P/U's in Jackson are not good

[Old Ranger]

Basically, the single coils in this Jackson are copies of old Fender's with a plain ceramic bar magnet across the back. What kills me is the fact that just like the old Fender pickups, these have the # 1 E and B string pole pieces smushed down level or even below level of the pickup cover. When playing clean, it has almost NO Amplified sound whatsoever! And of course, the G string pole piece is sticking way up there, making it drown out the E and B! I'm going to attempt to remove the covers and raise the pole pieces up. If that fails, I'll just have to replace them.
Always loved Lace Sensors, and will save up if needed for two @ $70 a piece. Thinking Red in the neck and Purple in the middle. And if I'm feeling froggy, a Silver/Emerald Duelly in the bridge! But that's a lot of cash to dump in this instrument. I'll try the pole raising fix first if my hands cooperate with me... I have always hated those squashed E & B poles!

[DanTheBluesMan]

does the humbucker have adjustable polepieces? maybe leave that in and try some Squier (aka Toneriders) pickups. I haven't had any problem with them being unbalanced, they sound great and can be had for fewer ducats. Way less if you buy used.

Or were you thinking of the noise cancellation of the Lace Sensors?

[Old Ranger]

Yup, the HB in the bridge has one side with screws as usual. Its bright, but not unbalanced. The mid and neck SC's are awful the 3rd & 4th pole pieces on both are skyscrapers next to the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th strings that are flat. Sure this might be great with a 7 1/2" radius, but the Jackson is set with a compound radius of 12" to 16". With that flat of a radius, with a Floyd Rose, old style settings for single coils are ridiculous!

Tomorrow I'll jack the bridge and see what I can do with the mess. Hope my hands cooperate with me so I can set those poles right...

[DanTheBluesMan]

that's actually a real good point about the modern radius neck and the vintage spec SC pups. I'll have to remember that. People might not think it makes much of a difference but in this game very small fractions of inches (or millimeters for the rest of the world ) are fairly noticeable in effect.

[chuckocaster]

You should be safe moving the poles. Usually, SC’s with mag bars use plastic bobbins where the wire doesn’t touch the poles, they’re constructed like a Gibson HB as opposed to a “real” Fender SC. What are the DC ohm reading of the SC’s? You can get crazy and order some new magnets from Vintage Vibe, they sell mags that are half the width of normal. So you can basically set those up like a P90 with a mag on each side of the poles. Plus, you can get really wild and mix different mag types in one pup. I actually do that with my personal P90’s, I use A5 and A2 in each pup. So I get the snarl of the A5 and the compression and smoothness of the A2. It’s an interesting sound.

[Old Ranger]

Bloody pole pieces are EPOXIED in!!!

Guess I'll start saving my S&H Green Stamps and see about getting me some Lace Sensors and a Duelly, a couple pull pots, and a good 5-way switch. And pray my hands are steady enough for the wiring job that follows.

[Old Ranger]

Got lucky. Found a set of FLAT Alnico 5 SC pickups at a deal I couldn't pass up. Neck At 6~7k and mid at 7~8k. The bridge is 8k+ and wider spaced for a Strat. I'll likely will give that one to my neighbor if he wants it...
With any luck this well even out the dead spots...

[Volumeknob]

Have you tried Guitar Madness on ebay ---

I find they have great Pickups--- Cheap---

Hope you are well Old Ranger---

I finally found MY ONE AND ONLY I LOVE IT TO DEATH STRAT ---- so thought Id come say howdy to all here on TFF

[ch willie]

Hey, Volumeknob. Good to see you. Tell us a little about the Strat you found, if not here, in its own thread.

[Volumeknob]

I done did Brother man
https://www.thefenderforum.com/forum...en-away-awhile

[Old Ranger]

New pickups arrived today. They are very nice and well assembled. Now I have to feel better before I tackle the installation. Was flat on my back for the last two days mostly with vertigo and internal "revolt". Sucks getting old. If I knew I'd be sick the rest of my life I'd have stepped out in front of a bus a long time ago!

Maybe tomorrow I might be able to. We'll see...

[Volumeknob]

Hope you get feeling better.

[OldStrummer]

Feel better soon, Old Ranger. Every one of us is getting older. You don't have a monopoly.