2 questions

[Mantaray]

I have a very old bottle of ErnieBall Guitar Polish. I bought it from a guitar store 4 years ago and I remember it there years before I even started playing music.
i) Can I still use it?

ii) Can I use it on my rosewood fingerboard?


And the next question(I guess that makes 'em three)

My pickup has quite rusty polepieces. Note that I have the 'sharp-edged' EB pickup(before 2000). Do you think I should change it? The fact is, I keep doin' these questions about rosewood and maple necks and 'stingray tone' because every time I play another StingRay(even with EXACTLY the same specs and at the SAME amp), mine sounds quite muddier.

BTW, when I asked the UK EBMM importer about the pickup, he suggested that I should get a different one(eg Seymour Duncan). But then, the instrument ceases to be 'original'.

 

[johans]

Yes to both

 

[Morrow]

I generally put lemon oil rather than polish on a rosewood fretboard ( and do that once a year). Some people recommend eating greasy chicken to oil up a fretboard.I don't have any experience with rusty polepieces but I wouldn't think that you have to replace the pickup. I would not drop in a Duncan or other aftermarket pickup.

 

[johans]

polish are more for body wood i think
lemon oil is targeted for fretboard

 

[JB1]

See my thread on Lemon oil.

I too have rusty poles. I used VERY light sandpaper to clean them up, but a new pickup may have to be the answer at some point.

I didn't realise they had chaged (they look same on my pre & post 2000 Rays)

Any experts out there can help on this one - I'd be grateful?

 

[jongitarz]

An EB/MM dealer saying to use another pickup instead of the real thing? Does this dealer sell Strings and Things?

Oh yeah...The older pickups were not beveled. The new ones are. We sell them. Get yours now.

 

[JB1]

Can U lend me the $'s, Jon?

Do you have / can you point me to a pic of the new ones so I can see the diff?

Thanks

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Sting Ray PUPs...older compared to newer Alnico:

[ I stuffed up...let's pretend the 2nd PUP is a left-handed ]

.

 

[jongitarz]

Thanks Gav!

 

[JB1]

Thanks too , Gav.

Struggling to see much of a difference. Are the new pickup poles more 'flush' to the 'housing' (almost certainly not a tech term)?

 

[jongitarz]

No...It's the same pickup, but the only difference is the newer ones have beveled pole pieces...

Typing vs. Tequila.....Tequila wins!!!!

 

[midopa]

Hm... I'm curious... Do the new pole pieces have a coating on them to prevent rusting?

 

[johans]

do the pole actually need special care to prevent rust?
or it just rust over some period of time?
will it affect the sound?

 

[zetabosio]

my sterling has the older pickup, some rust too... is it possible to remove the pickup cover in order to clean polepieces sides too? and not leaving that little space full of cleaner and rust and dirt?

and, are the polepieces in the "new" pickup staggered too?

thanks.

 

[midopa]

I did a quick search before I asked my question and found the answers to your questions!

- The rust won't affect the pickups - it's just a cosmetic thing.

- To prevent rust on the pole pieces, I read that a thin coat of clear nail polish does the job fine.

- Someone earlier tried to remove the pickup cover to clean the rust, but couldn't because the middle of the pickup, in addition to the sides, was glued down or something. Don't quote me. I'm just repeating what I read, as I didn't quite understand it.

Hope that answers some of your questions, guys!

 

[JB1]

I'm-a-gonna clean my pickups & raid the missus' cosmetics!

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Whatever you do...don't use sand paper or anything that removes small particles from the magnets which will stick to the sides of the one you're cleaning and the other magnets. Use an ink biro eraser (grey colour).

To prevent rust, you can use a little machine oil (3-in-One or similar) applied with a cotton bud and wiped lightly over the tops of the magnets. Make sure the bud is not dripping wet...squeeze out excessive oil and don't let it run down the sides of the magnets.

.

 

[zetabosio]

i guess i was the one fooling around with the pup cover thing... finally decided to left it like it is, couldn´t remove the cover, plus pup wire is very delicate, so once you take the cable apart from its gluing, you must handle the pup very gentle in order to avoid breaking the wires... some serious tweaks and they'll go off the pup...

my question now is: have someone here removed a pup cover? how?

certainly rust on polepieces dosnt affetc sound at all... mine had lots of it, and sounded a ton.

pd: i'm about to post the pics of my new sterling on the other thread... just in case you`re interested in seeing my first ebmm...

 

[JB1]

A biro eraser it shall be, Gav - thanks man.

The rust (albeit light) does not affect playability at all, but it looks tatty, so I though my baby needed some well desverved TLC.

 

[Mantaray]

An EB/MM dealer saying to use another pickup instead of the real thing? Does this dealer sell Strings and Things?

Oh yeah...The older pickups were not beveled. The new ones are. We sell them. Get yours now.

Yes...

So, in order to get a new pickup, should I return ye olde one? How exactly can I do that?