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Author
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Topic: Neck Screws - How Much Torque?
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Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 29 March 2005 07:19 AM
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Lee,
On Sho~Bud guitars, the pickup is screwed down to the body. I'm sure on Emmons wood neck guitars it is done the same way. This could very well contribute to the difference in sound between wood neck and metal neck guitars. I never paid particular attention but I'm quite sure that on the Emmons all-pull, the pickup is not attached to the neck. This difference maybe is what contributes to "that sound"!!!
Erv[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 29 March 2005 at 07:23 AM.] |
Dennis Detweiler
Member From: Solon, Iowa, US
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posted 29 March 2005 08:13 AM
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Since cabinet drop is a factor in relation to the neck. Logic seems to point at the center neck screws being more crucial to torque than the remaining neck screws? So, keeping all neck screws loose and using only the center two screws to adjust for cabinet support and tone/sustain seems to be a good starting point?
DD |
Chris Lucker
Member From: Los Angeles, California USA
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posted 29 March 2005 09:28 AM
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". . .On Sho~Bud guitars, the pickup is screwed down to the body. I'm sure on Emmons wood neck guitars it is done the same way. . . "
Although I have never dismantled a wood neck Push Pull, I do have in my Push Pull parts pile an Emmons cast aluminum changer/pickup surround used on Emmons wood neck push pulls. It is no different from a full Bolt-on neck except that it stops short of the fretboard area where the wood neck begins. Same three screwholes for mounting the pickup on the underside of the neck. Same screw holes for attaching the tail end of the neck insert through the body to the endplate tabs. Going purely by memory, the attachment holes ahead of the pickup near where the wood neck starts may be in a different location than on most aluminum necks. But then, I have one aluminum neck in my parts pile that has slight changes in rib size and location, and middle screw hole locations. I have spare necks with different overall lengths too. Maybe I have some LeGrand necks mixed in? |
Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 29 March 2005 11:03 AM
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Chris,
I think you're right. I'm sure the metal part of the neck that surrounds the pickup and changer are the same for the wood neck or the metal neck, the metal neck is just truncated when a wood neck is substituted.
Erv[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 29 March 2005 at 11:05 AM.] |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 31 March 2005 07:07 AM
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Erv - You may be on to something. Do any other guitars have their pickups attached to the neck, instead of the body? Bobbe? |
Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 31 March 2005 07:21 AM
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I haven't been exposed to a lot of different brands of pedal steels, but the p/p I am presently working on is the only guitar I've seen that has the pickup attached to the neck.
Erv |
Ron Steenwijk
Member From: Greensburg,PA
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posted 31 March 2005 08:09 AM
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Nope.The first one I've build had the Pup attached to the neck also.And it's not a P/P.Don't have it anymore but it had killer tone.It is for sure that a steel with the pup attached to the metal neck has better sound then one with the pup attached to the body.Ron ------------------
Nikaro Steelguitars European Steel Guitar Forum [This message was edited by Ronald Steenwijk on 31 March 2005 at 08:10 AM.]
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Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 31 March 2005 01:16 PM
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We may have just discovered the secret to "the sound"!!!  [This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 31 March 2005 at 01:20 PM.] |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 31 March 2005 01:29 PM
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Now some will tell you it's all in the hands! |
Dennis Detweiler
Member From: Solon, Iowa, US
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posted 31 March 2005 06:10 PM
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My 1976 MSA has pickup mounted to aluminum neck pocket. My 1983 Zum has pickup mounted to the Aluminum neck.
DD |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 02 April 2005 02:17 PM
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So, what kind of test equipment would be required to measure any changes in the tonal spectrum caused by changing the torque on the neck screws? Is there a simple device that could be used to make such measurements, instead of relying on ears? I just don't know if Mythbusters would be interested in this project or not.Lee |
Dennis Detweiler
Member From: Solon, Iowa, US
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posted 02 April 2005 04:07 PM
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If someone has a transducer pickup, try holding it against the body of the guitar and plug it into an amp to bring up the volume while adjusting the neck screws. I don't have one, or I would try it. Maybe this will make the proceedure easier?
DD |
ed packard
Member From: Show Low AZ
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posted 02 April 2005 05:27 PM
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you might try a contact mic, or use the pickup into a software (thru your sound card) into a TRUE RTA software. Free for the simple one, US$100 for the 1/24 octave edition. |
Eric West
Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA
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posted 02 April 2005 05:49 PM
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At one time I tried "isolating" my PIII pickups with rubber spacers. It sounded sterile, and very "removed".I found out why I didn't care for "isolated pickups" nor the guitars at the time that were equipped with them. Like I opined earlier, I'd like to put a transducer pickup inside the wood body of a SB, and have it adjustable in augmenting the stock ones. This because I and a couple others like the "sound" transmitted by slightly microlitic pickups. Hell in the studio, I suppose though, though I rarely get there anyhow..  EJL |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 02 April 2005 08:44 PM
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I don't think using a contact mic nor a transducer would be the way to go. What needs to be tested is what, if anything, happens to the signal coming out of the pickup as the torque is changed. |
Frank Parish
Member From: Nashville,Tn. USA
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posted 03 April 2005 04:54 AM
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I played the drums for years professionally before I ever knew what a steel guitar was and I can tell you that tightening the grip on the wood sticks would choke the tone and the playability right out of any drumsticks. I've experimented around with tightening the screws on my old p/p's more than once and for me at least I tighten them just enough to make sure the endplates stay where they're supposed to and I try to remember just how tight they were when I took them off. I'd say overtightening them would choke the sustain and tone out of the body. After breaking more than one bolt off while working on my old cars I learned to not over tighten anything anymore and my cars, and my steels all work and sound better. |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 03 April 2005 08:29 PM
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Keep in mind that Buddy Emmons said he adjusted the torque while listening to the natural string vibrations with the amp off. Whatever happens with pickups is a different phenomenon. |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 04 April 2005 07:01 AM
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Very true, David. What comes out of the pickup is what I'm most interested in - tone (timbre?) and sustain. |
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