Pole Piece's on my Custom 22's Dragons won't move

[neurosis]

Apologies if this is the dumbest question. I just tried to adjust the pole pieces on my covered Dragon pickups and realized they won't move. Is this the way the cover is and I'd have to remove the covers to adjust the poles? Or is this an anomaly? Never bothered to check on this since I bought it last year but just tried to get a setup closer to what I have on my Custom 24 and it's impossible to move a single one of the pole pieces. They are all in the same position which makes me think this is a deliberate thing.

Can someone enlighten me and recommend what I could do to get this fine tuned to my preferences?

 

[Rider1260]

All the pole pieces will move but I have had some that are VERY tight older wax potted pickups with covers can be the worst.
I had to custom make a screwdriver for one old guitar I had so I could get enough torque and not strip the head.
Also its easy to slip and scratch the finish or pickup cover tape and towels are your friend or I will remove the pickup if its really a tough one

 

[AP515]

Yep, push harder.

 

[Atomic]

If they are really stuck it could be, as was said previous, that the wax potting has kinda "glued" the pole pieces in place. You're gonna need mo-torque but don't go hog wild on it with the pickup in the guitar... you might regret it.

You can remove the pickup and try heating the screwdriver tip with a soldering iron or heat gun and then apply the driver to the screw, let it warm the screw a bit and it should loosen up. Don't be tempted to warm the pickup though, you don't want to upset the potting.

 

[owickerman]

Maybe a drop of WD40 could help ?

 

[neurosis]

Thanks for all the replies! I was so busy I totally forgot I had posted this.

I just ended up taking the strings off, applying heat to the waxing and with a lot of patience loosened them up one by one.

I wonder if it's a factory spec where they'd prefer you don't touch the height of the individual pieces so the default EQ stays true to their vision.