EvO:R Entertainment The Ask Rick Andrews Section

Hello, this is Rick Andrews owner of Andrews Guitar and a long time member of EvO:R. This section has been put together to help you with your guitar related questions. I did not agree to do this so I could simply plug my guitars, I did this so you could finally have answers to many of those burning questions you may have had about your guitar.

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Adjusting pickup height on a Les Paul

Hello Rick.
My name is Rich Kaynan from Orlando and am the proud owner of a brand new 2003 Les Paul Standard. My son has a Paul that cost him about $600 new though I can not recall the model but his has that incredible 'Les Paul' tone in the center pickup position that mine does not seem to have utilizing the same amp setup. Being that mine is so new I am apprehensive about messing with it yet. My thinking is that it might be the pickup height because it was received with, in my opinion, the bridge pickup ordinarily high but it might have been factory set that way.

The tone that I have in my mind can be found, for example, on Greg Alman's song 'I'm No Angel.' If you are not familiar with this tune, it would be hard for me explain it. Just curious to know whether or not you have expierence with Les Paul's and if so, would I expect to have major differences with adjusting pickup height, or would the difference be subtle.
Thanks in advance,
Rich

Rick Andrews Answers Your Question Below.

Hi Rich,
Well I would say the pickup height will give you more power output due to the closer magnetic field to the strings but the tone itself I would not expect much difference. Different pickups have their on tonal differences from one brand to another and from different type magnets, the guage of the copper wire windings, and the number of turns which vary the resistance in the signal.

Usually I can find the same tones from one humbucker pickup to another. The capacitors in the signal line from the tone control pots can make a noticeable difference as well. The same amp may need to change settings to accomodate what you want to hear. Another big deal here to consider is the wood the guitar is made of and the neck also. Even fretboards can vary the sound. The Less Paul standards usually came with rosewood fretboards wheras the Less Paul customs came with ebony fretboards.

Even the Les Paul custom fretless wonder guitars that had the tiny, almost no frets at all, had a more mushy tone simply because you were getting very little tone from the fret wire at all. The jumbo frets gave a more metalic sound due to much more metal and more sustain. All of these things will factor into the tonal capabilities of a guitar. It is really the sum total of everything that sets the tones. The strings also play a big part in this.

I was an Alman Brothers fan and still am. I would think there is a way to EQ what you have to match the sound. You can find humbucker pickups that are more vintage sounding than the later ones. Most music stores would be able help you I think and can get the pickups and usually they have someone to install them for you. I refer people a lot to a company called Stewart Macdonald. He has a lot of special pickups including vintage style pickups.
His website is http://www.stewmac.com
I hope this will help you.

Rick Andrews, Andrews Guitar

Are the single actions truss rods really bad?

Rick,
in your opinion, If you had a 10 degree tilt back headstock on a 24fret 34" scale bass neck with a ebony finger board. I love the ease of the single action truss rods, and the lighter weight. Are the single actions truss rods really bad? The neck will also have two graphite composite stiffening rods. The double action truss rods take a lot of torque to operate and are almost double the weight. What would be the pros and cons here? Do you think I would have trouble with the single action truss rod? Regards,
Steve Z.

Rick Andrews Answers Your Question Below.

Well Steve,
I have been through this myself and personally I like the single rod better. One time as I recall I saw a guitar that actually warped and bowed backwards. That is very unusual because the string tension pulls the neck inward. Only the one have I ever seen do this. It had to be a piece of wood that was incredibly strongly warping favoring the oposite of the string tension. The single rod is lighter weight and I think more efficient as well as more accurate. I suggest the single. That is what I use in the guitars I build.
Rick Andrews
Andrews Guitar