Emerald neck didn't quite hit the spot

[DagleBee]

 My new emerald neck is not what i expected . It's pretty hard to set it right ( it was more easy to adjust the Rebel yell which feels very easy to play ....not at all unforgiving or very aggressive , it kinda looses it's juice when the gain is low but it's fine for me ) . Getting back to the emerald ....i expected some juice and some edge even if it's alnico IV .....if i set it close to the strings , it feels good but looses most of the sustain ( which i need ) and if I set it far from the strings it just doesn't do the magic ( I can't believe that i say this but it sounds ordinary and boring ) ..... Maybe I should play more with the coil screws and less with the pickup height . What do you suggest ??? worst case I send it back :(

[Dave Sloven]

What is it in? I fitted an Emerald set into a early '90s chambered Les Paul Studio and it was quite easy to get a good tone and solid output from the neck pickup in that guitar.  I didn't change the wiring harness either (the owner is a bit cheap).

[DagleBee]

Epiphone Les Paul Standard . It sounded nice when I brought it back from the service ( actually is a man who is specialized in this kind of stuffs ) . I adjusted myself the bridge to my feel and now it's 90 % perfect , but i couldn't find the sweet spot of the Emerald . I tried but it's either with less sustain or with less juice . And one more thing , it feels either too bright or too dark . I don't know how that guy set it almost right the first time .

[Dave Sloven]

You might have *one side* too low or too high.  I think you can probably afford to have the treble side slightly higher

[DagleBee]

That might me it ...tomorrow i'll try again to adjust them . I'll talk with the guy who set it almost right and see what can be done to make it ring in harmony with me :) Hope I nail it

[darkbluemurder]

You can also experiment with the following: pickup set high, adjustable screws turned low and vice versa. With a neck pickup, I rather set the screws low and the whole pickup higher which brings in more of the slug coil's tone. Since this is farther away from the neck end it provides for more definition of the note. And I also usually set the bass side a bit lower than the treble side.

Good luck,
Stephan

[DagleBee]

Thank Stephan . Nice piece of info ....I'll give it a try  :)