mississippi queen set in gibson explorer

[mmmmmmmm......]

Hey i just had a calibrated set of mississippi queens installed on my gibson explorer. The neck pickup sounds wonderful, massive presence and extraordinarily balanced. However, the problem i am having is with the balance of the two pickups. I have yet to try them through a dirty amp, but through my deluxe reverb the neck pickup is considerably louder than the bridge. In comparison to the neck, there is hardly any low end. The electronics consist of 550k bkp pots all around and a jensen capacitor. The neck pickup is backed quite far off the strings where as the bridge pickup has been set considerably close to the strings in attempt to compensate for the loss in volume. For anyone else who has a set of calibrated bkp mississippi queens, could you let me know how you have your pickups spaced from your strings? Any tips you could toss my way would also be greatly appreciated. 

[Fourth Feline]

Hiya  :)

I set mine at 2.5 - 3mm from the strings ;  but your situation sounds very much like the bridge and neck pickup(s) being in the wrong slot.  Check with an ohm meter ( with the pickup(s) unsoldered from the pots ) - that the pickup  with a 'Bridge' sticker on the cable, reads a higher resistance / impedance that the other.  

[mmmmmmmm......]

Thats what i initially thought as well, however i checked the wires leading to each pot and the bridge and neck are labelled properly. could the stickers have been applied to the wrong cables at the factory?

[Fourth Feline]

I would not think the stickers could be wrongly applied at the factory,  but may have slid off / been pulled off by the person doing your install ( to pull the wires through cavities e.t.c ) and then re-applied in haste .
 
In either case,  I recommended the ohmeter test as covering both probabilities.  It's a quick test, and gets things back on track for you.  The installer should have checked everything through and set the pickups for you at the outset - it is something most of us do when swapping pickups between guitars, so we know to unplug the iron and go find the guitar polish.

even without strings on the guitar, a (gentle)  tap on the pole pieces with a metal screwdriver, usually indicates ( relative ) output of the pickups - and that the volume and tone pots are wired o.k.  :)

[mmmmmmmm......]

Alright well i guess ill play around with is a bit more and see if i can resolve my issue, but if not ill assess the resistance & impedance of each pickup and see what's going on. Thanks much for the quick replies!

[Fourth Feline]

Good luck !

[mmmmmmmm......]

The pickups are, without a doubt, installed backwards. It's a shame you can hardly rely on anyone to do anything properly anymore, especially when they charge $200 to do it.

[itamar101]

The pickups are, without a doubt, installed backwards. It's a shame you can hardly rely on anyone to do anything properly anymore, especially when they charge $200 to do it.

Give back to him and demand that he does it properly or gives you a full refund. But... $200! I got new pots, caps and coil split pickups all installed properly at short notice in a few hours and given back the same day for only $90. And he did it right! Then again, i don't live in England or America so I'm not really that familiar with standard charges but that is LOADS for an easy job... Almost as much as the pickups...

[mmmmmmmm......]

Ive had much work done on various guitars at various places and they all charge around the same. Still way too much $$$. Especially for a job not completed properly.

[HTH AMPS]

$200 to install a set of pickups and pots, really? - ffs, he must have seen you coming man.  That surely can't be the going rate in the US, right?

In the UK, an amp or guitar tech will typically have a minimum bench charge of £35 to cover the first hour's labour and this will sometimes include parts that are pennies like the odd cap, resistor, fuse etc... (I don't charge separately for anything thats under a fiver - its swings and roundabouts). 

To install a set of pickups and even to install new pots isn't a massive job.  Even if I took my time this is an EASY 2 hour job with a tea break and time to take a dump while reading the sports pages of the morning newspaper.  So lets say it's a 2 hour job, thats £35.00 for the first hour then £25.00 for the 2nd hour and successive hours; £60.00 in total.  Using XE.com, I get US$93.00

I'd be asking the guy who did this work to break down the $200 charge to do this work, it's an absolutely outrageous amount to charge for this work and especially so since the guy hasn't even installed the pickups correctly.  Its amazing how many times we hear of people getting BKPs fitted and the 'tech' has installed them incorrectly.  It's not like this is a tough job, its an electronics 101 type job, very basic.  I'm p*issed off for you man.

[mmmmmmmm......]

Well, i got everything fixed up for free. These hsp90's exceed all of my expectations. Absolutely incredible pickups.

[Fourth Feline]

Well, i got everything fixed up for free. These hsp90's exceed all of my expectations. Absolutely incredible pickups.

 Nice one !  :D

Even though you had a 'false start' with the installation ;  I was looking forward to you hearing the M.Qs as they were intended.  As you said, they are great sounding pickups . 

Good to know you have sorted it out.  :)

[Deafcat64]

Congratulations! I have a Mississippi Queen in the neck position of my SG Standard. I love mine as well. It's a shame you had such trouble with them at first. I do some luthiery and repair work myself (I mainly repair valve amps), and I can't believe you were charged that much for an install! Unless it's a hollow body I, generally, never charge more than $50, and that includes rewiring, and installing new pots, jack and switch. I'm glad you got it all straightened out! 

PDT_002