new pickup is in, questions remain. . .

dots

ripped apart

soldering

more soldering

even more soldering

yada yada

el fin

okay, so i replaced the jb jr with a lil screamin deamon, and that seems to have improved the low-end and over all output issue. however, the action is set way high on it right now. seriously. you can limbo under it. that can't be right, but it's the only way i've found to get it even close to intonated. the strings are 11-50 stainless flats (the set that came with the guitar and that fender recommends). any ideas?

Rick

so, you're canibalising an AV jag....for what reason?

dots

i wanted a thicker tone AND the ability to have single coil sound from the bridge position, so i put in a stacked humbucker and coil tapped it.

now back to the intonation question. . .

Rick

what intonation question?

what the hell is that thing on the volume pot?

you should be able to get a thick tone from using just the neck pickup on its own

Aug

Are you in a bad mood, Ricky?

dots

Rick said: you should be able to get a thick tone from using just the neck pickup on its own

the action has to be way high for the strings to come even close to intonating properly, and me no likey. the strings are kinda heavy guage, but only what fender recommends. so i'm not sure what to do about it.

the volume pot is a push/pull type, so the bottom of it is different than the normal variety. here's a pic from allparts.com:

yeah, it's a thicker tone. . . a thicker neck tone which isn't quite the same of what i was going for.

Rick

Augustus_McCrae said: Are you in a bad mood, Ricky?

no. why?

Aug

Augustus_McCrae said: Are you in a bad mood, Ricky?

could be just me...you don't sound like yourself, is all...

Rick

Rick said: what intonation question?

when fretted at the last fret, the specified distance from bottom of string to top of humbucker polepiece is just slightly more than a single coil

dots

Rick said: when fretted at the last fret, the specified distance from bottom of string to top of humbucker polepiece is just slightly more than a single coil

when i bring the action down, though, the intonation gets worse. why for?

EDIT: the intonation gets sharper the lower the action.

Rick

you need to lower the pickup, if you lower the action.

like i say, there needs to be about 3mm clearance from bottom of string to top of polepiece, when you fret the string off at the last fret.

i actually don't know the specified clearance from this pup. but it's just over 2mm for singles. like i say, prolly about 3mm for any humbucker. but you should check what it is for this bumhucker you've got

dots

yeah, i figured the pickup would need to be lowered if the action was lowered. i guess i just don't understand how lowering the pickup will help the intonation. i'll give that a shot, though.

johnniespring

don't worry about the pickup. the intonation is dependant on the action cos higher strings are longer than lower strings. then when you fret at the 12th the intonation will be wrong.

dots

johnniespring said: don't worry about the pickup. the intonation is dependant on the action cos higher strings are longer than lower strings. then when you fret at the 12th the intonation will be wrong.

that's what i figured. so what do i to fix it? try a lower guage of string?

Aug

couldn't he just shim the neck?

johnniespring

lower the bridge.

Rick

dots said: i just don't understand how lowering the pickup will help the intonation

if your pickup it too close to the strings, the magnet polepieces will make the metal strings vibrate differently, causing false tones. but if that's not the problem, i don't know. you should have the strings set about 2mm-3mm above the 17th fret

dots

johnniespring said: lower the bridge.

yup, that did it. now i feel like a gui-tard. i don't know (a) why it wasn't working last night or (😎 why the shop i brought it to gave it back to me like that. really strange, but now it intonates like a champ. i don't think i'm digging the flatwound string tone, though. the feel is all groovy smoothe, but they lack sustain and bite. they are fun for a change of pace kinda thing.

thanks for the help guys!

robroe

simple answer.

guitar shop guys only know what they are doing after you pay them extra money to do it.

if those dudes spent all day stringing up floor model guitars properly and getting them perfect, they wouldn't have any time to read guitar magizines

or to take thier point of view instead of mine.

dude spends hours working on floor model guitars only to have 12 year old punks come in and monkey around with them and jack them all up. this puts more stress on the guitar shop guy. now working in a guitar shop, (read: not guitar CENTER), and you are a sales guy not the guy running the store or accounting the monthly finance books, this should be the lowest stress job ever.

guitar center runs on commission and gives jobs to dumbass girls with arm socks and bag heads to work the counter with the strings and pickguards, so yea i don't know what my point was going there.... forgot.

dots

robroe said: guitar center runs on commission and gives jobs to dumbass girls with arm socks and bag heads to work the counter with the strings and pickguards, so yea i don't know what my point was going there.... forgot.

haha nice.

the place i took it to wasn't a guitar center. they're supposed to be regarded as being "pretty good" but i haven't noticed them to be. they're just convenient cuz they're located in front of our band's rehearsal studio.