Bucker-sized angled singlecoil mounting rings

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:54 pm

hahah

you not convinced by the white on white?

Post by **Doog** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:06 pm

It's a nice change, I guess I'll see how it looks once I get the proper pickup covers on it.

More Cowbell · Post by **More Cowbell** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:14 pm

I'm sorry if I missed it...but why are you putting a strat pup in a jazzy?

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:41 am

...I really do think any "extra spank" received by angling the pickup is psychological.

But you sure did put a Strat pickup in a Jazzmaster

Better that than a humbucker... I guess.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:30 am

White on white is the best - it reminds me of the Soapsonic.

Ty · Post by Ty » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:00 am

DuoSonicBoy wrote:White on white is the best - it reminds me of the Soapsonic.

The guitar that gets put on eBay time after time.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:58 am

Jagermeister wrote:...I really do think any "extra spank" received by angling the pickup is psychological.

nah, I don't think so man. I'm assuming you understand that pickup placement effects the tone (gahh, I tried to think of a better word but "frequency content" just sounded too long winded) but no place is that more true than right by the bridge. any kind of position adjustment of the pickup in the that area is gonna make a pretty noticeable difference.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:16 am

Jagermeister wrote:...I really do think any "extra spank" received by angling the pickup is psychological.

Nope. It's absolutely real.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:10 pm

Hendrix angled his pickups in the opposite way, albeit inadvertently.

I think the difference that angling the pickup creates is probably about the same as ticking a couple knobs on your amp.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:56 pm

Jagermeister wrote:I think the difference that angling the pickup creates is probably about the same as ticking a couple knobs on your amp.

it makes the high strings brighter and gives them more bite.

Jagermeister wrote:Hendrix angled his pickups in the opposite way, albeit inadvertently.

yea other left handed players are known for this as well, like dick dale. it's definitely part of their sound. instead of the brightness being accentuated in the high strings, now it's in the low strings.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:26 pm

mage wrote:
Jagermeister wrote:I think the difference that angling the pickup creates is probably about the same as ticking a couple knobs on your amp.
it makes the high strings brighter and gives them more bite.

Jagermeister wrote:Hendrix angled his pickups in the opposite way, albeit inadvertently.
yea other left handed players are known for this as well, like dick dale. it's definitely part of their sound. instead of the brightness being accentuated in the high strings, now it's in the low strings.

...ehh, say what you want. I get the concept, I however think that there are so many other more important variables involved that this change effectively makes no real difference. It still actually makes more sense to me to angle the pickup backwards, but seeing as I don't think that's a big deal and my Mustang sounds fine as is...

Post by **Mike** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:45 pm

It takes a confident person to tell Doog he doesn't know what he's talking about with respect to Guitar tone. Guy has the most refined ear I know of.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:50 pm

Perhaps, in which case I think someone should record a demo comparing the two, to ensure that no one is talking out their ass here

I don't think anyone here has gone out of their way to test angled vs. straight in the same guitar, myself included, nor has Doog attempted to see if he could get the desired tone in his JM by keeping the pickup straight (apparently). I've never thought to myself "hmm, this pickup needs more angle!" even in situations where the polepieces didn't line up, or some other reason like that.

But then again these are guitars, not science.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:53 pm

Personally I can't believe you'd even need such a demo. Compare the sound of a neck pickup to a middle pickup to a bridge pickup. What is happening to the sound? Angling a pickup gives you that effect on the treble strings, it absolutely adds cut, spank and definition. There is reason it is done in the first place.

Similarly with the 1meg pots in a Jaguar you're not going to be angling that pickup for fear of shrill nasties.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:58 pm

...Maybe, but I personally can't believe that fractional change would make so much of a difference; it's not on the same order of magnitude of say, switching from bridge to neck positions.

According to the theory though, at the same time that the angle would add cut to the treble strings it would mush up the bass strings more, and I always thought that the reverse would be preferable to that concept, I guess it depends on how we define spank. Then again, like I said, I think that the angle is negligible and at most comparable to ticking a knob on the amp.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:02 pm

It's a completely different tonal difference that "ticking a knob". If you're thinking that's an applicable difference then there's not much point discussing it. The difference affects the different strings differently, and affects attack and tonal content, show me the knob on my amp that does that?

Personally a reguarly angled pickup makes lots of sense to me. Increased attack and treble on the high strings? Yes please. More midrange and smoother attack on the low strings? Sounds perfect to me.

Mush will not happen near the bridge unless you misalign the polepieces, which isn't happening. When you're angling that close to the bridge, you'd best believe it will have a discernable impact, when you consider where the high e and b polepieces end up. I've heard it, it definitely exists.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:13 pm

Mike wrote:It's a completely different tonal difference that "ticking a knob". If you're thinking that's an applicable difference then there's not much point discussing it. The difference affects the different strings differently, and affects attack and tonal content, show me the knob on my amp that does that?

Personally a reguarly angled pickup makes lots of sense to me. Increased attack and treble on the high strings? Yes please. More midrange and smoother attack on the low strings? Sounds perfect to me.

Mush will not happen near the bridge unless you misalign the polepieces, which isn't happening. When you're angling that close to the bridge, you'd best believe it will have a discernable impact, when you consider where the high e and b polepieces end up. I've heard it, it definitely exists.

Hah, I always figured the high strings were always trebly enough as they were... Mush I was speaking of in relative terms (if closer to the neck=mush, closer to the bridge=spank), and I always appreciate a tighter bass.

The string will be affected differently, I just question whether that change will in fact be audible. And even if it is audible, I have the feeling that it'll be so slight that the amp will be able to correct for it, and if that's the case it's hardly worth doing; changes between pickup types or amps themselves, tweaking my settings and etc. are more what I lean toward worrying about in any case, but that may just be me.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:41 pm

Missed this. Interesting thread.
I'd like to think it will work for Doog but whilst there may be some improvement i think a big part of the sound he wants is down to the way a Strat is constructed.
Imo, the Jazzy bridge/tailpiece do not encourage a snappy sound and on Strats the strings are very close to the body and the trem also employs a sustain block, which i believe changes the sound somewhat significantly. I tried various pickups in my Jazzmasters and the guitar always sounded 'spongey', where as Strats have more attack and seem to punch louder.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:36 pm

Fran wrote:Missed this. Interesting thread.
I'd like to think it will work for Doog but whilst there may be some improvement i think a big part of the sound he wants is down to the way a Strat is constructed.
Imo, the Jazzy bridge/tailpiece do not encourage a snappy sound and on Strats the strings are very close to the body and the trem also employs a sustain block, which i believe changes the sound somewhat significantly. I tried various pickups in my Jazzmasters and the guitar always sounded 'spongey', where as Strats have more attack and seem to punch louder.

Yeah. Down to the specs, I'd venture it'd sound much like a long scale Jag... Hopefully whatever he got is something he'll be happy with, I'd venture he'll get a bit more clang than a typical JM.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:03 pm

To just walk on well-trodden ground already..

Jagermeister wrote:...I really do think any "extra spank" received by angling the pickup is psychological.

Nope. Why do you think the bridge pickup is treblier than the neck pickup? The closer to the bridge (or nut, for that matter) the string is being "picked up" the thinner the tone. Shorter soundwaves and that.

The sound of the bridge pickup is very Strat-like now- not only because it's an actual Strat pickup but because of it's position- I could never get the brightness out of the bridge position, but it's perfect now. With the Buzzstop and tight tremolo spring, it's far more Stratty than any normal Jazzy.

Psychological nothin'.

The fact it's angled gives a different spread of tone over the strings that just turning up your amps' treble control can't do. Sure, it's not a mod for everyone, but I always found my Strat fit my setup a lot better, but the Jazzy just has too many nice qualities to hang it up for good.

Really wish I'd recorded some "before" samples now