New pickup installation - strange angle

[emann]

Hello,

I have got and installed a set of Lindy Fralin Blues SPecials on my telecaster. The sound is incredibly great but something is bugging me up.

As from the picture, the neck pickup has an inclination to the surface of the pickguard and I cannot seem to adjust this to become perfectly horizontal.



Any help on how I can adjust this so that it is horizontal - or is it meant to be installed inclined.

Thanks to all.

 

[24 track]

are the pick wires too taught ? or is there anything under the pick causing it to pull back?, you may have to loosen the pick guard to see what is happening underneath, , the pick guard is not bowed up so I suspect the wires, also check the pickup springs are straight

 

[emann]

noted re the wires...i hope that is the matter. it is mounted with the plastic tubes not the springs...do the tubes to the springs make any difference on installation pls?

 

[rze99]

Is it a different pickguard?

If it is not a Fender (or correct guard for the model) they don't all fit the same way and can push the neck pickup in one direction.

A mild leaning can sometimes be cured by using a piece of wood or plastic or hard foam to prevent the pickup leaning in the pickup routing.

 

[dougbgt6]

I had that, turned out to be the springs, they have an easily overlooked conical profile, I had them upside down. Why this caused a tilt I'm not sure, but it did.

Doug

 

[jvin248]

.

+1 the solutions noted.

That pickup lean won't alter the tone any different than if you raised/lowered the pickup height. The magnetic field is a field not narrow rigid points. So if you can live with the appearance you can just play on.

.

 

[rze99]

Btw those conical springs are absolutely garbage and fiddly as hell. Rubber tubing only for me.

 

[emann]

I will look if the tubes are cut perpendicular or maybe they have one side longer than the other...could also be the wires that I maybe pulled a lot. The pickguard is not fender original....indeed the whole guitar is my own work. The plastic or wood maybe a solution. I will have a look again this evening and revert...in the meantime have a look:

 

[emann]

and tks re pickup inclination not altering the tone - i was going to ask about it as well!!

 

[Wrighty]

I'd take that guitar with the pup at 45 degrees, it's beeeeeautiful!

 

[emann]

I'd take that guitar with the pup at 45 degrees, it's beeeeeautiful!

- thanks!

 

[Rhomco]

This is usually caused by misalignment when changing pickguards. The opening is shifted toward or away from the original pickup mounting holes. Often times you can move the mounting holes to correct the lean. If not the rout must be enlarged or the pickguard changed.
Good luck with your project,
Rob

 

[schmee]

Soft springs? Not that fond of the rubber tubing but it does provide good support.
Screws too long and bottoming out?
Is the pickguard/pickup location causing the pickup to hit the rout wall?
Is the slot in the pickguard not allowing enough space around the pickup perimeter so it hits underneath on something?

Most often it's #1 it seems.

 

[ZiggyZipgun]

Of course, when I'm mounting humbuckers in a pickguard, they're never parallel with the strings, which would require about a 5° angle. They're always perfectly straight in the pickguard. I recently tried installing them with the humbucker mounting rings on the underside of the pickguard, which will work if you have room in the cavity, but you'll still need to countersink the mounting holes and use oval head screws. It just looks so stupid to use mounting rings and a pickguard.

 

[Orpheum]

I think it's the guitar that is strangely tilted, the pickup is perfectly straight.

 

[emann]

I think it's the guitar that is strangely tilted, the pickup is perfectly straight.

 

[emann]

ok..all set and now its fine...adjusted a bit the wiring so that it is not that stretched and also places some poystyrene jablo to balance it better...have a look:


thanks to all!!

 

[memorex]

If the pickup rocks freely in the cavity, as it should, it should hang vertically. If it seems tight, it's hitting something, probably the pickup wire is rubbing on the walls of the cavity. One thing you can do is to bend the height screw slightly in the middle. When you adjust the screw, the pickup will rock back and forth and you can adjust the angle.

 

[schmee]

Also, If the pickup is loose and rocks easily, put a piece of foam under it.