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Is there any trick I can try, when my E and B strings are much louder than wounded G and others? (which is normal I suppose, but with embedded normal humbuckers I could adjust both the individual six screws and also the overall distance.)
However the Eastman AR810 has floating mini humbucker with no individual screws, neither other height adjust possibility.
Beside of trying tone to direction to the dark side (which I do not want to do to the extremes) any idea?
Btw, any setting of the tone pot, there is a loudness step between the B and G which is way disturbing when I try to formulate a phrase...
(Using the "usual" strings, TI 12 flatwounds (roundwound is not an option on this guitar, it makes is zingy zangy)
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09-04-2019 07:23 AM
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If the p'up in your guitar has no polepiece adjustment, the best option Is to play through a good compressor.
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Is the pickup equal distance to both E strings? Don't know how it's mounted on the pickguard but you can probably find a way to shim the bass side up a bit higher.
Originally Posted by Gabor
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Yes, it is. I have no problem with the tone balance, instead the loudness difference between the pure steel an wounded strings, especially the loudness step between B and G Originally Posted by skiboyny
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The only thing I know to do is to get the pickup closer to the bass strings, and further from the plain treble strings. Distance makes a difference, and it often doesn't take much. You can also use steel wound strings instead of nickel or bronze. That definitely makes a difference. Some pickups are made to balance with bronze strings, and some aren't. There isn't much you can do about that, other than to buy a different pickup.
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Another step you can take: keep the gauge of the E and B strings the same, but increase the gauge of the G, D, A, and E (low) strings. This will beef up the sound in relation to the high strings. Or, you could keep the rest the same and drop the gauge of the E and B.
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From the Eastman website these are the strings that were shipped on your guitar.
D’Addario NYXL .012 - .052
Try these before changing anything else.
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I was gonna say strings, but someone beat me to it. If you are using monel, try nickel-wound. If you are using pure nickel-wound, try nickel-wrapped-steel-wound. If you are using-nickel-wrapped-steel-wound, then switch to pure steel-wound. This will undoubtedly solve your problem.
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I say just change the pickup. Strings are such a personal choice in sound/feel...I'd never own a guitar I couldn't use the strings I like on. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Are you using bronze wound strings? As other have mentioned, that pickup is optimized for nickel wound strings. You’d need adjustable pole pieces to balance for bronze wound strings.
I’ve always had the spec strings on my older AR810CE, but in the past few months I decided its unwound strings are a bit too loud. I think the pickup is a little too close to the strings on the treble side, but like yours there are no adjustments. However, the pickguard is mounted fairly high above the body, so I’m going to try removing the mounting screws and temporarily mount it lower using double back adhesive. If that works I may relocate the screw holes to make it permanent. I think the old screw holes will be nearly invisible.
I think the only other alternative is to replace the pickup with an adjustable pole piece model. I’m considering a reissue DeArmond RC1100. That would also give me the option of bronze strings. But I’ll try my pickguard experiment first.Last edited by KirkP; 09-04-2019 at 07:26 PM.
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I agree. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
My point "that I did not convey" is to find out if it really is the strings and not the pickup.
I spent my whole working years fixing things, one of my methods was to get the "thing" being repaired back to a working condition then change things until a failure. Once the problem is isolated then the fix can be applied. That fix could be a different pickup.
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I am using Thomastik Infield Jazz Swing JS 112, which is E, B plain steel, G, D, A, E nickel flat wound. Originally Posted by KirkP
(with factory strings it was really zingy zangy, thought I bought a guitar I could not love, but I relieved, after changing flatwounds )
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I think some people are more sensitive than others. I mostly like pure nickel (newtone archtop or john pearse jazz), but I switched to nickel-wound-steel (those daddarios everyone has) on my tele because the volume balances better with wound g. It was a compromise but worth it to me. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
However, to the OP's credit. As far as flatwounds go, I would never compromise on TIs. Any other flatwounds sound terrible to me.
OP, get a new pickup.
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I've been trying the TI Swing .012 for the first time lately on my Ibanez and the way the gauges are combined I have louder E and B strings, too. The TI set is like the E and B of a .012 set while the wound strings are more like a .011 set. D'Addario chrome sets are better balanced IMHO.
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<< Is there any trick I can try, when my E and B strings are much louder than wounded G and others? ... >>
Louder E and B is ok for many (except folks like Freddy Green) , but not 'much louder'.
Keeping one's favorite string set is preferable.
If there would some clearance (2 to 3mm) be left between the pickup and the guitar top, and you wouldn't mind fiddling around a bit, you could try to stick an alnico magnet bar, or slices, on the bottom of the PU (here under the four lower strings) - though Asian made floating mini humbuckers are so inexpensive that a replacement hardly can hurt.
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Chromes are also made of steel which helps the balance.
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if you cant get the pickup adjusted and some strings are louder than others what I use is a 7 band EQ to balance things out.
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If the pickup is screwed to the pickguard, try putting slightly bending the tab up and adding tiny o-ring between the tab and pickguard to use as spacers. As you tighten the screws, the o-rings compress, giving you some level of adjustment.
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Thanks for all suggestions.
I really like the sound of the strings, but unfortunately with the PU also. I know it's only an (Asian?) floating Kent Armstrong HJGS6, but I am satisfied so far.
I can not see any screw or mounting part, and I am very happy that currently the guitar is not resonating anywhere neither the pickguard, neither the PU, so I prefer not to touch.
Carefully reading all suggestions. I am planning the following, I will post my experience after:
1) Try TI "plain steel brass plated" E and B (currently the strings "plain steel tin plated").
I have no great hopes for this, especially because I have experienced, that plating is wearing within a few weeks, but anyway this is the a minor cost, worth a shot
2) Try D'Addario Chromes 12 flatwound. As far I remember the lower strings have more "piano" like sound (which I do not prefer) when they are new, after then faster become to dull, but I will re-check.
3) If there are no improvements or I can not live with the sound of D'Addarios, then I try a Thomastik Swing 13s, with an E and B from 12s, buying singles.
4) Then I change the PU...
Thanks for all ideas, I will post where I am settled.
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You could also use the TIs and just change the E and B strings – one gauge down. That was the first thing I thought when I tried them. So if you really like the tone of the TIs you could use a .013 set and a .012 E and a .016 B. As the TIs are rather cheap now (e. g. here in Europe Thomann charges 14,50 €) that could be reasonable – at least the cost is not more than a set of chromes (which is 19,50 € now). BTW does anybody has an idea, why the TIs are cheaper than the chromes now – it used to be the other way round? You could also just use a TI George Benson (which uses fater wound strings) set if you don't mind to pay a premium.
I didn't try it yet, but I think that should work. Before changing the pickup (which is quite nice IMHO – I have an older 905 which should have the same) I would at least try it.
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Changing to a plain, unwound G will make the top 3 strings louder. That bothers me less than the top 2 only. It's why I use a plain G.
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Great answer.
Originally Posted by Greentone
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Just a note. If you switch to Chromes get a set of 11s t (but keep your 12 and 16 E and B) to keep the same gauges as your 12 set of TIs. Thomastik uses lighter wound strings for the same gauge treble strings.
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you could try a steel flat wound which are louder than nickel and chrome's. being that all B and E strings are steel
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I’ve been fiddling forever for string balance on my DeArmonds, and I think that everything can contribute to the problem/solution:
- pickup height and “slant” certainly play a role
- strings play a role
- but as LtKojak pointed out, the CIRCUIT you’re plugged into plays a huge role.
Practical example: if I plug my archtop (DeArmond FHC + .12 monel strings) into a blackface amp, my B is a lot louder than the high E. If I plug into a tweed champ or my newly acquired old-school Epiphone amp, the problem just vanishes.
The thing is: these amps have a lot less headroom than the blackface Trem, are less hi-fi, and they compress the signal a lot more.
Before you do anything big, like replacing your PU or ditching strings that you enjoy particularly, I’d borrow a compressor from a friend, or try to plug into a different circuit (“tweedier” if that makes sense), or try to play a little with the gain stages of whatever amp you have. It will cost you nothing, likely teach you something good, and possibly solve or at least alleviate your problem. Good luck!
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