\m/ pickups

[hippietim]

So I got my set last week and put them into my Al D. this past weekend.

For starters, the screws that come with the pickups are too short to use in the Al D - not sure about other models. This would have been useful to know before I mounted and soldered them. Even with the screws barely threaded the pickups are too high for the strings to clear the pickup. I used the screws that were in there previously from the DGT pickups that the PTC had installed for me. There is not a lot of wiggle room here for height adjustment - they sit pretty high with just minimal turns of the screw. I wanted to use longer screws to get them a bit lower but that would have involved drilling some wood away for the screws to clear.

On my bench I just have a little smokey amp and I could tell right away that these things are hot! We had weekend plans so I didn't get to put the guitar through it's paces until Monday at rehearsal. My immediate impression was good - lots of balls, plenty of clarity, and lots of output. Tapped the pickups are a tad too bright for my tastes. Rolling back the volume control resulted in tone that was too bright as well - a bit piercing really. If they're going to stay in the guitar I'm going to need to change the treble bleed Since they're hot you have to roll back the volume a lot before it makes much difference and cleans up (which was expected).

The worst part of all was that I didn't realize that the treble/bass pickups use different color coding for the wires so the way I wired it the middle position is out of phase. Sigh.

I'm on the fence about these pickups at the moment. I need to fix the pickup phase, fix the high-end when the volume is rolled back, and I'd really like to be able to lower the bridge pickup a little but there's barely any room to do so.

 

[vchizzle]

Hey Tim, I ran into a similar problem with the screw length on these too. With hot pickups, I tend to need to have them lower than normal or my amp will howl a bit with high gain. In fact, when I first installed and got to rehearsal, I tried lowering it a hair and the pickup came off the screws and just sat in the bottom of the cavity. Even then, the top of the pickup cover was still above the pickup ring. Makes me wonder if the bobbin has a slightly taller height to it than some other PRS pickups. I couldn't see any discernable difference in length of the legs. I couldn't do much examination because I didn't want to burn the fresh set of strings I put on. I did have a couple screws that were a tad longer and managed to get everything back together but I feel like I'm still hanging on by a thread with those screws. I think I'm at around 5/64" bass side and 3/32" on high E side. I only got the treble pickup, not a set. What different on the wiring? Treble pickup black hot, is bass pickup white hot? I think that's the way it should be, but I have to go back and look now. I have 2 volume, no tone knob in my McCarty std with no bleed cap so I'm not experiencing any effect from a bleed cap.

 

[John Beef]

My Custom 22 has always had the problem of the bridge pickup pretty much having one height setting. Any lower and the pickup will fall off the end of the screw. Any higher and it'll be too close to the strings. Longer screws would require the removal of some wood in the pickup rout. Luckily I like the one setting pretty well. I have been repeating over and over that short legs are necessary on humbuckers and long legs make no sense.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

The best way to deal with the screw length is to thread the screw all the way through the base plate and then crimp the last couple of threads of the screw. This will allow the screw to bite a little better and will help prevent it from slipping out of the base plate hole.

The other option would be to use the longer screws from a bass pickup. But because these screws are a bit too long, you'll need to snip a bit of the screw off or drill small holes to allow the screw to sit below the cavity bottom.

 

[pac90]

bump for the crimp tip. The treble side feels like it needs another 5mm. How many times has there been blue air when the wee bugger pings off the end of the screw = a lot in my house

 

[gush]

Yup yup yup! My 5708 squabbins are too close to the strings. Long pickup legs are NOT cool! This guitar is at PRS now getting refret and setup so I'll have to do something with it since strings will be closer now due to lower action. Guess I'll have to install my extra set of dragon 1s

 

[vchizzle]

Yup yup yup! My 5708 squabbins are too close to the strings. Long pickup legs are NOT cool! This guitar is at PRS now getting refret and setup so I'll have to do something with it since strings will be closer now due to lower action. Guess I'll have to install my extra set of dragon 1s

So are legs bottoming out in the pickup cavity??? Are squabbin legs longer than the old pickups? If that's the case just have them make the spots where the legs sit a hair deeper?

 

[gush]

So are legs bottoming out in the pickup cavity??? Are squabbin legs longer than the old pickups? If that's the case just have them make the spots where the legs sit a hair deeper?

Yes the legs bottom out and they are longer than the old pickups. Having PTC route cavity a little bit would fix problem for sure.

I think john beef mentioned changing metal base but im not sure I want to take expensive pickups apart.

 

[vchizzle]

How far from the strings do you want the pickups? Crap, I'm a little worried about the squabbin set I just bought now. Hope I don't need to do surgery. Wouldn't be the first time, I guess.

 

[gush]

I purchased a sc250 bridge to try in my McCarty a year ago not knowing the legs where longer. While it would fit I felt having pickup that close to strings without having any adjustment would be bad so I didn't install it.

From everything I have read about 5708s it seems that the magic doesn't happen until they are dialed in with pickup height being the most important. Supposed to start with them level with the ring and go from there.

I took my ce to a local guy for a refret and I let him talk me into leveling them instead. I have my action set too high now and when I bend B and E strings around 12th fret the notes die. So that money was wasted. Now PRS has it so when I get it back the string action should be back where I want it but too close to pickup for my taste.

FWIW. I had tried a Gibson 500T in the bridge of McCarty but it has long legs too. I had taken two very tiny screws and attached it to bottom of cavity. EVH likes it so why not? It was just ok so it went.

 

[vchizzle]

I have my 5708s pretty close to the strings, 3/32" on bridge pickup maybe? My \m/ bridge is more like 5/32" I think. I'll have to take a closer look before trying to install the squabbins.

 

[HANGAR18]

One of my thick solid body guitars I drilled appropriate depth holes so that the long screws wouldn't hit bottom. I only made the holes deep enough for the screws to have the room they needed and I was certainly nervous about going too deep because I didn't want the drill bit to emerge from the back of the body.