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Questionable Repair on an R8 or am I just paranoid?

Last LP

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Jul 17, 2008
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Took my new mint '07 R8 in for a repair to some deep scratches in the headstock put there by my wife (that's another story though) & when I received my guitar back they had lowered my neck pickup. Low & I mean very low. I could see light between the pickup cover & the frame that goes around it.

Why would they even touch my pickups? Did they do a swap on me with something else? I know a lot of you will say well how's it sound? Thing is I only had this guitar a few hours before the restringing incident that ultimately led to the deep headstock scratches. It sounds ok to me but now I'm worried.

Is something up? I know they put new strings on, they had to remove mine to get to the scratches, but, did they also do a lot more than just a repair? How can I tell for sure I've still got my original pickups in my guitar for certain?

I've already looked in the back cavity at the soldering work & it's hard to tell as only being a few hours old before it left my hands it's my first time seeing this one, though I've seen many. It does look cleanly done.

What's the best way to find out or am I worried about nothing? Why did they adjust my pickup height in the first place?

Arrrrgghh. I swear this R8 seems to be possessed or something.

Thanks for any & all replies.
 

P.Walker

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Apr 17, 2007
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well, make sure that the pickups are original to your guitar by checking the underside...make sure they're the burstbuckers that come with the r8.
you could also post a photo of the control cavity...that should tell..
 

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r8controlcavitypa7.jpg
r8cavity1fb9.jpg
 

Last LP

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Thanks so much for the replies I hope they continue.

If I take off the strings & pull the pickups out will there be an identifying marking of some kind underneath?

Only other way I guess to tell for certain would be to put a voltmeter on them but I'm no good with one of those & I'm not sure what I'd even be looking for with a reading.

I feel so stupid as I'm sure a lot of people here could tell just from the sound but I'm certainly not that good differentiating between different pickups and being able to say whether it's a 498T or a Humbucker V or alnico II's etc. :wah
 

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Ok, I knew I took pictures of it when I first got it as I usually do with all my guitars. The differences are quite obvious, I'm wondering what is going on here?

r81stdaypicturela1.jpg
r8afterhsrepairpupadjusii9.jpg
 

BluesForDan

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to be honest, I think it is highly unlikely they would go through the trouble to take out your neck burstbucker #1 and replace with with something else. The underside will have a white sticker "#1 wound by *PS* (the only initials I've ever seen on BBs), and quite possibly a 'patent applied for' sticker (my '06 BBs had them).

Those solder joints look factory original to me. Since you asked, I would say you were being paranoid.
 

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Since you asked, I would say you were being paranoid.

Hey, I will be the first to admit that. Thanks for your opinion. I'm guessing the guy was checking it out & did his own adjustments but forgot to put them back before returning it to me.

I can definitely be :nut

Thanks again!
 

markguitar

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Nov 27, 2001
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2,375
Ok, I knew I took pictures of it when I first got it as I usually do with all my guitars. The differences are quite obvious, I'm wondering what is going on here?

r81stdaypicturela1.jpg
r8afterhsrepairpupadjusii9.jpg

Those solder joints look stock and in the first picture it looks like your neck pickup was actually too high! So maybe the place did you a favor and adjusted it to where they thought it should be.
 

kharrison

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May 18, 2006
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You are freaking out. Relax, nothing has been changed and your pups were just lowered. No big deal, just a few turns of a screw.:wah
 

RamiLP

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i usually have my neck pup a bit lower than the bridge to balance out the sound between both pups, and as some others will tell you the string has a biger radius in vibration near the neck pup than the bridge pup, so you end up lowering the neck pup a bit so u will equal out in volume kinda thing.
 

denwing

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Apr 20, 2006
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Solder on the pots looks clean to me like its the 1st and only time they've been done. The neck pickup actually looks as it though it got a little rockered back toward the bridge side. If you push down on the neck side of the pu (pivot point being the adjustment screws), it might rock back into a more level looking position with the rings.
 
R

R9.

Guest
LP, there's no need to feel stupid. It's a rare thing to have happen to you, but the truth is, it can happen. A fellow forum-ite that lives locally had it happen to his Strat. Took it in for a repair, got it back and it was never the same. He couldn't prove any wrong was done to him and later on sold the guitar.

Here's a pic of my pickup's underside. Yours should look the same, except for the 2...of course.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg225/Gibson_Tim/Picture1393.jpg
 

D'Mule

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He likely wanted to balance the bridge and neck pups better. Soldier looks fine on the pots.

Looks okay.
 

Smolder

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May 23, 2008
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Not trying to prime the paranoia here but I am not a pro and I can solder well enough to pass that test. The hard part would be faking or switching the paper (white) labels on the back. Those do not transfer... and I am guessing for a reason. If those labels are correct to what you purchased... you are likely fine.
 

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Thank you all for the replies you've all helped greatly to calm me down. :)

Also wanted to thank Tim A for the pic. I've saved it for when I do a string change I will likely pull that pup off & have a look see.

I sure hope I don't have to bring this thread back to the top when that happens with a picture that doesn't even come close to yours Tim.

Thanks again!
 

Gold Tone

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Apr 2, 2002
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Those solder joints look stock and in the first picture it looks like your neck pickup was actually too high! So maybe the place did you a favor and adjusted it to where they thought it should be.

+1

I agree with Mark that this is the MOST likely scenario. They were doing you a favor.....that neck pickup was too high.
 

BIG Dave

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Think about it, why go to all the trouble of switching out a BB and trying to make the solder joints look pristine? BB's are not highly sought after, they are readily availble and not expensive. Now if you had original double cream PAF's from '59 in there, then that would be a different story...
 
B

Big Red

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I would think that when they re-strung the guitar they simply tweaked the pickup heights to balance things out as D'Mule suggests. I wouldn't even contemplate the possibility of any pickup thievery - unless or there's some glaringly obvious soldering tomfoolery or you had a nice double white PAF in there!
 

AndyMan

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Jul 15, 2001
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528
Yeah, not to say anthing bad about Burstbuckers, they are NOT exotic enough to risk a business' reputation! I am guessing they charged you a nice amount to repair the damage, and the repair tech decided to do a minor set up after re-stringing.
 
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