Position of a Rhythm Chief 1000

[Doug B]

I have a Guild A150 Blonde Savoy. The Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1000 came mounted approximately 3/4" from the end if the neck.

Question: Would I notice any difference in tone (for the better) if I repositioned the pickup at the end of the fretboard

Thanks

Doug

[Peter C]

I believe the pickup's mounting bar would allow you to slide it back and forth a bit, the only problem being what appears to be an insert in the pickguard.

[Doctor Jeff]

The RC1000 on my Harmony is mounted at the end of the fingerboard. As I recall, I played around with positions a bit, but did not find it to make much of a difference and kept it close to the neck for aesthetic reasons. There were also some issues with proper position under the strings.

I moved the pickguard over a mm or 2 so I wouldn’t have to cut into it.

[sgosnell]

As noted, the pickup slides along the rod easily enough, unless the pickguard has been cut to hold it in place. I don't use a pickguard, and just keep mine in place with Blu-Tack. I've tried putting it in pretty much every available location, but I don't really hear much difference. The tone perhaps gets slightly brighter nearer the bridge, but it's a very subtle difference, almost inaudible. I generally keep my Rhythm Chief against the end of the neck, because it's more stable there, allowing a little bit of putty to between the end of the neck and the pickup, which results in less movement. It's not really much of an issue for me.

[Woody Sound]

The RC1000 on my Harmony is mounted at the end of the fingerboard. As I recall, I played around with positions a bit, but did not find it to make much of a difference and kept it close to the neck for aesthetic reasons. There were also some issues with proper position under the strings.

I moved the pickguard over a mm or 2 so I wouldn’t have to cut into it.

Hey, that's a beautiful burst finish on that Harmony! Where is the vol control?

[Doug B]

I believe the pickup's mounting bar would allow you to slide it back and forth a bit, the only problem being what appears to be an insert in the pickguard.

Modifying the pickguard was why I asked. I don't want that hassle if there is no difference in tone.

[Doctor Jeff]

Hey, that's a beautiful burst finish on that Harmony! Where is the vol control?

Yes it’s a nice guitar—1964 Brilliant Cutaway. Great mid-century vibe with that guitar, and a good player as well.

The volume and tone controls are Schatten thumbwheels under the pickguard. I installed a Tapasound endhole 1/8” end pin jack, so no extra drilling required.

[sgosnell]

Modifying the pickguard was why I asked. I don't want that hassle if there is no difference in tone.

I don't think you'll find much difference in tone. Some people wail about the small gap between the end of the fretboard and the pickup on ES-175s and such, but moving the pickup to try to hear a difference on those isn't feasible. With a Rhythm Chief, it's very easy to try infinitesimally small movements between the end of the fretboard and the end of the rod. I've done it. I can't really hear any difference between any position. Maybe it's a tiny bit brighter near the end of the rod compared to against the fretboard, but maybe I'm just fooling myself. I certainly wouldn't wreck the pickguard, nor buy a new one, just to try to get a different tone. And I'm talking about the difference between the end of the rod and against the fretboard, not a small fraction of that. Small movements don't change the tone at all, as far as I can hear.

[Cunamara]

The difference in tone between the two positions for the pickup might be about the same as the difference in tone from picking at those locations.

[Doctor Jeff]

When I was trying to position my RC1000 optimally I broke the dang stick. The reissue sticks are made from very cheap steel that won't tolerate much bending without breaking. As I recall, Guild sent me a replacement, or I found one on Ebay, can't recall. It is a well known problem, and at least at the time it wasn't hard to find a replacement.

[sgosnell]

The rod is not made from cheap steel. There is no iron in it at all, AFAICT. It's just pot metal of some sort. The weakest link of the rod is the screw holes. That's where they break, so it's important not to bend them there at all. The cylindrical portion can take some bending, but not the flat part around the screw holes.

[Doug B]

The difference in tone between the two positions for the pickup might be about the same as the difference in tone from picking at those locations.

True enough!

[Doug B]

When I was trying to position my RC1000 optimally I broke the dang stick.

So now you got the monkey OFF the stick?

Doug

[Flat]

The rod is not made from cheap steel. There is no iron in it at all, AFAICT. It's just pot metal of some sort. The weakest link of the rod is the screw holes. That's where they break, so it's important not to bend them there at all. The cylindrical portion can take some bending, but not the flat part around the screw holes.

Word.

[Doctor Jeff]

The rod is not made from cheap steel. There is no iron in it at all, AFAICT. It's just pot metal of some sort. The weakest link of the rod is the screw holes. That's where they break, so it's important not to bend them there at all. The cylindrical portion can take some bending, but not the flat part around the screw holes.

I've heard the term "pot metal" before, but didn't know what it meant. According to Wiki:

Pot metal (or monkey metal) is an alloy of low-melting point metals that manufacturers use to make fast, inexpensive castings. The term "pot metal" came about due to the practice at automobile factories in the early 20th century of gathering up non-ferrous metal scraps from the manufacturing processes and melting them in one pot to form into cast products. Small amounts of iron often made it into the castings but never in significant quantity because too much iron would raise the melting point too high for simple casting operations.

There is no metallurgical standard for pot metal. Common metals in pot metal include zinc, lead, copper, tin, magnesium, aluminium, iron, and cadmium. The primary advantage of pot metal is that it is quick and easy to cast. Because of its low melting temperature, it requires no sophisticated foundry equipment or specialized molds. Manufacturers sometimes use it to experiment with molds and ideas (e.g., prototypes) before casting final products in a higher quality alloy.

Depending on the exact metals "thrown into the pot," pot metal can become unstable over time, as it has a tendency to bend, distort, crack, shatter, and pit with age. The low boiling point of zinc and fast cooling of newly cast parts often trap air bubbles within the cast part, weakening it. Many components common in pot metal are susceptible to corrosion from airborne acids and other contaminants, and internal corrosion of the metal often causes decorative plating to flake off. Pot metal is not easily glued, soldered, or welded.

So yeah, that sounds about right. And yes it did break at the screw holes.

[nopedals]

The pickup is mounted there because that's where guild put them in the 1960s. There was probably a sonic reason for doing it, but it's not consequential enough to tear up a pickguard. IIRC your guitar is not a direct copy of any particular guild model. It probably would not have occurred to them to put a floating pickup on a guitar that didn't have a carved top back then. But take a look at some old pictures of a CA100, and you will likely see the pickup in the same position.