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Hi,
Just bought a Shadow Atilla Zoller AZ48 pickup and want to mount it to my Ibanez AF105F, except the bracket on the new p/u will not slide into the channel on the neck where the stock one sits. Bracket arms are slightly higher than the channel. How involved is this for a luthier to tackle and are there any other mounting options? I've heard of mounting pickups underneath the fingerest, but don't the poles in the pickup have to line up or be underneath the strings???
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11-15-2009 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by pmgnut
I cut the arms off mine and stuck it down with Blutack - or you can use some form of adhesive pads. I'd like to say I thought of this myself, but I didn't of course - saw it as a tip on another forum which claimed it gave a better tone that being fixed to either the solid neck or cut into the moving top.Think 'randyc' has a photograph of one of his floaters mounted in this way.
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RAQ: perhaps this photo ?
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So, this blutack will hold well and not peel up the finish when removed? That might be just the thing for me.
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That would be the ideal set up as long as it didn't wreak havoc with the finish if it ever has to be removed. Thanks for posting. Is there such a thing as mounting under the fingerest? Just looking at all options before I jump into anything.
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Originally Posted by JohnRosett
I accept the effect of 'sticky pads' on the guitar finish is (to me at least) a bit of an unknown quantity - which is why I was tempted to try the Blutack method (that reuseable office 'putty' stuff) - so caution here is sensible; but some sort of adhesive solution (sorry about the pun) does seem to be an alternative accepted method for mounting a floating pickup. The tip I found claimed that Blutack did not affect the finish - I'm not so sure about double-sided tape though. In my case I was trying to swap a standard floater with a MIK Kent Armstrong, but neither the neck or screw spacings were the same so I was faced with drilling new pilot holes in the neck (not easy) and then rigging up some sort of distance pieces to match the neck width; and still get the floater into the right position with respect to the strings. I used Blutack on an Aria and then the Epi I later fitted the PAF to, so I wasn't really risking that much with either guitar. I've since fitted a Bartolini - going cheap and manufactured without mounting brackets, so somebody somewhere must be using this method - as Randy's photograph seems to show. I've tested two or three pickups now - which I could not have done if I had to keep drilling and fitting each time - and it's worked so well I've left it as it is. There are pickguard mounting options for some pickups and this may be a better route to take - it's just that I tend to remove pickguards.
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Yes there is indeed such a thing - I have just ordered a Kent Armstrong Slimbucker pickup which will mount this way on my Ibanez Joe Pass. It has a simple bracket on the right-hand side which is designed to attach to the underside of the finger-board. Although I'm planning to also use some foam pads on the pickup base as some of the others have already described - a belt and braces job! Originally Posted by pmgnut
You would have to make and fit some kind of suitable bracket to use this approach with your pickup I would think. I'm neither suggesting this as a good nor bad idea as I'm afraid I'm fairly inexperienced with this sort of thing myself. Hope you can find a good way of getting the pickup on there though! Let us know how the guitar sounds when it's done too please.
EDIT: Having just re-read your original post - Yes the polepieces should line up as far as possible - so the pickup should be centrally placed under the end of the fingerboard. For my mod (for example) this will mean removing a bit of the finger-board to allow this (the pickup is too wide otherwise) - so I'm making a new fingerboard rather than have to alter the original.Last edited by Meggy; 11-16-2009 at 08:26 AM. Reason: Additional info added
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Meggy- I have to do the same thing with my fingerest, remove a very small amount to allow for the wider pickup. Not sure what the best tool is for this, probably should make up a template of some sort
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Well, I'm not very expert or experienced at this sort of stuff either. The one thing I would say is do anything you can that will help make the job less error prone and more accurate. And always exercise a careful, cautious approach - there is nothing worse than cutting away too much material, or in the wrong place, or going too quickly and causing damage, and then knowing there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can ever do to put things back how they were! Originally Posted by pmgnut
My new pickguard has come out well by the way - I used a template which I stuck to the material to be cut with double sided tape so I would recommend that even if you're not making a whole new pickguard. And measure things carefully, plus remember you can always cut/file away a little more material, but you can't put it back!
On the subject of mounting the pickup, I would now put in a vote for some sort of foam/rubber material on the base (not too soft though) plus double sided tape to mount it to the guitar body. This has worked great on my Ibanez, and I have not needed or wanted to use the side-mount bracket on the pickup (it is still attached but is hidden by the scratchplate anyway). It can be a little tricky to get the pickup height right with this approach, but it IS foolproof in the end (also using a mounting bracket would be at least as tricky anyway as you can't move holes you have already drilled!). Hope you get things how you want them!
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Additionally, all the accidental noises that the pickguard ALWAYS produces don't get microphonically transmitted through your pickup. I've become a fan too after observing the mounting on the Heritage Golden Eagle and the nice way that the pickup functioned without being hard-mounted. Originally Posted by Meggy
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Good point Randy sir, I hadn't even considered that one, but another good reason to go for the base mounting method. It's simple and easy to do, but it works AND there are other positive benifits like the one you mention. Originally Posted by randyc
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Well I finally got the AZ48 mounted and it sounds great. Has a super nice jazzy ring to it. I had a luthier do it who I wasn't too familiar yet with his work but he did a decent job for a reasonable price. Ideally, I wanted the pickup in the same location - floating on the end of the neck. The channel for the factory pickup arms{bracket} is slightly smaller than the AZ48 bracket, so he had to do some intricate carving out to accomodate the new one. The factory cut out on the finger rest/pickguard also had to be extended just a bit in which he used a template to make it look real nice.
Last edited by pmgnut; 12-21-2009 at 10:45 AM.
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Glad to see things have worked out so well pmgnut! It's always a bit of a leap into the unknown having mods like this done - you know what you hope will be achieved but... I don't blame you at all for staying with the traditional floating mount system, nor for getting a luthier to do the tricky stuff! It looks very nice indeed, and I must say you get a lot of nice flame on that model Ibanez for your money. How does the sound of the AZ48 compare to the stock pickup? Originally Posted by pmgnut
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Well when I got to the guy's place to pick it up I plugged it in and played it on a low setting, through his amp. I didn't notice any mind blowing change, but then again, I wanted to have this plugged into my own amp and dig a little deeper. Got it home, plugged her in and I instantly noticed a nice "warm ring" to it for lack of better description. The stock p/u was a good pickup but a bit on the bright, tinny side, but great for certain applications however not what I liked. The Shadow has a much more jazzy sound to it - warmer, richer tones. I'm happy I did the swap. I'll have to admit though I was nervous about giving this guy a chance to do the work - I kept imagining my guitar looking like a beaver was gnawing on it.
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Sounds like you got a good improvement to me - I wouldn't expect the difference to be massive either, but sometimes what seems a subtle improvement can be a very big difference in terms of how the guitar responds and plays in the end. I think you will be very pleased with this mod in the months to come. I know what you mean about worrying when you leave your prized axe with an untried luthier though - and I have heard of, and sadly even seen, a few horrible hatchet jobs in the past! Shudder!
Enough of such talk though - you have a lovely guitar there.
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You guys gave a great dissertation. You spoke of problems unforeseen and innovative solutions. I am trying to decide on p/u for my Manouche guitar, which has a Korean made p/u mounted on the fretboard. I would appreciate any opinions on jazz p/u's.
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Any chance of a pic of the existing p/u? Originally Posted by royall13
My first post on the forum, and it's a grumble. I have a (cheap!) grande bouche Maccaferri style guitar which I wanted to put a pickup on. I found NO WAY of attaching a standard acoustic soundhole one due to the massive D void, or any other temporary solution due to the extended fingerboard. So I got a neck-mount pickup, accepting I'd have to hack off the extended bit, only to find it was for a neck end of 56mm and not the 62mm of mine. Thankfully I hadn't taken the fret saw to it at that stage.
Oh AND due it having a flat not arch top it the mounting arms would have had to be screwed into the binding rather than a convenient bit of wood underneath. Which meant the pickup housing itself would be higher than the strings.
AAAARRGGGH!
Andrew.
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Ain't no good way to mount a mag pickup onto a D-hole gypsy guitar
I ended up using a Baggs acoustic soundhole pickup with a couple of dual-lock velcro on one side, then a piece of pickguard material with dual-lock on both sides snapped onto the pickup, and finally a strip of dual-lock attached to the brace inside the far side of the soundhole (i.e. the side closest to the bridge.) The advantage is that I can leave the cable inside the guitar and just remove the pickup/pickguard part leaving only a strip of dual-lock on the brace which has no acoustic impact. The Baggs has a female mini jack so the cable can be completely detached from the pickup.
It's easier to see than talk about If I can, I'll try to take some pictures.
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Hello Andrew and welcome. I kind of like the idea of an 'arrrghhh' for a first post. Shows you're paying attention.
I'm trying to figure out how to amplify one of these:
Not actually a Gypsy Jazz but an archtop that looks like one. And one of my favorite guitars. Seems like the options short of going to a mic are:
- Gypsy Jazz style clip on magnetic (expensive and electric sounding)
- Archtop bridge with piezo (would miss the current extra long bridge and it's a, yuck, piezo)
- K&K Macaferri (inside the guitar 2 piezo array.. so far best compromise but not optimistic about the sound)
I can't use the Schatten setup because I have X bracing and the Schatten sits astride parallel braces.
There are always other options of course.. but it seems there is always something in the way of amplified acoustic happiness.
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I bought a Krivo magnetic pickup for my DuPont Petite Bouche. It sounds great (much warmer than a piezo) and it mounts quickly with a pinch of that blue tacky stuff. This makes it easy to put on and take off as required with no modifications to the guitar. It is covered in a wood veneer rather than metal - The wood is not perfect cosmetically, but it looks ok and it really sounds excellent. DjangoBooks.com sells them. here is a link:
Krivo Nuevo Single Coil Gypsy Jazz Guitar Pickup - DjangoBooks.com
Keith
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I actually didn't know about that one.. thanks Keith
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You're welcome Spook. There is a fair amount of discussion about amplifying Gypsy guitars on the DjangoBooks.com forum. If you haven't already checked out that information, it might be helpful. Michael Horowitz is a great guy to deal with.
Keith
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I have one of those as well, and they're good pickups, but I hate the putty stuff. I had mine slide right off my guitar summer before last playing a gig in a warm room Originally Posted by floatingpickup
. I now have it rigged up with a small plastic box (a battery box from and old DOD pedal) with (surprise!) dual-lock velcro. The pup has a strip of dual-lock on the bottom, which snaps into a strip of dual-lock on top of the box, and there is another strip of dual-lock on the side of the box which then snaps into the velcro on the brace. I tend to whack the pickup when playing and it's mildly microphonic so it's a really loud "clack" when I hit it. Also, the cable doesn't detach from the pickup and the wire is really thin, so I lived in fear of a short in the wire when I would take it off the guitar and store it in the case. i don't have any of these issues with the Baggs and it sounds better on the low strings -- less "tubby" -- though YMMV.
I think they're better for o-hole models than d-holes. Brian Cole Darby here in Portland uses one and sound great! Of course he'd sound great on anything...
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D.G.: Which Baggs pickup do you have? i didn't think Baggs made one that will fit on a petite Bouche?
Keith
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I very nearly understand ;-) Originally Posted by D.G.
Ain't no good way to mount a mag pickup onto a D-hole gypsy guitar I ended up using a Baggs acoustic soundhole pickup with a couple of dual-lock velcro on one side, then a piece of pickguard material with dual-lock on both sides snapped onto the pickup, and finally a strip of dual-lock attached to the brace inside the far side of the soundhole (i.e. the side closest to the bridge.) The advantage is that I can leave the cable inside the guitar and just remove the pickup/pickguard part leaving only a strip of dual-lock on the brace which has no acoustic impact. The Baggs has a female mini jack so the cable can be completely detached from the pickup.
It's easier to see than talk about If I can, I'll try to take some pictures.
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