Adjusting Height on Strat Pole Pieces?

[hardys]

I've had some WCR Strat pickups that I could safely lower the pole piece height by simply pushing the pole piece from front to back. I did this at Jim's recommendation to lower the G string magnet.

Is this safe to do with other new production, vintage Strat type pickups? Those high G string magnets drive me crazy with flatter radius necks. I've been thinking of trying some Fender Fat 50s, but want to lower that G magnet.

 

[daddyo]

No, it's not safe. Seymour Duncam makes a vintage style pup with a flat pole layout.

 

[walterw]

with new fenders i've had little trouble doing just that, and for the exact same reason. the texas specials and fat 50s are calibrated for a wound G, which is just stupid. while these pickups are wound old-school, directly onto the magnets, the wind is usually loose enough in the middle that you can hold the pickup in one hand and gently tap on the G pole with a little hammer in the other hand. just getting it down to a little higher than the B makes all the difference. you can kill the pickup if this maneuver breaks a coil wire inside the winding, but i've been doing it for many years on those particular pickups with no problems. do not try this on a real vintage pickup!

 

[hardys]

with new fenders i've had little trouble doing just that, and for the exact same reason. the texas specials and fat 50s are calibrated for a wound G, which is just stupid. while these pickups are wound old-school, directly onto the magnets, the wind is usually loose enough in the middle that you can hold the pickup in one hand and gently tap on the G pole with a little hammer in the other hand. just getting it down to a little higher than the B makes all the difference. you can kill the pickup if this maneuver breaks a coil wire inside the winding, but i've been doing it for many years on those particular pickups with no problems. do not try this on a real vintage pickup!

Thanks Walter...just what I wanted to know. :BEER

How do you like the Fat 50s? How would you describe them tonally? How about those Texas Specials as well?

 

[walterw]

i like them both. they don't get the respect that the boutique stuff does, but they sound a lot better than, say, regular american standard pickups or fender's noiseless stuff. the fat 50's are a straight-ahead balanced strat set, and the texas specials have a slightly "boosted" sound that really sings with overdrive.