Hah! Decisions, decisions...
Hah! Decisions, decisions...
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Alright, I have put it together and am having some pickup issues... The bridge pickup sounds fine, albeit cheap. However, the neck pickup is very muddy/fuzzy. I thought i was having issues with fret buzz, but it was just the pickup... Any thoughts on how to troubleshoot this? Cheers.
Not easy to do remotely. Tele neck pickups are known for being quite dull and low-output. The coil is a lot smaller than the bridge pickup or a Strat pickup so low output can be expected, and the capacitance of the grounded metal cover also knocks some of the treble off.
They generally need to be set as high as they can, about 1.5-2mm just below the strings when held down at the top fret. That will beef up the output a bit and also get as much treble from the pickup as possible.
But 'buzz' is a strange one. Have you got a multimeter? If so, you could measure the DC resistance of the pickup. Have the volume and tone controls up fully, select the neck only, plug in a guitar lead and measure the resistance across the tip and screen of the other end of the cable. It should be around 6k ohms, though may be between 5-7k ohms.
It could be down to a bad switch connection giving a high resistance.
If the pickup hasn't been wax potted properly, then the coils can vibrate from loud sound waves, and produce a high pitched scream that doesn't go away when you mute the strings. But that's not really 'buzz'. But such a 'microphonic' pickup will also pick up any taps on the guitar body, far more so than the bridge one (assuming that is OK), and sound really loud if the pickup itself is tapped. Not just a 'clunk' but a real 'THUMP'. So it's worth checking for that a sit takes seconds. If it is, I'd email Adam and request a new neck pickup (unless you now plan to upgrade the pickups to something like Toneriders).
Thanks for the detailed reply Simon. I dont have any of those fancy tools sadly, but I think I may have figured it out. It seems this neck pickup has quite a bit more output compared to the bridge pup and it was feeding back a little... Once I dialled back the volume on the guitar, and the gain on my little amp I was able to get it sounding quite nice. I am an acoustic player so this is all new to me!Originally Posted by Simon Barden
As for upgrading the pups, I am thinking about putting in a set of Keystones! Not that much more than toneriders and by all accounts they are amazing...
In that case, I'd drop the neck pickup a bit to reduce the output. The kit pickups almost always use ceramic magnets, which are a lot stronger than the Alnico V magnets used on the Fender originals, so a higher output can be expected on these (I forgot this when I first replied). It can be a balancing act juggling pickup heights to help get outputs matching and fine-tuning the mixed position sound.
If you're referring to Bill Lawrence Keystone pickups, they are supposed to be very good, but with the current exchange rate and international postage they're about $212AU. The Tonerider sets from PBG are $119 (free postage). I've used the TR Tele pickups and they're very good sounding pickups, especially for the price.As for upgrading the pups, I am thinking about putting in a set of Keystones! Not that much more than toneriders and by all accounts they are amazing...
Also, Wilde Pickups (Bill Lawrence) advertise shipping within 2 weeks of ordering (they build to order) but I know people that waited over 2 months with no status updates along the way. Best case would be 4 weeks with production and shipping time, but given the current crisis (particularly in the US) who knows...
I personally cancelled an order in 2015 after waiting 5 weeks with no email replies. They are literally an old fashioned US "Mom & Pop" business (now a Mom & Daughter operation since Bill's passing) so I get it, but I wasn't willing to keep waiting and was annoyed that no one replied to any of my emails (except confirming my order was cancelled).
I'm not saying don't buy them or that they're no good, just thought you should know what you could be getting into.
FWIW, one forum friends that waited 12 weeks, said they were worth the wait. However, patience is not always one of my strongest attributes.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I actually emailed them asking for a postage quote and they responded within 24 hours, and they actually have some keystones already in stock so shouldn't take too long. The strength of the AUD is the only thing holding me back at the moment... A friend of mine has them already and swears by them. Will keep thinking about it, now that I've got the stock ones sounding OK. They can keep me going until my birthday in June haha!
Here she is! Almost finished, just waiting on some extra shielding tape. Surprised how quickly this came together.
- Upgraded to Gotoh SG381 Tuners, definitely worth it. Holding tune well, and intonation is good.
- Gotoh S21 solid steel saddles
- Pickups TBA!
- Working on a headstock decal. Will be called "Procrasticaster" as I built this instead of doing my PhD work hahah! Oops.
Will post more photos later of the back, which I think turned out beautifully!
P.s. ignore that the strings are wound the wrong way, I was half asleep haha! Have a set of elixirs on the way so will fix it when they arrive. Unfortunately means my string trees will be in the wrong spot but not the end of the world!
Finally finished. Ended up getting Wilde (Bill Lawrence) Alnico Microcoils. They took forever to get here, but boy were they worth the wait!!
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