Luke Pick Up Question

[JimH]

I have a new Luke BFR and have noticed a strange thing and was hoping for some help.

When playing on the front ( neck ) pickup the 5th fret harmonics will not ring out plugged into my amp. The 7th and 12th fret harmonics sound fine as well as unplugged,acoustically the 5th fret harmonics are there. Anyone else noticed this with the EMG neck pickup? The bridge is fine. Also, in all other pickup combinations the 5th fret harmonics are there. This only occurs on the neck pickup.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[DrKev]

It's perfectly normal with a pickup coil that is positioned where the 24th fret would be (i.e. most guitars with a 21 or 22 fret neck). When you play that harmonic, because of the wave pattern of the vibrating string, the string actually doesn't vibrate directly over the neck pickup. The pickup senses no vibration so there is no output.

You can verify this by playing the 24th fret harmonic directly over the pickup itself and leaving your finger resting on the string. Notice that it's exactly the same pitch and tonal quality as the 5th fret harmonic. Obviously, with your finger resting on the string, there can be no string vibration at that point and hence no output. Change to a different pickup and try playing the 24th fret harmonic again. You'll get your sound back.

 

[JimH]

Thanks for the information.

Jim

 

[DrKev]

You are most welcome! Any pictures of your BFR? Maybe you could start a new thread? We love that stuff here and, as you've probably already gathered, the guitar doesn't exist without pics - it's an unofficial forum rule!

Kev.

 

[JimH]

You are right. I will take some tomorrow and get them on.

Thanks again,

Jim

 

[JimH]

Photos posted in a new thread.

Jim