57/08 Treble PU weak

RonHal

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
45
I have two guitars with 57/08 pickups. 2009 Sunburst 22 and 2010 Modern Eagle II.
The treble pickup on the Modern Eagle is weak. On both guitars the pickups are setup the same and I use the same Brand and gauge of strings. The Sunburst 22 has a 3.3 Meg resistor across the volume pot. This cant account for the difference.
The resistance of the pickup is right. Very close in reading to the other one in the Sunburst 22.. The bass pickup has no problem. Any ideas? Thanks
 
That ME II has a very early version of the 57/08 pickup, and they were known to vary a lot in early production. I have a 57/08 SC245, for example, that has a very hot, dark neck pickup. After they'd been building them for a while, they figured out how to make them more consistent.

It's possible you can dial it in more to your liking with height and/or polepiece adjustments. Try raising it for starters. Don't be surprised if it winds up set very different from the Sunburst 22.
 
I had a pair of 57/08s that came out of a Modern Eagle II. They had exactly the same resistance (8.78 kΩ). Perhaps that is why you're finding that the bridge pickup sounds weaker.
 
I believe their were 4 versions of 57/08's. in order:
1) unetched
2) etched 57/08
3) etched 57/08TM
4) uncovered black "squabbins"
someone correct me if i'm wrong.
 
I believe their were 4 versions of 57/08's. in order:
1) unetched
2) etched 57/08
3) etched 57/08TM
4) uncovered black "squabbins"
someone correct me if i'm wrong.
I'm sure there are handwound versions, blessed with Midas' touch, and with a whiff of l'eau de farts de souris.
 
There are also the 57/08s wound for the McCarty Singlecuts.

But to the OP, wiring issues can cause this, and so can something as simple as a bad switch or volume pot.
 
Modern eagles also have Modern Eagle Pickups ( like in mine ) which are supposed to be 57/08s before they called them that
I have found my 57/08 guitars to be very different but they all seem to like the bridge PU really high in order to get a good balance
I would also recommend checking your switch and wiring
 
Back
Top