As soon as the video started I thought the pickup was far too close to the strings. Especially with it having more magnets than other ones. On this occasion, I would have shimmed the bridge rather than the neck; maybe with a contrasting wood, or even a piece of brass, to make a feature of it. It'll be interesting to hear what this guitar sounds like.
Shimming the bridge would require shimming the neck to change the neck break angle and restore correct action. It is much easier to move the pickup in relation to the bridge, neck, and strings, than it is to move the bridge, neck and strings as a single unit in relation to the pickup. Recently, I've considered switching from solid mount to surface mount adjustable picks. Surface mount adjustable are solid enough, and way easier to adjust. OTOH, once you know the correct height, you set it there and never change it, so you don't really need adjustable height pickups - they just make factory dial-in easier.
@@normbarrows2 D'oh! You're absolutely right! That was a bit stupid of me. If you shimmed the bridge, the action would be way too high, unless you shimmed the neck too! I'll get me coat.
Nope, magnetic buzz. Those quadrails are sporting THREE ceramic magnets and have more magnetic pull than any pickup I've ever seen, and I've owned over 100 guitars and have been playing for 45 years. My original attempt at about 2mm between the rails and strings when fretted at the 22nd was just too close, and I had to increase it to about 3mm. Magnetic buzz makes a buzz like a sitar. Bad grounds cause loss of volume (partial, total, or intermittent). EM interference causes background line noise and 60 cycle hum. The three actually sound pretty distinct. Magnetic buzz and partial loss of volume are somewhat rare. Some folks actually don't even believe magnetic buzz is a real thing - just cause it's so rare.
As soon as the video started I thought the pickup was far too close to the strings. Especially with it having more magnets than other ones. On this occasion, I would have shimmed the bridge rather than the neck; maybe with a contrasting wood, or even a piece of brass, to make a feature of it. It'll be interesting to hear what this guitar sounds like.
Shimming the bridge would require shimming the neck to change the neck break angle and restore correct action. It is much easier to move the pickup in relation to the bridge, neck, and strings, than it is to move the bridge, neck and strings as a single unit in relation to the pickup.
Recently, I've considered switching from solid mount to surface mount adjustable picks. Surface mount adjustable are solid enough, and way easier to adjust. OTOH, once you know the correct height, you set it there and never change it, so you don't really need adjustable height pickups - they just make factory dial-in easier.
@@normbarrows2 D'oh! You're absolutely right! That was a bit stupid of me. If you shimmed the bridge, the action would be way too high, unless you shimmed the neck too! I'll get me coat.
Grounding issue or RF interference?
Nope, magnetic buzz. Those quadrails are sporting THREE ceramic magnets and have more magnetic pull than any pickup I've ever seen, and I've owned over 100 guitars and have been playing for 45 years. My original attempt at about 2mm between the rails and strings when fretted at the 22nd was just too close, and I had to increase it to about 3mm. Magnetic buzz makes a buzz like a sitar. Bad grounds cause loss of volume (partial, total, or intermittent). EM interference causes background line noise and 60 cycle hum. The three actually sound pretty distinct. Magnetic buzz and partial loss of volume are somewhat rare. Some folks actually don't even believe magnetic buzz is a real thing - just cause it's so rare.
@normbarrows2 Very good information. Glad I subscribed. I look forward to learning from your videos. 👍🎶🎸