Pickup sanding

[Stefano]

Hi (and merry christmas to everybody):

Talking with one of my friends he told me that I have to sand my guitar pickup, that is... to take off the first coat of the pickup in order to restaurate its sound... what does it mean?! I've never read something about that... about sanding pickups...

Do you have any idea of what my friend was talking about?

Thanx

[RETROROD]

Thanks for the info, Paul...! I will proceed with care, Rod

[tadej bratkovic]

If that's a vintage guitar I'd go really easy on it. There's almost zero risk with screw type poles if they are new, but be careful, old and rusty screws tend to seize and you can easily break the head off. Just undo the screws slowly one by one and hope for the best. Once they are out you'll be fine.

Altough it's not wise to move the polepieces on a single-coil for example, I have seen companies and even SD himself do that to correct a staggered pickup or convert it to a flat one. There's a slight risk involved but this way I converted many Fender's staggered pups into flat ones and I'm willing to take that risk. If anyone knows the cheapest way to do so without rewinding or buying a new pickup, let me know. And if I screw up I can still rewind it on my expense. Oh yes, I remove covers too!

This probably calls for a "Questionable repair practices REVISITED" thread. Can't wait!