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I just intsalled a curtis novak neck pup into my jag. ive tried 3 differnt times but after screwing it in it comes out UNEVEN. The side of the pickup closest to the neck is always considerably lower than the bridge side of the same pup. I checked if there was anything under it, but the only thing that could have been doing it (cloth wiring) was on the NECK side of the pickup. FAUCK. Help

EDIT: I parly remedied that, but now that tis working the rythm circuit it no longer dull.. In fact, it is near in tone to the LEAD circuit, but at a MUCH lower output. What did I do wrong? Usually the rythm circuit is dull, yet louder than the lead. NOW it is sharp, and much quieter than lead.. UGH. Help.

Does it have the jag pickup height foam on it? Is the foam uneven? If not, try foam cut to compensate for the slant?

Well, it happened with the original foam, so I put some new stuff on, same result. Cloth coverwires eem harder to deal with because they take up more space. I can take pics.

...First of all, the bass cut and rhythm switches on the Jag, to me, are VERY amp dependant, and their function tends to depend on what your amp wants to do with them... Some amps don't seem to notice the bass cut/rhythm section is on at all, while on others it is pronounced...

There should be a percieved drop in output in the rhythm section, anyway. Also, I don't see why people just don't stick springs under Jag pickups... I'm guessing it might sit unevenly because of the cloth wire under one side? Really though, put springs or more cloth under the pup, and adjust them properly anyway, don't just screw them all the way down.

Other than that, check all your solders?

Im not familiar with Novak pups but im wondering about polarity. With some pickups if they are in the wrong way it reverses the polarity so you end up with an out-of-phase sound which is usually trebly and low (Mustang owners will know). Not only that, when you upgrade pups it is better to match the pair or three. A higher output pup will screw up everything on the guitar balance-wise.
If you cannot solve the problem (recheck your wiring as well) i would email Curtis to get a little support. He is quite friendly and helpfull by all accounts.
With the height problem- you may have compressed the foam too much. Let it regain its shape and your heights will be okay again.

Oh.. Let us know the outcome of this, its interesting stuff.

Fran wrote:Im not familiar with Novak pups but im wondering about polarity. With some pickups if they are in the wrong way it reverses the polarity so you end up with an out-of-phase sound which is usually trebly and low (Mustang owners will know). Not only that, when you upgrade pups it is better to match the pair or three. A higher output pup will screw up everything on the guitar balance-wise.
If you cannot solve the problem (recheck your wiring as well) i would email Curtis to get a little support. He is quite friendly and helpfull by all accounts.
With the height problem- you may have compressed the foam too much. Let it regain its shape and your heights will be okay again.

Oh.. Let us know the outcome of this, its interesting stuff.

Thanks, I'll email Curtis and report back.

cobascis wrote:

Fran wrote:Im not familiar with Novak pups but im wondering about polarity. With some pickups if they are in the wrong way it reverses the polarity so you end up with an out-of-phase sound which is usually trebly and low (Mustang owners will know). Not only that, when you upgrade pups it is better to match the pair or three. A higher output pup will screw up everything on the guitar balance-wise.
If you cannot solve the problem (recheck your wiring as well) i would email Curtis to get a little support. He is quite friendly and helpfull by all accounts.
With the height problem- you may have compressed the foam too much. Let it regain its shape and your heights will be okay again.

Oh.. Let us know the outcome of this, its interesting stuff.

Thanks, I'll email Curtis and report back.

What is the pup resistance, do you know?

Fran wrote:

cobascis wrote:

Fran wrote:Im not familiar with Novak pups but im wondering about polarity. With some pickups if they are in the wrong way it reverses the polarity so you end up with an out-of-phase sound which is usually trebly and low (Mustang owners will know). Not only that, when you upgrade pups it is better to match the pair or three. A higher output pup will screw up everything on the guitar balance-wise.
If you cannot solve the problem (recheck your wiring as well) i would email Curtis to get a little support. He is quite friendly and helpfull by all accounts.
With the height problem- you may have compressed the foam too much. Let it regain its shape and your heights will be okay again.

Oh.. Let us know the outcome of this, its interesting stuff.

Thanks, I'll email Curtis and report back.

What is the pup resistance, do you know?

No, I don't have any way to read it, either.

...Polarity should not matter unless both pickups are on, and even then it only really determines whether that setting will buck hum... CIJ Jag pickups are same polarity, MIA pickups are reverse.

If you mean that they're out of phase as a result of being reverse wound, that still only applies to having both pickups on. Which in the rhythm section, they generally aren't.

Jagermeister wrote:...Polarity should not matter unless both pickups are on, and even then it only really determines whether that setting will buck hum... CIJ Jag pickups are same polarity, MIA pickups are reverse.

If you mean that they're out of phase as a result of being reverse wound, that still only applies to having both pickups on. Which in the rhythm section, they generally aren't.

Good point. Strange things do happen though, i refitted a CIJ bridge pup once and it sounded 'honky', like out of phase. I turned it around and the sound was different again. It appears to be an inblance issue here from what we can gather.

GODAMMIT. UGH. This sucks so much, I just flipped the pickup around and the rhythm circuit is still too quiet, and to bright. I wish there was an undo button for life, the ground wire is now to fucking short to do nearly anything with.. I guess I'll take it to a shop and give them the schematics.. Any other ideas.. I spent a whiles worth of savings on this and killed it already. DAMN./

cobascis wrote:GODAMMIT. UGH. This sucks so much, I just flipped the pickup around and the rhythm circuit is still too quiet, and to bright. I wish there was an undo button for life, the ground wire is now to fucking short to do nearly anything with.. I guess I'll take it to a shop and give them the schematics.. Any other ideas.. I spent a whiles worth of savings on this and killed it already. DAMN./

haha, aye. I don't know how many times I've found myself thinking "ctrl+z."

BacchusPaul wrote:

cobascis wrote:GODAMMIT. UGH. This sucks so much, I just flipped the pickup around and the rhythm circuit is still too quiet, and to bright. I wish there was an undo button for life, the ground wire is now to fucking short to do nearly anything with.. I guess I'll take it to a shop and give them the schematics.. Any other ideas.. I spent a whiles worth of savings on this and killed it already. DAMN./

haha, aye. I don't know how many times I've found myself thinking "ctrl+z."

It's all good though, Curtis email'd me and said to ship it back, he'd fix it. Definitely a perk of purchasing from an independent guy, as opposed to seymour.

my wiring is like that, but it still leans up the OTHER way... I got the novak to work right but still cannot for the life of me get it straight. I've added extra foam on the side that is downwards etc. It is not the foam or the wiring.. Iit is fine until I put the pickgaurd on, but there is a problem: the space between pickup holes is slightly to large, so it pushes the neck pickup into the slanted position. WTF. any ideas? Could it be a warped PickGuard?