Is it common to have to deepen pickup cavities on Gibsons?

[jones]

I have an issue I'm rather surprised by. I am trying to setup my ES339. The pole piece screws in the neck are hitting the bottom of the route and I can't lower the pickup any more. I looked into it and it seems that 3/4's of an inch is the standard length of the poles, so it seems the problem is the route and changing pick ups won't help the issue. I'm not doing anything radical, pretty much trying to get it to factory specs. Anyone else ever run into this?

[JOLLY]

I've never had a problem with any of mine, but I also don't have an ES-339.

[idsnowdog]

I have an issue I'm rather surprised by. I am trying to setup my ES339. The pole piece screws in the neck are hitting the bottom of the route and I can't lower the pickup any more. I looked into it and it seems that 3/4's of an inch is the standard length of the poles, so it seems the problem is the route and changing pick ups won't help the issue. I'm not doing anything radical, pretty much trying to get it to factory specs. Anyone else ever run into this?

Cut the poles flush with the baseplate. It will improve the clarity and note definition of the pickup and give you the clearance you need. If the legs are too long you can also swap the baseplate to one with shorter legs.

[darthphineas]

do you have the long mounting legs or the short mounting legs?

better yet, you can also do something similar to what Lee Roy Parnell does to his Gibson LP. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVgr20cYHg go to around the 5:15 mark. a variation that might work for you is that if you have the clearance, you can drill out small, short holes for each pole piece to go right down in to. Lee Roy calls it a 'tone throne'.

[JOLLY]

do you have the long mounting legs or the short mounting legs?

better yet, you can also do something similar to what Lee Roy Parnell does to his Gibson LP. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVgr20cYHg go to around the 5:15 mark. a variation that might work for you is that if you have the clearance, you can drill out small, short holes for each pole piece to go right down in to. Lee Roy calls it a 'tone throne'.

Damn. I love everything about that guitar!! That's what I call a true signature guitar.

[Luke Duke]

Pole pieces or pickup screws? You say polepieces but describe a pickup screw problem.

[jones]

For now I've adjusted it so the rest off the pickup is farther away by moving the pole pieces out and letting the body drop. Not sure what I'm going to do. Scratching my head, these things cost over two grand street! Shouldn't have to disassemble the guitar and modify it to set it up to factory specs! The pole pieces are touching the bottom of the cavity, and with the strings height and neck adjusted to spec, they are 2/32nds from the strings when they should be able to reach 3/32nd. I still love this guitar though...

[jones]

I've seen people recommend cutting the pole pieces, I'm not really that handy, does anyone sell shorter pieces?

[formula73]

do you have the long mounting legs or the short mounting legs?

better yet, you can also do something similar to what Lee Roy Parnell does to his Gibson LP. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVgr20cYHg go to around the 5:15 mark. a variation that might work for you is that if you have the clearance, you can drill out small, short holes for each pole piece to go right down in to. Lee Roy calls it a 'tone throne'.

I'd drill a bit for the screws and no more. My EN-V has very shallow routs and had very short mounting screws with the original EMGs. Drill a little bit down in under the ears and normal length screws fit. Took 3 minutes. No big deal. I don't see why it wouldn't work for your screw poles.

Edit: and you are ABSOLUTELY right. You shouldn't NEED to do this. It might be a pain in the ass but see if there's something Gibson will do. That's definitely a defect, easy to fix or not.

[darthphineas]

I've seen people recommend cutting the pole pieces, I'm not really that handy, does anyone sell shorter pieces?

Cutting the pole pieces (or using shorter ones) is going to change the magnetic field and alter the sound of your pickup. Unless that's what you want to do.

[jones]

The ring was mounted backwards. SMH. Now it measures a perfect 3/32nds with the pole pieces touching the bottom of the route.

[ItsaBass]

Cool video. My favorite line: "Imagine that; a guitar player gettin' the wrong idea..." ha ha.

I put my pickups low a lot of the time, and I do run into that problem. The pickup starts to angle toward the slug side once the screws hit the bottom and you keep lowering. At that point, you won't get any lower; all you will do is angle the pickup, so I just bring it back up to the point where it lies flush with the rings.

Eventually I will get in there and slice off the ends of the screws, I think.

[jones]

I think I'd rather drill in a few shallow holes if I want to lower it more, but for now, all good. Thanks for the input!

[gibson175]

The ring was mounted backwards. SMH. Now it measures a perfect 3/32nds with the pole pieces touching the bottom of the route.

glad it was a simple fix.