height of the neck pickup/asat classic custom

[supereiv]

Hey,
I tried to set the height of my pickups yesterday. For the neck pickup you have to remove the pickguard first, then you have to put a block under the pickup to raise it (it's screwed directly in the wood) Once all this is done, the surprise is : you can't put that pickguard in his place because the "ears" of the MFD don't fit in the hole...
Well, I compensate for the impossibility to raise the neck pickup as a whole, with raising the poles, but it's only compensation right ?!

All I can do now, is have the pickguard cut to let the "ears" of the big MFD out.

Anyone has experienced this with is classic custom ? or that guitar is not meant to have the neck pickup raised up ?

I remember a post about that in G&LDP versions 1 but I can't find it.

thanks

Xavier

[Dr B]

I'm no expert but can you not alter the output of the MFDs without altering their height? I may have dreamn't this and apologieis if I have but i seem to remember it made the need to alter the height redundant. However, as I said, I'm no expert....

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Xavier,

This How are pickup covers attached to soapbar MFD pickups? post may be of help. Are you missing the springs too that you need to take off the pickguard and use wood to raise the pups? The pickguards were cut differently for a while with the ears not visible as shown for the 2004 ASAT Classic Custom SH (as well as his 2005 non-SH) show on Greg Gagliano's website. You can see from the current entry on the G&L web site for the ASAT Classic Custom that is no longer the case. Is that what we're talking about? Can you post a pic?

- Jos

Edit: Given all information below, I now know that the the timeline for the size of the neck pickup hole in the pickguard is actually reversed. Starting with the introduction of this model in 2002, the pickguard did show the screws on these early models. But since around 2004, the pickguard has smaller holes, no longer showing the height screws. The guitar shown on the G&L website is one of these early models and is NOT representative for the current lay-out. My original post is represented in unedited form above.

[Craig]

Hey,
I tried to set the height of my pickups yesterday. For the neck pickup you have to remove the pickguard first, then you have to put a block under the pickup to raise it (it's screwed directly in the wood) Once all this is done, the surprise is : you can't put that pickguard in his place because the "ears" of the MFD don't fit in the hole...
Well, I compensate for the impossibility to raise the neck pickup as a whole, with raising the poles, but it's only compensation right ?!

All I can do now, is have the pickguard cut to let the "ears" of the big MFD out.

Anyone has experienced this with is classic custom ? or that guitar is not meant to have the neck pickup raised up ?

I remember a post about that in G&LDP versions 1 but I can't find it.

thanks

Xavier

There has been some confusion in the past about this model and adjustment of the neck pickup. I contacted
Steve Grom (Director of Manufacturing) and he provided some information.

Hi Craig,

I checked with a couple of the guys here and they tell me the very early versions of this model (like the one pictured on the web site) had a larger opening in the pickguard and access to the adjustment screws.

A decision was made to go to a hotter pickup with longer pole pieces and adjusting screws along with a smaller opening in the pickguard for the pickup. I was told the reason was to get more of a "P-90" look and vibe to the neck pickup.

I would say the current configuration has been around for at least 5 years.

I've got some sample pickguards coming with a larger opening for the neck pickup and will take a look to see if that change is appropriate.

Thanks

Steve Grom

I also asked him if the pickup adjustment is currently limited to the individual pole pieces. Here is his response:

Correct, the pole pieces are the only adjustment, at the moment.

Once we take a look at one of these with the a modified pickguard (access to adjusting screws) we will do one of two things ...

Go to the new pickguard, making the web photo correct or get a new photo

I'll let you know as soon as we have made a decision

Thanks

Steve Grom

Hope this helps.

[yowhatsshakin]

...
I would say the current configuration has been around for at least 5 years.
...

Steve Grom

If Greg's pictures are any indication, it has to be at least 7 years.

- Jos

[Craig]

...
I would say the current configuration has been around for at least 5 years.
...

Steve Grom

If Greg's pictures are any indication, it has to be at least 7 years.

- Jos

I agree. I had a 2003 ACC which looked like the spec page photo.
So, I think 2004 is likely the year of the change.

[supereiv]

hey,

thanks everyone for the answers... and a special to Craig who report it to the factory.

My guitar is a 2010 model as far as I can tell, and the pickup is screwed directly onto the wood. It's bizarre not to have the pickup screwed on the pickguard with springs like, say on a legacy, I noticed the same thing looking at the asat classic (straight) pictures here and there. I don't own any at the moment, is that the same story (the "ear" problem excepted), you have to put blocks under the neck pickup to raise it ?

anyway, as I said in another post, I'll bring my axe to the guitar tech for a gauge change (I play 11/49 so 10/46 feels and sounds a bit weak) so I'll have the pickguard cut. I'll post pictures ASAP. I think that the adjusting screws are meant to fine tune the height, following more or less the neck curve, and I think adjusting the pickup as a whole is the first way to set the pickup height as with any other guitar, am I wrong ? maybe the MFD need a pole piece adjusment only ?

cheers and thanks again

Xavier

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Xavier,

With MFD's, adjusting the pole pieces allows you to sonically tune the pups to your liking. By raising/lowering the pole-piece for a particular string you can increase/reduce its contribution to the overall sound. Compare it to a 6-channel EQ unit where you use height adjustments instead of faders to dial in a sound. So it is not necessarily for following the fretboard radius or something.

Hope this helps,

- Jos