bluesky636
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
- Messages
- 657
I found this article from Throback pickups to be quite interesting and decided to investigate further.
I have a 2014 Les Paul R8 that I replaced the stock Custombuckers with Seymour Duncan Joe Bonamassa Skinnerburst pickups. The pickups were reliced and I didn't particularly care for the look so I replaced the covers with ones from Throback. I was able to polish up the pole screws, but over time they became tarnished again and looked kinda cruddy. I replaced them with pole screws of unknown carbon content from Stew Mac. I found some 1010 carbon steel at MojoTone and 1018 carbon steel from another vendor on Amazon. Unfortunately, the ones from MojoTone seem to be smaller in diameter than all the others and fit loosely, to the extent of wobbling in the pickups. I have contacted MojoTone to try and figure out what the problem is.
Anyway, today I replaced the Stew Mac pole screwa with the ones from Amazon, not expecting to hear much difference.
I was wrong.
Keep in mind all this is just my opinion based on the sound I heard between the different pole screws. All amp settings, pickup height, and pole screw stagger were the same. No measurements or other scientific tests were done. Just my ears. And they suck.
Compared to the screws from Amazon, the Stew Mac screws sounded bright and some what harsh. I am guessing they are 1022 carbon steel. The screws from Amazon sounded smoother and "rounder". Treble lacked any harshness and bass sounded tight and smooth. It will be interesting to hear what 1010 carbon steel pole pieces sound like if I can get ones that fit. It will also be interesting to see what things sound like with different screws in bass and treble positions. I'll be making adjustments and listening more over the next few days, but so far the 1018 carbon steel screws sound better to me.
If anyone else has ever tried this, I would like to hear your thoughts. This seems like an easy and inexpensive way to change the tone of a guitar to your liking.
PAF Humbucking Guitar Pickup Screws Slugs and Keeper Bar
Detailed information about the tonal impact of the pole screws, pole slugs, keeper bar and their carbon content in vintage PAF electric guitar pickups.
www.pafhumbucker.com
I have a 2014 Les Paul R8 that I replaced the stock Custombuckers with Seymour Duncan Joe Bonamassa Skinnerburst pickups. The pickups were reliced and I didn't particularly care for the look so I replaced the covers with ones from Throback. I was able to polish up the pole screws, but over time they became tarnished again and looked kinda cruddy. I replaced them with pole screws of unknown carbon content from Stew Mac. I found some 1010 carbon steel at MojoTone and 1018 carbon steel from another vendor on Amazon. Unfortunately, the ones from MojoTone seem to be smaller in diameter than all the others and fit loosely, to the extent of wobbling in the pickups. I have contacted MojoTone to try and figure out what the problem is.
Anyway, today I replaced the Stew Mac pole screwa with the ones from Amazon, not expecting to hear much difference.
I was wrong.
Keep in mind all this is just my opinion based on the sound I heard between the different pole screws. All amp settings, pickup height, and pole screw stagger were the same. No measurements or other scientific tests were done. Just my ears. And they suck.
Compared to the screws from Amazon, the Stew Mac screws sounded bright and some what harsh. I am guessing they are 1022 carbon steel. The screws from Amazon sounded smoother and "rounder". Treble lacked any harshness and bass sounded tight and smooth. It will be interesting to hear what 1010 carbon steel pole pieces sound like if I can get ones that fit. It will also be interesting to see what things sound like with different screws in bass and treble positions. I'll be making adjustments and listening more over the next few days, but so far the 1018 carbon steel screws sound better to me.
If anyone else has ever tried this, I would like to hear your thoughts. This seems like an easy and inexpensive way to change the tone of a guitar to your liking.