1947 Gibson L-5 Floating Pickup Problem

[manatttta]

Hi, I have a Gibson L5 1947 and had a floating pickup installed. The problem is that the neck has sunken a little bit over the years and the pickup touches the strings a bit. Just by a single millimetre.
The pickup is a floating Kent Armstrong, glued to the Pickguard. What can be done there? Maybe install a thinner pickup? Change the angle of the pickup somehow? Thanks

[wintermoon]

Not sure how difficult it would be to remove it from the guard since its glued but if possible you could either find a way to add a spacer between the mmounting tab and guard and reattach it to get it closer to the top and away from the strings, but judging from the pic you don't have much room.
Failing that a thinner pickup like a Bilcroft should get you there.

[manatttta]

Yep, there is no room below the pickup.
what other thinner pickups are there ?

[fabiansey]

Krivo is great

[icr]

Usually when the top sinks the bridge needs to be raised and the strings would be farther from the pickup. Perhaps the neck needs to be re-set as I see your bridge is almost all the way at the bottom of the adjustment.

[Jimmy blue note]

Usually when the top sinks the bridge needs to be raised and the strings would be farther from the pickup. Perhaps the neck needs to be re-set as I see your bridge is almost all the way at the bottom of the adjustment.

Yup. Consider a neck reset. It's hard to tell what's really going on without the strings at tension. I can't see the action you're dealing with, I can't see if the neck is pulling more with the tension of the strings but I'd guess the neck will pull even further up, and will change the geometry even more in an undesirable direction.
It's not easy to assess without the strings at tension. But either way from what I see, I'd say a neck reset is an option you might consider. How's the action when you're playing? Have you used a D'Armond pickup? They're thin and work well with older guitars that didn't have the higher break over angles of more modern guitars.

[wintermoon]

w/ all due respect to Jimmy a neck reset would be a last resort in my mind.
if done correctly playability can be made optimal but down the road it'll impact resale value on an archtop as opposed to say a vintage Martin flattop where it's almost expected at some point in it's life.

[Jimmy blue note]

w/ all due respect to Jimmy a neck reset would be a last resort in my mind.
if done correctly playability can be made optimal but down the road it'll impact resale value on an archtop as opposed to say a vintage Martin flattop where it's almost expected at some point in it's life.

I agree with you wintermoon. I really don't know how unhealthy or actually unplayable the guitar is from those photos given. That suggestion is based on the assumption that the guitar had been pulled out of alignment at some point. It would then be a correction to put it back to where it should normally be. I've done resets and done properly, there's no harm done and a lot to be gained.
Honestly, it's hard to tell from a photo of a guitar without any strings. Does the guitar need corrective surgery? The answer to that question would go a long way towards determining an informed course of action.
And yes, I was thinking about the playability and not the resale value. I do forget that in taking into consideration those costs and considerations, optimum playability and condition is something else completely.
Good point.

[wintermoon]

I agree with you wintermoon. That suggestion is based on the assumption that the guitar had been pulled out of alignment at some point. It would then be a correction to put it back to where it should normally be. I've done resets and done properly, there's no harm done and a lot to be gained.
Honestly, it's hard to tell from a photo of a guitar without any strings. Does the guitar need corrective surgery? The answer to that question would go a long way towards determining an informed course of action.
And yes, I was thinking about the playability and not the resale value. I do forget that in taking into consideration those costs and considerations, optimum playability and condition is something else completely.
Good point.

Understandable, you're looking at it from a luthiers pov which isn't a bad thing, their usual mindset is how can I get this playing it's best, cost/resale value is usually secondary.
i have several guitars w the bridge bottomed out but they've been that way for years and play fine.
Whether or not the necks pull up any more in their lifetime remains to be seen but if it happens during my ownership I'll address it then.

[Jimmy blue note]

This pickup is my choice when it comes to tight clearance floating pickups.

and I love the way they sound. If you've got a good sounding guitar, this will bring it out.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I’m not a luthier, but I had a discussion with Mark Lacey one time about Gibsons and neck resets. He said in his opinion that it was extremely rare for a Gibson archtop to need a reset.


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[Jimmy blue note]

I’m not a luthier, but I had a discussion with Mark Lacey one time about Gibsons and neck resets. He said in his opinion that it was extremely rare for a Gibson archtop to need a reset.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. An instrument like this, as old as it is, as many owners and as many possible gauges of strings as an old guitar may have seen, puts a lot of adverse factours into the mix.
Myself, I have seen Gibsons that needed neck work. Not many, but I see the rare one that does, because I see people who have that guitar that needs work. Also, we're talking wood here. Those lovely curly woods everyone loves to see on their necks? That's non uniform grain, and it might be seen as non optimum wood, which Gibson has to work with. Gibson or anyone cannot assure perfect longevity in something as organic as the growth of the tree that neck was cut from. We can only pick the best we can get and build it as true as we can. Wood twists. Wood breathes. Wood fights against heavy gauge strings. Wood in a neck sits in a pocket of a hollow box and is subject to hundreds of pounds of pull for (here, we're talking 80) years.
I love the reliability of old Gibsons but I have seen my share of old Gibsons that have become unplayable. Some have been owned by people who, for whatever reason, just don't want to deal with the costs of such an undertaking. If a neck goes seriously south, you don't take it to the luthier, you cry and put might put it in your basement. No luthier sees that guitar on their bench.
Gibson did a great job of building them right. The rest is fate and real life.
But yeah, statistically, Gibson earned their reliability reputation.

[skykomishone]

I couldn't fit a regular thickness Kent Armstrong on my '44 L7. I finally decided on a Lollar Goldfoil. It fits and works great on this guitar.

[icr]

Least expensive way out of this might be to just mount the pickup lower on the pickguard.