Weird Humbucker question... Help? (Pics Posted)

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ashesofphoenix

ashesofphoenix

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So I have a PRS SE One and I gutted out the soapbar and thru in a Dimarzio Super Distortion. Sounds Great, but my high e string is not over the pole and is dead sounding. Is this a spacing issue, like regular or F space? Someone told me to turn the pick up til it lines up, kinda like a Kramer, but then half the body would be routed out. Also, what's the difference between regular and F space?

Any help on this would be awesome thanks everyone.

Sam :rock:
 
Thanks man, I did a search and have no idea how I missed that lol. It def helped alot... I gues I'm lookin for a new Pick-up for this thing haha... Any suggestions? I like the Super Distortion, but I'm sure theres something else out there that would be cool. I tune this guitar to B standard, lookin for something to handle a real heavy distortion tone.
 
B standard? hmm..... what is the guitars character like that its going in? predominately dark, bright, resonate or not, etc?

ill send you a PM about something you might want to hear :)
 
Aren't some soapbars a different size? How far off would you say the E string is from the pole? I've used f-space and standard spaced pickups in all kinds of guitars and there is hardly a difference. You shouldn't have any strings that sound "dead". I actually usually prefer standard spacing even in f-spaced guitars :confused:
 
Yeah some soapbars are a different size. Its off enough, basically when looking directly over the guitar the high e string is not near the pole(looks like ..... . ) the other strings are close, but the e is off. Its not too noticable until you're playing notes from the 8thish fret and higher... open chords sound ok. I'm thinkin it may also be the bridge? I shoulda just sold it and bought something else but it was a gift and I like the neck.
 
ashesofphoenix":3n63hfex said:
Yeah some soapbars are a different size. Its off enough, basically when looking directly over the guitar the high e string is not near the pole(looks like ..... . ) the other strings are close, but the e is off. Its not too noticable until you're playing notes from the 8thish fret and higher... open chords sound ok. I'm thinkin it may also be the bridge? I shoulda just sold it and bought something else but it was a gift and I like the neck.
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Yeah it could be that a regular humbucker won't fit right in that spot and whatever way the bridge is configured. You got any pics of it?
 
Motorpud":l0cp6sh5 said:
ashesofphoenix":l0cp6sh5 said:
Yeah some soapbars are a different size. Its off enough, basically when looking directly over the guitar the high e string is not near the pole(looks like ..... . ) the other strings are close, but the e is off. Its not too noticable until you're playing notes from the 8thish fret and higher... open chords sound ok. I'm thinkin it may also be the bridge? I shoulda just sold it and bought something else but it was a gift and I like the neck.
Click to expand...

Yeah it could be that a regular humbucker won't fit right in that spot and whatever way the bridge is configured. You got any pics of it?
Click to expand...

I have rehersal tonigtht and I'll post the pics up here when I'm done. It works ok for now since we just started putting this band together so everything I've been writing is rhythm stuff until I get more members to fill out the sound. But it's still so annoying :doh:
 
Pics of the situation lol
 

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seems to be just a wide spaced bridge and narrow pole pickup. dimarzios are notorious for being a bit too narrow, even the F spaced ones. get a duncan trembucker in there and that should line up much better. if you're dead set on a dimarzio go with f spaced for sure, it will still be off but not as bad.
 
XSSIVE":3gkvog55 said:
seems to be just a wide spaced bridge and narrow pole pickup. dimarzios are notorious for being a bit too narrow, even the F spaced ones. get a duncan trembucker in there and that should line up much better. if you're dead set on a dimarzio go with f spaced for sure, it will still be off but not as bad.
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what do u think bridge or pickup, cuz I'm not in love with that bridge at all lol... wonder how much $$ it would cost to make it a hardtail????
 
well, that's certainly another option if you can find a bridge with narrower string spacing.

measure the stud spacing (center to center of the studs) and current string spacing (e string center to E string center) of your bridge and see if this one below will work in place of it. it needs to have the same stud spacing to fit but a narrower string spacing to fix the pole alignment problem. this will also let you properly intonate the guitar which is a plus especially for lower tunings and thick strings.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html
 
Your issue is more than likely not the pickup. It does not look far enough off the pole to make a difference. Plus, you said that you don't notice the problem until your at or above the 8th fret. You probably just need a setup. I would replace that wrap around tail piece with something that has adjustable saddles so you can properly set the intonation. A quick truss rod adjustment might help.
 
overall I like the sound i get from the pick up, but a more adjustable saddle, maybe with the strings a tidbit closer together, and a good set up should do it I hope. The wrap around thing is annoying as hell anyway.
 
I'm pretty sure it's like that because it had a stock p90. Last time I checked the SE p90s had a different spacing on the outside poles compared to a regular humbucker.
 
If this isn't an F-Spaced pickup, get an F-spaced pickup. If you want to get away from dealing with Spacing issues, go with something like a Crunch Lab or D-Activator X where there are solid bars instead of pole pieces. Don't get the regular D-Activator because the EQ curve will be too drastically different from your Super Distortion... the Crunch Lab and D-Activator X will be in the similar range.

Hope this helps,
 
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