Unbalancing the pickup heights on a 509

[dogrocketp]

I just got a 2 year old 509 that was dirty and hasn’t even been broken in. I was wondering if anyone had tried raising or lowering one or both outside pickups to get more distinction between the single coils and the humbucker sounds. My guitar clearly hung on someone’s wall and the pickup screws are stiffer than any I’ve ever seen. That’s why I haven’t tried it myself.............yet.

 

[Stephen J.]

I think they are mounted on a single piece of plastic so they have to be adjusted slowly and kept in the same plane. If you crank down one coil and not the other, the plastic cracks and may cause problems.
I wouldn’t normally post something I am not sure of, but my point is caution. Don’t risk causing damage until you are sure how they are put together.

 

[bodia]

I think they are mounted on a single piece of plastic so they have to be adjusted slowly and kept in the same plane. If you crank down one coil and not the other, the plastic cracks and may cause problems.
I wouldn’t normally post something I am not sure of, but my point is caution. Don’t risk causing damage until you are sure how they are put together.

Yeah, I think you’re right about this. I wanted to lower the middle pickup on my 2018 509 and found it very tight. I didn’t go much because I seem to recall reading somewhere on the forum about people breaking them.