sooooo... my guitar tech

mystixboi1

Kick Henry Jackassowski
I've been going to the same guy for a few years. He generally does good work. He did, one time, break a piece of hardware off of a bridge and made me pay for the replacement.... but besides that, he does pretty good work. And he's pretty cost effective.

One of my Strat builds had something funky going on with the middle and neck pickups. I had bought a preloaded pickguard from guitar fetish(never again... pure crap). but I ended up replacing the pickups with Dragonfire single sized humbuckers.

I love these pickups... totally inexpensive but sound great.

Back to the Strat... when I took it to my tech and explained the issues, he said that it would cost $20 - $30 or so to see what was up with the wiring and take care of a few frets that were buzzing.

He called me today and said that the guitar was ready to be picked up. He asked if I had done the wiring. I said it was and that I just matched what he did with another guitar with the same pickups. He said that I shouldn't have done that and followed a schematic because what he did with the other wiring was funky. I told him that I had tried doing what the schematic said but it sounded even worse than what I ended up with.

He then started talking about how important it was for me to follow schematics and that I couldn't just put any pickup in any position in the guitar because they are made for specific positions. I told him that all 3 pickups were the same and were meant to be used in any position of the guitar. He then told me that they might be the same brand but definitely weren't the same pickups as their output measured differently.

I ordered the pickups from the same company... it's the only dual rail they offer. The website specifically states that it can be used in all 3 positions. I told him this and he said, "I don't believe that".

I then said, " I don't know what to tell you then. How much is the total?"

He paused and then answered "$60". What?!?!?!

That's two or three times more than he quoted me.

I pick it up in an hour or so... I honestly don't care how much it costs. As long as it sounds good, then I'll be happy.

Sorry for the long rant... something just rubbed me wrong about the conversation.

/RANT
 
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while your guy may be good with setting up guitars and intonation, etc. but he's wrong about strat pickups.
in the beginning......all strat pickkups were (more or less) the same. fender NEVER wound pickkups specifically for a position. in fact that went all thru the 60's.
other than specific pickup models (Texas Specials, Jimmy Vaughn Tex-Mex's, etc.) they're still all the same. quite a few "boutique" makers do the position specific thing. but that's not how fender did it.
 
I actually don't disagree with either you or him completely...

I've put "neck" or "bridge" pickups in different locations with good results but the common practice is to put the hottest one in the bridge and work your way back from there regardless of where they were labeled to go. If one is labeled as a "bridge" versus a neck, they're most commonly the same pickup with a few extra winding to be half to a couple ohms hotter than the middle or neck.

If you bought three pickups that were the exact same model, I would measure each with an ohm meter and put them in order from hottest in the bridge on down even if it's only a few percent of an ohm difference.
 
My ToneRider City Limits set were specifically marked bridge, middle and neck. From memory they are rated in the same order @baimun suggested to use to select them.
 
Normally bridge pickups are hotter than neck pickups due to the fact that the neck pickup position is naturally louder being closer to the center of the string vibration.

Now, if the manufacturer states that it's suitable for any position, and it's the exact same model pickup, then the only difference should be if the manufacturer has pretty high tolerances in their quality control.
 
The extra $30.00 or so was because he rubbed each pickup with a piece of pure crystal lattace. It imparts a small amount of mojo.... :embarrassed:
 
The extra $30.00 or so was because he rubbed each pickup with a piece of pure crystal lattace. It imparts a small amount of mojo.... :embarrassed:

Yours must have been fraudulent, I'm sorry to say.

A genuine crystal lattice rub on pick-ups would easily have run close to $600. Each.
 
I looked at the website. If i'm right, you purchased the Duo Rails. There only seems to be one model, as in you can't buy a calibrated set. So in this case there's no such thing as "neck" or "bridge" versions. It's just one version. The way you would calibrate the output is by raising/lowering the pickups to match.

That said, I'd have charged you $60 too. $30 to undo whatever you did, and $30 to do it right.
 
Just for the record, if we're talking about single-coil strat pickups, the middle pickup (nowadays) is usually rwrp, and it can't be put just anywhere. As for humbuckers, you need to match the polarity or they will be out of phase when played together. Different manufacturers do have different wiring and phase schemes.
 
I got the guitar back and it has the worst grounding problem ever. When I tried it as his place before I left, it was only on clean tone. I thought I noticed a buzz but it could've been his amp.

I called him about it after playing through my amp. I couldn't even stand playing it for more than 20 seconds because with any kind of dirt, the buzz was unbearable.

When I called him about it, he said that because he didn't have the schematics, he had to guess of how the pick ups were to be wired. That being said, he could've called me and asked me what brand of pick ups they were. I'm going to take it to him one last time to have him get rid of the grounding issue. I don't think he should charge me because it was there when I left
 
I looked at the website. If i'm right, you purchased the Duo Rails. There only seems to be one model, as in you can't buy a calibrated set. So in this case there's no such thing as "neck" or "bridge" versions. It's just one version. The way you would calibrate the output is by raising/lowering the pickups to match.

That said, I'd have charged you $60 too. $30 to undo whatever you did, and $30 to do it right.

I'd guess from Myz's OP, he also took the time to spec the pickups, found a variation in resistance and installed them in an appropriate order...."4 wire, instructions included". I'm kinda perplexed how this is presenting such a challenge.

http://www.dragonfireguitars.com/Duo-Rails-Works-for-Bridge-Middle-or-Neck-Color-Choice-2121.htm

Love the review:
"I have a set in my squier strat, and it now plays like its a thousand dollar guitar!"


I think it might be time to cut your losses with this dude. I would've cut my losses when he busted a piece of my hardware and made me pay for a replacement.

It doesn't sound like a productive relationship at this point.
 
I agree. Sounds like the guy doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground as far as electronics go.
 
For me to fix your self imposed mess would had cost you a LOT more than $60.
Its ok if you dive in and try. But if YOU mess up, don't expect a deal from the tech to sort it all out.
I'd of charged by the hour, no matter how long it took....
Good thing I don't do this for a living lol
 
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