Rhythmisking
New Member
So, I just got my newest PRS, an '06 SInglecut, back from getting some serious work done. The previous owner had refretted it with Jumbo frets (which I don't care for), badly, and put in a bone nut which was also slotted very badly. As a result, the action was terrible and because the frets weren't particularly level it was beyond my ability to set up, so off it went for a fret mill and setup. The frets are now beautifully leveled (and taken down to my preferred height) and the guitar is perfectly set up.
I should say that I can be somewhat obsessive about response and string-to-string balance. Being predominantly and obessively a rhythm player (Michael Hedges and Tom Johnson are heroes), I like low action, but not so low that I lose articulation and 'ring', and I also do lots of subtle right hand nuances to be able to get a variety of rhythm sounds, including liking to get some nice 'bark' when I dig in.
So the guitar seemed a little lackluster when I got it back. Smeary, smushy and undefined on the lower strings and some weird dynamics with the attack, so I started to do my normal tweaking of the pickup and pole piece heights.
OMG.
In another thread, someone mentioned how certain PRS pickups are very sensitive to height adjustments (I don't even think it was these, which are PRS 7'S) and to try very tiny changes. I thought he was exaggerating; he was not. I just spent 1 1/2 HOURS adjusting the pole pieces and pickup height of just the neck pickup. I have NEVER come across a pickup this sensitive to little tiny changes in body height and pole piece adjustment, or one where those changes produced such a ridiculous variety of tone, articulation, and dynamic response. The changes in dynamic response (attack) in particular were shocking.
Normally I've found that raising the body of the pickup tends to increase bass response (along with overall level), but raising the pole pieces themselves relative to the pickup body tends to diminish bass response and increase articulation and clarity. I've been doing this a long time and I'm pretty cocky about getting pickups to sound their best. With these pickups, I felt like a hospital orderly trying to do brain surgery. Usually I can take a decent pickup and make it sounds it's best, and take a great pickup and really dial it in. During that hour and a half this thing was all over the map, and some of the time it was sounding really bad and responding super weird. It sounds great now, but these things should come with a warning label! It would be so easy to think a guitar was a dog if these pickups weren't perfectly dialed in. Now it's articulate, with great note definition, and a smooth even transition from sweet to barking with varied rhythm strokes.
I'm exhausted. Really happy, but exhausted. Here's what the finished result looks like, and it's indistinguishable from any other pickup, but now I know a world of consternation lies in these thousandths of inches of adjustment.
I should say that I can be somewhat obsessive about response and string-to-string balance. Being predominantly and obessively a rhythm player (Michael Hedges and Tom Johnson are heroes), I like low action, but not so low that I lose articulation and 'ring', and I also do lots of subtle right hand nuances to be able to get a variety of rhythm sounds, including liking to get some nice 'bark' when I dig in.
So the guitar seemed a little lackluster when I got it back. Smeary, smushy and undefined on the lower strings and some weird dynamics with the attack, so I started to do my normal tweaking of the pickup and pole piece heights.
OMG.
In another thread, someone mentioned how certain PRS pickups are very sensitive to height adjustments (I don't even think it was these, which are PRS 7'S) and to try very tiny changes. I thought he was exaggerating; he was not. I just spent 1 1/2 HOURS adjusting the pole pieces and pickup height of just the neck pickup. I have NEVER come across a pickup this sensitive to little tiny changes in body height and pole piece adjustment, or one where those changes produced such a ridiculous variety of tone, articulation, and dynamic response. The changes in dynamic response (attack) in particular were shocking.
Normally I've found that raising the body of the pickup tends to increase bass response (along with overall level), but raising the pole pieces themselves relative to the pickup body tends to diminish bass response and increase articulation and clarity. I've been doing this a long time and I'm pretty cocky about getting pickups to sound their best. With these pickups, I felt like a hospital orderly trying to do brain surgery. Usually I can take a decent pickup and make it sounds it's best, and take a great pickup and really dial it in. During that hour and a half this thing was all over the map, and some of the time it was sounding really bad and responding super weird. It sounds great now, but these things should come with a warning label! It would be so easy to think a guitar was a dog if these pickups weren't perfectly dialed in. Now it's articulate, with great note definition, and a smooth even transition from sweet to barking with varied rhythm strokes.
I'm exhausted. Really happy, but exhausted. Here's what the finished result looks like, and it's indistinguishable from any other pickup, but now I know a world of consternation lies in these thousandths of inches of adjustment.
