'51 Neck Pickup on Es

[marnold***]

The neck pickup that comes with the '51 is surprisingly good (to my ears anyway) for a cheap pickup. I like the tone better than the stock Jackson in my Charvel. The problem I have with it is that the pole pieces are staggered to "match" the radius of the fretboard. I put match in quotation marks because the pole pieces for the E strings seem much lower than they should be. There is a noticeable difference in volume between a note struck on the 12th fret on the high E and the 21st fret (21st is much louder). I'm going to try to adjust the E strings so that they can be a bit lower, but I don't want to introduce fret buzz. Has anyone else noticed this and is there anything else I could try short of replacing the pickup?

[M29]

Hello marnold,

I have been thinking of making the neck pickup float like most guitars by drilling mounting holes in the pick guard instead of having it set on the bottom of the pickup route in the body. I have held back though thinking it may change the sound that is so good with the ' 51. This would be one way to adjust it though. Just a thought.

M29