Pickups NOT PARALLEL issue? HELP!

[MysteryShawn]

So I'm planning to get one SG STANDARD 2016 model soon but I've read some articles about these following issues .....

 

1.Pickups NOT PARALLEL to the strings or the body .. It's because of the PU are mounted by the big batwing and there are no rings on the pickups...

 

2.The strings are touching the bridge itself as you trying to lower the string height, some ppl even say they can't lower the strings cause of the buzz sound and the string will touch the pickup that'll make a crap sound and they all say it is basically because of the Gibson quality problem...

 

3.I saw some comments on the SG 2016 gibson site and review vids on utube .some ppl even say its not worth the money...this just make a hard decision for me to purchase or not....

 

I do love the batwing pickguard design cause it looks more evil to me ... But there s no store here around my town..i cannot try the model ...So ppl Please help me with it . THANX!!!

[Vinlander]

The pickups don't sit parallel to string with a batwing PG it is a well known fact since 1966...no news there.

My OCD made me use a foam spacers under both pickup on mine and I even used slightly bent screws to make them parallel.

With that said, it was more playing with my OCD than having a huge impact on the tone.

Regarding the strings touching the bridge, the problem is not 2016 models but people screwing their TP down too much causing the string angle too steep making the string touch the back of the bridge.

Set neck angle will affect how much you can screw down the TP versus the height of the bridge while still clearing the back of the bridge. If your SG or LP as a big angle like on my 2005 standard you can either raise the TP (screws are meant for that), or top wrap the strings.

I also happen to prefer the batwing big guard, it makes it looking meaner for a metal axe

[Mr. C.O. Jones]

So I'm planning to get one SG STANDARD 2016 model soon but I've read some articles about these following issues .....

 

1.Pickups NOT PARALLEL to the strings or the body .. It's because of the PU are mounted by the big batwing and there are no rings on the pickups...

 

2.The strings are touching the bridge itself as you trying to lower the string height, some ppl even say they can't lower the strings cause of the buzz sound and the string will touch the pickup that'll make a crap sound and they all say it is basically because of the Gibson quality problem...

 

3.I saw some comments on the SG 2016 gibson site and review vids on utube .some ppl even say its not worth the money...this just make a hard decision for me to purchase or not....

 

I do love the batwing pickguard design cause it looks more evil to me ... But there s no store here around my town..i cannot try the model ...So ppl Please help me with it . THANX!!!

 

I wouldn't believe everything written on the internet.

I think the distance from the pickup to the strings is far more important that if it's parallel or not.

Same thing goes for all the other problems that SG's apparently seem to have.

Until you hold one in your hands and play and look at it you won't know if it has something that needs to be adjusted or fixed.

If you can't try one locally look for a good online dealer with a nice return warranty/money back or something like it and order one.

If it's not a keeper just return it.

[capmaster]

Hello and welcome to this nice place in the web!

 

Parallelism of string runs and pickup tops is basically limited on every guitar. Heights and angles of the string run levels depend on bridge adjustment, neck relief and fret position. Very few guitars have three pickup mounting screws per humbucker to adjust for being parallel to a fret position of the player's desire, but there still will be just one of 21, 22 or 24 levels that is actually parallel.

 

I left all of dozens of pickup inclinations as they came except for one being distinctly off. This one is the neck pickup of my Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess. I sanded the bottom side of a stock wedged Gibson pickup ring down to plane-parallel what did the trick. Our forumite Badbluesplayer did the same on his Gibson ES-335, also to adapt the neck pickup.

 

No batwing pickguard here - I don't like them - but I think in this case the use of wedged shims between springs and pickup brackets would help if desired. However, I think most players just live with the situation as is.

[MysteryShawn]

The pickups don't sit parallel to string with a batwing PG it is a well known fact since 1966...no news there.

My OCD made me use a foam spacers under both pickup on mine and I even used slightly bent screws to make them parallel.

With that said, it was more playing with my OCD than having a huge impact on the tone.

Regarding the strings touching the bridge, the problem is not 2016 models but people screwing their TP down too much causing the string angle too steep making the string touch the back of the bridge.

Set neck angle will affect how much you can screw down the TP versus the height of the bridge while still clearing the back of the bridge. If your SG or LP as a big angle like on my 2005 standard you can either raise the TP (screws are meant for that), or top wrap the strings.

I also happen to prefer the batwing big guard, it makes it looking meaner for a metal axe

I think you re right .......... Ok im gonna get one ..and lets see how good it will be thnx bro

[Searcy]

According to the internet, Gibson has never made a good guitar.

[MI_Canuck]

Here's my 98 Standard. Plays and sounds amazing. I played with the pole pieces a bit just to equalize the string volumes. The lack of parallelism to the strings never bothered me.

 

[MysteryShawn]

Here's my 98 Standard. Plays and sounds amazing. I played with the pole pieces a bit just to equalize the string volumes. The lack of parallelism to the strings never bothered me.

 

Hey doode thanks for posting the pick i just decide to buy the 2016 model.....

[MI_Canuck]

Hey doode thanks for posting the pick i just decide to buy the 2016 model.....

 

You'll love it bro!

 

 

Some of us like the large batwing pick guard... :)

 

 

 

[MysteryShawn]

You'll love it bro!

 

 

Some of us like the large batwing pick guard... :)

 

 

 

OOOOOOOLALALA ebony ones are amazing !!!!but i might get the heritage cherry one . cheers doode

[curnla]

In order to keep the strings off the back of the bridge on my '16 I had to jack the tailpiece to a ridiculous height. I have never subscribed to the idea that tailpieces should be lowered to the deck as this puts too much downward force on the bridge. However the height that my tailpiece reached was insane. To solve the problem, I tried top wrapping. What a major improvement! Now I love my '16 Standard and all is well with the universe.

[Col Mustard]

So I'm planning to get one SG STANDARD 2016 model soon but I've read some articles about these following issues .....

 

1.Pickups NOT PARALLEL to the strings or the body .. It's because of the PU are mounted by the big batwing and there are no rings on the pickups...

 

2.The strings are touching the bridge itself as you trying to lower the string height, some ppl even say they can't lower the strings cause of the buzz sound and the string will touch the pickup that'll make a crap sound and they all say it is basically because of the Gibson quality problem...

 

3.I saw some comments on the SG 2016 gibson site and review vids on utube .some ppl even say its not worth the money...this just make a hard decision for me to purchase or not....

 

I do love the batwing pickguard design cause it looks more evil to me ... But there s no store here around my town..i cannot try the model ...So ppl Please help me with it . THANX!!!

 

Here's a few suggestions based on experience:

 

1. Never believe internet posts by unknown persons... (including me *grins)

People don't care what they say on internet posts, there is NO penalty for lying, and they might not have your best interests at heart.

Gibson bashing is always bull-taco. Gibson makes excellent guitars. And there are good ones and bad ones in every class. People

seem to love to say, "Gibson hasn't made any good guitars since _________________________ (your favorite year here). Ignore all this.

It's just blowing smoke.

 

2. Play it before you buy it. This is an essential piece of wisdom. We see so many posts from someone who bought something online without

ever seeing it or plugging it into their intended signal chain. The only person who knows if a guitar is right for you is yourself.

Buying a guitar online is like gambling. I don't like gambling. I like a sure thing. So I normally wouldn't do it.

But I confess... I have done it. The thing about Gibson is: If you have to gamble buying one, Gibson is usually a good bet.

 

3. Gibson gives us all these little screws, so we can set our guitars up just the way we want. You can watch online tutorials about setting

up your Gibson, and you can and should plan on taking any new guitar to a good luthier for professional setup. Personally, I believe that

we mostly can set up and maintain our own guitars using all these screws and things, but I also like to get a pro to do the first one.

Pro luthiers have tools and measuring gizmos that the rest of us don't. IMHO, after a good pro setup, I can play and maintain a guitar for

years on my own.

 

4. Some pickups are more sensitive to being parallel to the strings than other pickups are. But it's always a good idea to set your pickups up

this way IMHO. I do this on an SG by cutting some foam blocks out, and installing them under the rear of the pickup at string change time.

Try a 20mm piece under the rear of the neck p'up, and a 25mm piece under the rear of the bridge p'up... depending on how stiff the foam is.

Then you put it all back together and squint at it, to see how parallel the pickups are. If it ain't perfect, just play it for another month, until it's

time to change strings again. Then take it all apart and do it over. If this seems OCD, it is. *shrugs ...but it's your tone, man. What's that worth?

 

Also, it's good practice, because you have to remove the bridge in order to get the big pick guard off. So you have to do your setup all over again

...set the bridge height and the intonation. Once you've done that a few times, it won't seem like such a big deal. One essential tool you'll want in

your guitar case is a good 6" steel ruler, that measures MM as well. I like to measure the distance from the guitar body to the thumb screws of the

bridge posts in MM... before taking the bridge off. (AND write it down!) Then I can get it close to where it was when I put it back together.

 

You can also measure the distance from the pickups to the strings when it's all back together, and write that down, and then play it and listen.

Pickups go up and down, bridge goes up and down, tail piece goes up and down... it's all a mystery until you watch a video and see it done,

or have a pro luthier do it for you, and then measure everything after you pay him. (and write THAT down).

 

5. If you think all this sounds too complicated, just buy an SG with the small pick guard. The pick guard has NO EFFECT on tone... it's only a cosmetic

detail. The SG with the small pick guard is equipped with pickup rings, and these do all this leveling for you, right out of the box. It's much more simple

to maintain. *shrugs ...I have both. I like them equally well. I recommend that you buy and read (and keep) a book by Dan Earlewine called:

"How to Make your Electric Guitar Play Great." Every player should have this. It explains all this stuff in understandable English, and is illustrated with

great and clear pictures.