Guest lands297 Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Evening everyone, I've an unusual question. I've a Yamaha BB414 with the stock pickups, the pickups themselves now have foam pads underneath them to raise them up to just under the strings like my old Attitude bass that had Dimarzios that didn't have exposed pole thingies exposed - and wouldn't 'pop' every time the string touched. Now, does anyone know of a solution similar to covering the stock pickups with a vinyl capping of some sort or another in order to stop this as I don't want to resort to either changing pickups or dropping them as this doesn't fit with how I play. If you think this is picky let me tell you about taking a bastard file to the frets Cheers everyone, I'd very much appreciate any help with this.. Quote
icastle Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 How about going low tech and putting a strip of appropriately coloured insulating tape over the poles? Quote
Protium Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 I've seen a few people recommend a layer of clear nail polish over the poles so contact can't be made Quote
Big_Stu Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1363905453' post='2019473'] How about going low tech and putting a strip of appropriately coloured insulating tape over the poles? [/quote] ^This for starters to the actual question. Though it's rare for pickups to be at their optimum for either tone or volume to be so high as to cause such an issue. You say it's due to your playing style, but have you tried to see what they're like a bit lower? PS. Call that butchering? I've butchered my Tele so much it only has the body that's original on it! Edited March 22, 2013 by Big_Stu Quote
brensabre79 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Thats not butchering in the slightest. I thought you were at least gonna get the beeswax out! I know you don't want to hear this, but if the pickups are too close to the strings they will interfere with the strings magnetically and actually pull them in to the pole pieces. Plus they will not sound their best IMO. BUT if you want to play like that its your choice. I would suggest, as others have, getting some black insulation tape and cutting it neatly to sit over the pole pieces - maybe even 2 or 3 strips. Or if you're feeling all Blue Peter, get some fablon / sticky Back plastic from B&Q. Quote
mcnach Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) [quote name='lands297' timestamp='1363900340' post='2019274'] Evening everyone, I've an unusual question. I've a Yamaha BB414 with the stock pickups, the pickups themselves now have foam pads underneath them to raise them up to just under the strings like my old Attitude bass that had Dimarzios that didn't have exposed pole thingies exposed - and wouldn't 'pop' every time the string touched. Now, does anyone know of a solution similar to covering the stock pickups with a vinyl capping of some sort or another in order to stop this as I don't want to resort to either changing pickups or dropping them as this doesn't fit with how I play. If you think this is picky let me tell you about taking a bastard file to the frets Cheers everyone, I'd very much appreciate any help with this.. [/quote] A bit of transparent nail varnish. 60 second by Rimmel. Put a few coats over each polepiece in just a couple of minutes... and you are done. Easy to remove if you want to in the future. Edited March 22, 2013 by mcnach Quote
chrismuzz Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 (edited) The tape option is actually very widely used. I've seen a lot of players with tape on their pickups, including guitarists like Steve Vai and Dimebag... Even I have duct tape on the bridge pickup on one of my 6 string basses! ... Although to be honest, the real reason is because I lost a screw Edited March 23, 2013 by chrismuzz Quote
Guest lands297 Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 You utter bunch of stars. Never even thought of it but I'll try the nail polish one first. My wife at some point today is going to look at me in a slightly camp manner when I ask her for some ha! I'll be back to doing triplets in no time Cheers again everyone, Lee Quote
iiipopes Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 It's not butchering. It's proper setup. That's why all the components on electric basses have screws to adjust them. The nail polish? Yes, it will work, but it will wear off over time, especially if you keep the pickups that close to the strings, and the strings keep hitting the pole pieces. Then you're back to where you started from. As stated above: start with taking an appropriate screwdriver and lowering the pickup a turn on each screw. You will relieve the popping and get better tone. Quote
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