polepieces

[fancychords]

we all know that humbuckers a p90's have adjustable polepiecesand we all know why...yet almost every guitar i've seen always seems to them screwed flush with the pickup...my question is that most people don't seem to use them....

[jhundt]

... so I don't know what the heck to do with all them little screws. Someone said they are for "balancing" the output of the various strings, but you'd have to be really sensitive to hear any difference in output from one string to the next. I just recently posted here asking for advice about P90's and got very little response, so I guess no one else knows what to do with 'em either.

[msteurbaut]

Originally Posted by jhundt

... so I don't know what the heck to do with all them little screws. Someone said they are for "balancing" the output of the various strings, but you'd have to be really sensitive to hear any difference in output from one string to the next. I just recently posted here asking for advice about P90's and got very little response, so I guess no one else knows what to do with 'em either.

When you try it you almost go crazy...

[fancychords]

Originally Posted by jhundt

... so I don't know what the heck to do with all them little screws. Someone said they are for "balancing" the output of the various strings, but you'd have to be really sensitive to hear any difference in output from one string to the next. I just recently posted here asking for advice about P90's and got very little response, so I guess no one else knows what to do with 'em either.

i have p90's on my les paul maybe i can help you...as rar as the ples mine too are screwed all the way down

[Telenator]

There are two reasons I don't mess with them much.

1) Because they string sometimes catches on the screw head when playing aggressively.

2) Because I tend to set my p'ups fairly low and it doesn't matter much at that point because lower p'ups tend to sound more balanced.

[6942]

Anyone know where I can buy replacement, metric pole pieces. Even allen screws as long as they fit and work?
Steve

[bug music]

6942- The best place for small metric hardware is a hobby shop that deals in RC models (cars, planes etc...) most of that hardware is metric, and it's all tiny stuff. Bring a screw in and they can probably match up an allen screw to fit. Hopefully this helps.
- Jay

[Wild Rice Chris]

Originally Posted by Leo Fender

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention eliminates the necessity of choosing a guitar having either a percussive or dual pole pickup by providing a pickup whose characteristics are alterable to achieve either type of sound. This is accomplished by providing a pickup assembly having a number of pole pieces which is equal to the number of strings and in which the pole pieces are positioned directly beneath the strings. Each pole piece has a slotted head and is rotatable from a first position in which the slots are perpendicular to the strings and a second position in which the slots are parallel to the strings. When in the first position, the pole pieces operate in a normal fashion, i.e., as they would if there were no slot, and therefore provide a percussive-type sound. When in the second position, however, each pole piece operates as if it were two separate pole pieces due to the presence of the slot. Since the two portions of the head are positioned to either side of the string in this orientation, they operate essentially as a dual pole pickup. Thus, simply by rotating the pole pieces, one can achieve either percussive or dual pole sound characteristics.

I adjust the poles to get optimum balance, but it is more of a tone thing than a volume thing.