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New member, new SG, question on pickup angle


Assault Bacon

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Hi folks -

 

I'm new here and new to the SG Standard, so if this seems like a newb question... well...

 

Last night, I received my new Gibson SG Standard - Limited Run 24 Fret. I pulled the plastic covers, oiled/cleaned the fretboard, lowered the action a bit, and put a new set of strings on it.

 

One of the things I noticed right away is that the bridge pickup is set at an odd angle. It's neither level with the pickguard nor the strings. It is angled toward the bridge, meaning that the side of the pickup furthest from the bridge is set higher than the side closest.

 

Is this normal? I've read that some SG's are set so that the pickup is level with the pickguard, but saw nothing about this.

 

This guitar is just incredible - it sounds and looks like nothing else I have. If you guys tell me this is the usual angle for this pickup, I'm good with it. I just need to know.

 

If necessary, I can post pic of the angle this afternoon when I get home. All I have on me is a picture I snapped when I unboxed.

 

Thanks - Bacon.

 

SGStandard_zpsxwjntbdp.jpg

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Welcome to the forum! If you try and give it a gentle push does it level out? If not you may have to remove the pick guard and put some foam under it to keep it flush. When you turn the screws for height does it have any effect? Beautiful SG by the way. Congrats! [thumbup]

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Welcome to the forum! If you try and give it a gentle push does it level out? If not you may have to remove the pick guard and put some foam under it to keep it flush. When you turn the screws for height does it have any effect? Beautiful SG by the way. Congrats! [thumbup]

 

When I push on the pickup to level it out, it does move, but returns to the same position immediately. The pickup screws do adjust the height.

 

And thank you!

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(EDIT: Post edited as I now see these are pickguard mounted pickups.)

 

It may simply be tension on the pickup wire that is pulling it out of level. The foam trick mentioned above may be your best/easiest/cheapest solution.

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Pics are always good, but I understand your question, as I have seen this many times.

 

I'm going to assume that the pickup mounting ring is also angled similarly, which is the cause of the situation you describe. This AESTHETIC only, but you would think more care would be taken during assembly to choose better fitting pickup rings. It seems to pretty much a crap-shoot as to which mounting rings the assembler pulls out of the parts bin. The problem is even more prevalent with contoured/archtop/carved top models.

 

There are many different ways to address this situation, too many and too technical to try to explain in type here. I would put this on the back burner as something to address down the line. As you continue to play and enjoy the guitar you may/will come up with a few other personal "tweaks" you want to do to make this instrument "perfect". It will be more cost effective, with less down time, to address them all at one time.

 

Thank you Larry -

 

It's actually not a huge concern for me, since I think the guitar sounds amazing - so your advice to wait on solving this is well taken. The pickups are mounted in the pickguard - it's one of the larger '65 style pickguards. The picture I actually did post shows the pickguard.

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I'd imagine this is simply caused by the angle at which the holes were drilled through the 'guard; they are possibly meant to be at an angle parallel to the strings, so the coils are about equal distance from the string, without one side of the pickup being lower than the other from the string plane.

 

This angle might have been off, hence your midway position. The screws that suspend the pickup would follow the thread of the hole, even if at an angle, which is why it might be off-kilter slightly. Shouldn't have too much, if any, effect on the tone.

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I'd imagine this is simply caused by the angle at which the holes were drilled through the 'guard; they are possibly meant to be at an angle parallel to the strings, so the coils are about equal distance from the string, without one side of the pickup being lower than the other from the string plane.

 

This angle might have been off, hence your midway position. The screws that suspend the pickup would follow the thread of the hole, even if at an angle, which is why it might be off-kilter slightly. Shouldn't have too much, if any, effect on the tone.

 

Thank you Pesh -

 

Yeah, I will probably take a look at that next time I re-string. I'm not going to worry too much about it now. As long as it's not causing any kind of damage and doesn't effect the tone, I'm good.

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Thank you Pesh -

 

Yeah, I will probably take a look at that next time I re-string. I'm not going to worry too much about it now. As long as it's not causing any kind of damage and doesn't effect the tone, I'm good.

 

 

No worries. Bear in mind another fact; if you adjusted your action and then noticed that it's off-angle - the chances are it might look more dramatic than before because you've changed that angle from the factory setup, which might have been closer to a parallel between the top of the pickup coils and the string plane.

 

(hope that makes sense)

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No worries. Bear in mind another fact; if you adjusted your action and then noticed that it's off-angle - the chances are it might look more dramatic than before because you've changed that angle from the factory setup, which might have been closer to a parallel between the top of the pickup coils and the string plane.

 

(hope that makes sense)

 

 

It does. And I'd actually considered that.

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