Hi guys, I own two sets of BKs so far with Nolly's Polymaths being one of them. They are in my Jackson Chris Broderick signature and for the life of me, I cannot get a good sound with these pickups. I tried adjusting the pole pieces to match the radius as well as based on the output of each string, I tried adjusting them closer/further away to/from the strings but they just don't want to budge. They sound very very dry and don't respond to changes in gain very well. It's almost like they're super low output vintage pickups. Open chords sound good, with some crunch but palm mutes sound harsh and leads don't feel fluid. I don't know how else I can explain it. It basically feels like the guitar is choked or something. Like I have a frat wrap on my string that prevents each string from ringing freely. For instance, the VHIIs in my PRS don't do that. If I turn up the gain, they make for a really fluid playing experience. Palm mutes sound saturated and fat, leads sweet with lots of sustain. I've already had the Jackson refretted and plek'd. I added string saver saddles (Floyd rose bridge) and a big sustain block to knock out possible issues with sustain. None of these things changed the sound and feel of the pickups. The guitar has more sustain acoustically and vibrates a lot more (probably the big sustain block) but the tonality of the pick-ups can't be influenced by that anyway. Both coils work in both positions including the coil-split function, which tells me that they're definitely wired correctly. Could it be an issue with the pots? I used the ones that came with the guitar, which are pretty old. Do you guys think it's worth replacing them or should I just give up on the Polys? I don't get the impression that Nolly and others have that issue. They sound pretty damn good in his mixes. Very saturated, fluid, and full of character. But that's not what I'm experiencing.
