Andy Eagle ( Guitar repair tech for 30 years )

Hi Andy,

What do you recommend for a single coil-sized bridge humbucker for a Squier Bass VI? Something that's fairly easy to swap out without any routing? As much as I love the VI's sound, its pickups are pretty anemic for any proper Loathe-like drive. Probably should've gotten a Schecter, but the Fender was on sale.

Thanks!
 
Digital Igloo said:
Hi Andy,

What do you recommend for a single coil-sized bridge humbucker for a Squier Bass VI? Something that's fairly easy to swap out without any routing? As much as I love the VI's sound, its pickups are pretty anemic for any proper Loathe-like drive. Probably should've gotten a Schecter, but the Fender was on sale.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You are going to need to measure the rout because they have had those built in different factories and they are not quite identical in dimensions . If they will take a USA single coil cover you have options.
A Duncan SSL4 is worth a look.
Squire are built entirely third party and I suspect they just start with a picture. Even a USA Strat pickup doesn’t directly fit half of Squire Strats.
 
Eagle said:
You are going to need to measure the rout because they have had those built in different factories and they are not quite identical in dimensions . If they will take a USA single coil cover you have options.
A Duncan SSL4 is worth a look.
Squire are built entirely third party and I suspect they just start with a picture. Even a USA Strat pickup doesn’t directly fit half of Squire Strats.
Click to expand...
Whew! Okay, I'll dig in. Thanks, Andy! Appreciate it.
 
Fuck it! I am taking it to band practice tonight. Odds of me being obnoxious and annoying
just went through the freaking roof! :LOL:
 
Hello, @Eagle. I have an Ibanez RG420HPFM, which has what Ibanez calls a "double locking tremolo bridge". I am wondering if the Gotoh 1996T would be a direct replacement for this bridge without doing any modifications to the guitar.

Looking at the specs, the guitar's current bridge has a 10.5mm string spacing verses 10.8 for the 1996T. The guitar has a 400mm radius, while the 1996T is at 350mm. Are the differences in these specs anything to worry about?

Here's a pic of the current bridge.

1727622462132.png
 
Rocco Crocco said:
Hello, @Eagle. I have an Ibanez RG420HPFM, which has what Ibanez calls a "double locking tremolo bridge". I am wondering if the Gotoh 1996T would be a direct replacement for this bridge without doing any modifications to the guitar.

Looking at the specs, the guitar's current bridge has a 10.5mm string spacing verses 10.8 for the 1996T. The guitar has a 400mm radius, while the 1996T is at 350mm. Are the differences in these specs anything to worry about?

Here's a pic of the current bridge.

View attachment 29627
Click to expand...
It can be used but it will not sit well visually in the recess rout. The stud spacing is fine and you can mount the 1996 on the studs you have but it sometimes scrapes on the high E side of the baseplate.
It usually is not too involved and represents a huge improvement. The radius and spacing difference is not enough to cause issues and you can easily use a shim set to alter the radius if necessary.
 
hi!

How do you deal with the first fret when leveling?

I want to try to make my own leveling but don’t khow to deal with the first fret that is higher than the rest. All the frets need leveling.

Remove nut, mark it and level until it disappear?

Thanks
 
You do it the same as you do just the end . I have a 6” fine cut diamond level that I draw file into the first four frets. I leave the nut in place and feather it in across the next few frets. If it is more than a hair I would probably dress the whole neck.
 
Does it matter what way around you put in a pickup?

I got a couple of BKPs, Humbuckers, and after the guy put them in I noticed the etched picture was upside down on one. I said it to the guy and he said he thought it went that way because the cable to go out the hole was on that end. But he turned it around anyway, though obviously the cable is now running from the far side and around the pickup.

Anyway, I don't know now if BKP made my pickup upside or if it just doesn't matter what way around they are so they didn't put too much attention to what way around they put the cover on. I did give them very detailed instructions with pictures and diagrams after all.
 
Jynx said:
Does it matter what way around you put in a pickup?

I got a couple of BKPs, Humbuckers, and after the guy put them in I noticed the etched picture was upside down on one. I said it to the guy and he said he thought it went that way because the cable to go out the hole was on that end. But he turned it around anyway, though obviously the cable is now running from the far side and around the pickup.

Anyway, I don't know now if BKP made my pickup upside or if it just doesn't matter what way around they are so they didn't put too much attention to what way around they put the cover on. I did give them very detailed instructions with pictures and diagrams after all.
Click to expand...
It doesn’t matter but the traditional way is the adjustable screw poles on the outside and that does make the neck position wire on the opposite side.
 
Hi Andy, have you got any tips for setting pickup height on a strat? I'm struggling with mine tbh. It's a 7 3/4 to 9 1/2 compound radius board and I've got some pickups from Marc @ mojo pickups. They've got a vintage stagger and are early 60s specs with a slightly hotter bridge.

A strat is the only guitar that I've ever struggled with pickuo heights.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
Hi Andy, have you got any tips for setting pickup height on a strat? I'm struggling with mine tbh. It's a 7 3/4 to 9 1/2 compound radius board and I've got some pickups from Marc @ mojo pickups. They've got a vintage stagger and are early 60s specs with a slightly hotter bridge.

A strat is the only guitar that I've ever struggled with pickuo heights.
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Hi, try fretting the guitar at the last fret and setting the bass Es all at 5mm and the high Es all at 3mm . This distance away from the string fretted at the last fret works well for calibrated sets of medium to low output. Higher output and none calibrated sets benefit from dropping the middle by a mm and the neck by 1-2mm . On vintage stagger often the B is a bit lacking but all you can do without risking the coil is raise the high E slightly.
This is a good starting point and you should tweak by ear if this is not working for you.
 
Eagle said:
Hi, try fretting the guitar at the last fret and setting the bass Es all at 5mm and the high Es all at 3mm . This distance away from the string fretted at the last fret works well for calibrated sets of medium to low output. Higher output and none calibrated sets benefit from dropping the middle by a mm and the neck by 1-2mm . On vintage stagger often the B is a bit lacking but all you can do without risking the coil is raise the high E slightly.
This is a good starting point and you should tweak by ear if this is not working for you.
Click to expand...

Ah that's definitely lower than I've been going. I've been starting at about 3mm on the bass side and 2.5 on the treble side of the bridge pickup and adjusting from there. I keep setting them to a sound I'm happy with and then a few days later not being that into it.

I'll start at your lower settings and go from there. Cheers
 
SillyOctpuss said:
Ah that's definitely lower than I've been going. I've been starting at about 3mm on the bass side and 2.5 on the treble side of the bridge pickup and adjusting from there. I keep setting them to a sound I'm happy with and then a few days later not being that into it.

I'll start at your lower settings and go from there. Cheers
Click to expand...
You can go higher with alnico 2/3.
 
Hi Andy. So far my strats sounding a lot better with the pickups a lot lower than I've had them before. I'll check them out at volume at rehearsal this week.

Another question I have is do you have any advice for blocking a prs trem? We're switching more between drop d and standard tuning so my prs isn't getting played. I'm assuming a wood block is the way to go but thought I'd ask for tips and best practice.

Cheers
 
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