Question new Stingray's humbucker: bass side recesses into the cavity....

[Dorianb3b7]

RE: my new Sterling Stingray short-scale bass: The bass side of the pickup is easily depressed into the cavity away from the screw with just a little pressure. This makes no sense. The treble side of the humbucker does not do this. The music store that sold it to me says that this is an odd design but normal for it. Not sure I believe them. Thumb pressure on the end of a pickup should not push it away from the strings. Thankfully, there is tension pushing up (meaning, away from the guitar towards the strings) so the pickup returns to its original position when I remove my thumb. But, it would make no sense to have one side of a pickup act like this as it would affect tone - and maybe even destabilizes the player's hand. All my others guitars' pickups (none of them Ernie Ball) are solid in place.

Has anyone seen this?

 

[danny-79]

Sounds legitimate to me. Some are just more springy than others. That’s the nature of the design.

 

[tbonesullivan]

The pickups are held in place by spring pressure against the outer casing, which allows the height to be adjusted if needed. This does mean that pushing on the pickup will cause it to move downwards into the pickup cavity. It is not designed to be a hand or thumb rest.

Some pickups set up like this are very hard to move, and some are not. You could try putting a stiffer spring around the height adjustment screw.