| Author | Message | ||
| hb3
Advanced Member Username: hb3 Post Number: 400 Registered: 2-2005 |
Uh, what? "When you want to change the pickup height: Loosen the two upper screws. Adjust the height of the lower screws to where you prefer. Tighten the upper screws enough to secure the pickup in place, just enough to hold the pickup snugly." This is obviously one of those IQ tests I'm miserably failing. "Upper screws" refers to looking at the bass vertically? So one of the "uppers screws" is visible and one is hidden? And the same with the "lower screws": one is visible and one is hidden? What does "adjust the height of the lower screws to what you prefer" mean? I am very successfully creating a loose pickup and occasionally can tighten it up so that it's real low. I would like to raise it. So I loosen the "lower screws" so the pickup can be lifted up. Ok. Then I can't tighten it again so it'll hold that position. It's just loose. Thanks! | ||
| hb3
Senior Member Username: hb3 Post Number: 401 Registered: 2-2005 |
Oh, wait! "Upper" means "visible." Oy. | ||
| hb3
Senior Member Username: hb3 Post Number: 402 Registered: 2-2005 |
Someone shoot me now. | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 1052 Registered: 11-2004 |
*blam* =) It's OK- you should have seen me trying to figure out Joey's setup instructions the first time.... I'm sure landing a plane or delivering a baby would have been easier for me. Functional Stupidity is a gift- embrace it. I've done so and it's made my life all the richer. Toby | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 8332 Registered: 5-2002 |
Hee hee ! | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 2594 Registered: 2-2006 |
Be sure and heed the part that says "tighten the upper screws just enough to hold the pickup snuggly", overtightening can be a very costly error. OO | ||
| southpaw
Advanced Member Username: southpaw Post Number: 227 Registered: 12-2004 |
hb3, don't beat yourself up! you are not the first or the last person to miss the genius in this simple design. Think of it as an ink blot test! Just remember to be gentle on the visble screws like Olie said... very little tension is needed. | ||
| hb3
Senior Member Username: hb3 Post Number: 403 Registered: 2-2005 |
hey fellow southpaw...yes, I figured that out. I'm a pickup adjusting master now... | ||
| bsee
Senior Member Username: bsee Post Number: 2388 Registered: 3-2004 |
I had to pull the pickup out of my bass last week to make the adjustment. For whatever reason, the insert for one of the "upper" screws came out and therefore wasn't holding the pickup down. I ended up pulling it out and reversing the positions of the upper and lower screws so that the loose insert was now being pushed in rather than pulled out. Seems to be working, but looks funny unless I pull everything for the other pickup to make them match. Other than pressure, is there anything that's supposed to be holding that insert in the wood? I suspect a dab of super glue would get it back in and holding, but I don't want to pull a hack job and do something inappropriate and irreversible. -bob | ||
| chalkie
Junior Username: chalkie Post Number: 20 Registered: 6-2009 |
Bob, You probably want to read the installing threaded inserts thread from the FAQs. Charlie | ||
| robinc
Intermediate Member Username: robinc Post Number: 155 Registered: 5-2008 |
In the instructions above, where is the one drop of super glue going? I'm having a similar problem where my pickups are constantly becoming loose and flopping around. I suspect the insert is stripped because I have tried many times to adjust the pickups to a height where they are secure. Unfortunately such adjustments only last for a couple days, maybe a week, before falling loose again. Any help on this situation would be greatly appreciated! | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 4130 Registered: 7-2004 |
The concept of "super glue" in this context scares me! It sounds like the wood is stripped where you screw in the adjustment screws. You might try to remove the pickup and test the screw holes to see which are stripped. You can then try the simplest fix - stick a toothpick in the hole - or you can try filling the hole with something like plastic wood, or a paste made of wood dust and wood glue and re-drilling. The top-of-the-line fix, I'd imagine, is to sink metal inserts into which the adjustment screws with then go. If you already have metal inserts (your post is a little ambiguous on this point), then you'll probably need to remove the inserts, fill the holes, and re-drill and re-insert the inserts. Bill, tgo | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 6441 Registered: 6-2000 |
You can inspect the insert by removing the pickup and testing the screw in it without the pickup. Just see if it's spinning in there, then let me know. | ||
| dfung60
Advanced Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 396 Registered: 5-2002 |
robinc - If the adjustments aren't holding very long, you've probably got bad fit of the threads to the insert. When your bass was born, it was a freshly cut brass insert that fit perfectly with an expensive stainless steel screw. The stainless steel is super hard and the brass is not, so over time, the fit can become loose, or perhaps somebody changed the screw. The fix is cheap and easy. Go to your local hardware store and get a small tube of Loctite BLUE threadlocking compound. It's usually #242 when you get the tiny tube, but the same stuff might have a different number if you get a larger size. This is the low-strength/removable fomula. You unscrew the screw and put few drops of the liquid on the threads, then put the screw in where you want it. When the Loctite cures, in just minutes, it will fill the gaps between the threads and hold the screw in place enough that your probably should be solved. If you change your mind, the compound will release with easy screwdriver torque - it holds just hard enough to keep things from untightening on their own, but is easily changed. What you DON'T want is RED Loctite which will be sold right next to the blue stuff. This is a much stronger compound that effectively is permanent for small screws (you heat the bolt up to remove it, which would be bad news for your pickup adjustment screws!). Somebody at Loctite must have a very strange sense of humor. They make three different compounds of varying strength, and identify them by the color, then put them ALL in red tubes! The third type of Loctite is green and is intentionally permanent. Anyway, the application of about $0.10 of blue Loctite should solve your problem for good. This stuff is great and you'll immediately think of 20 annoyances that this will fix. You'll be tempted to put it in your gig bag, but don't do it! The same joker who thought that it made sense to color-code the compounds then put them all in the same color tube also designed a tube that will leak without fail at the slightest provocation. Unless you want everything in your gig back to have a bluish tint, just leave the little tube at home! David Fung | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 4132 Registered: 7-2004 |
Wow, loctite! Brings back memories of my old Austin-Healy Bugeye Sprite. lol Bill, tgo | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 460 Registered: 5-2009 |
That would be worth quite a bit now Bill. Like the 1966 Sunbeam Tiger (289 cubic inch ) that I let go. | ||
| robinc
Intermediate Member Username: robinc Post Number: 156 Registered: 5-2008 |
Thanks for the advice all! I have rehearsal tomorrow so I don't want to mess around with it at the moment, but as soon as I get an opportunity I will do a little bass surgery and get back to you all. | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2458 Registered: 10-2002 |
Bill. My spridget is in need of a little more than loctite ;-) | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2459 Registered: 10-2002 |
oops - forgot the pic. Bodyshell is on it's side having just had a new floor..  Graeme | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 4133 Registered: 7-2004 |
Ahh yes, old British sports cars. Of course you know why they drink warm beer in England? Lucas refrigerators! Lucas: Prince of Darkness. Bill, tgo | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 462 Registered: 5-2009 |
Many of them used a Positive ground for a while! | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1739 Registered: 6-2002 |
I've been checking over my orion guitar in prep for a gig on Friday. I notice the pickups are not parallel to the strings. Should they be? Is that a problem if they are not. ?. There is only one screw in the middle on each side of the pickup so they don't have the same kind of adjustment as other pickups. Jazzyvee | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 6445 Registered: 6-2000 |
The pickups are usually parallel to the top of the pickguard or the bottom of the pickup routing in the 2-screw mounting scheme. There's no problem to have a slightly different angle, especially if they sound good. | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1742 Registered: 6-2002 |
Thanks Mica, yes they sound good, ( obviously), but I noticed that with the pickup in the middle position, the bridge pickup seemed to have more dominance over the sound and I was thinking of raising neck pickup to get more of its tone into the output. That's when I started thinking if the angle would make any difference. I will have a go at raising the bridge pickup to get more of it's the tone then balance the volumes with the gain pots inside. Jazzyvee | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 6446 Registered: 6-2000 |
The gain inside only impacts the overall volume because as I recall your guitar has one preamp. You would need a preamp for each pickup to be able to adjust the gains independently. | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1745 Registered: 6-2002 |
Ahh Mica, i think you are mixing up my guitars. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. My Orion guitar now has the vol, filter and Q-switch that I sent to you for servicing. The vol, bass & treble circuit is in the stratocaster. The middle position I refer to in my posting is the mid switch position on my Orion guitar. I want to get the balance of tone between bridge and neck to be more even. At the moment it seems brighter as the bridge pickup is closer to the strings than the neck. Jazzyvee | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 6447 Registered: 6-2000 |
There's still only one preamp in the Filter/Q switch system. You'll see only one trimpot in the inside. The only control you have over the output of the two pickups is the distance from the strings when there is one preamp. | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1746 Registered: 6-2002 |
Ok Cool, thanks Mica. Jazzyvee |
