang and fender basses historically had flat poles?
The stager has much to do with the sound you want, people have done strange things to poles to try and change sound.

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No because the heat from the friction will begin to demagnetize the polepiece.

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