Help! replacing pick ups Sterling AX40

[ewaters70]

Hi gang....first of all I want to apologize if this has been asked before. I am new here and did not see much in the search feature. I just bought a Sterling AX40 by MusicMan and am considering replacing at least the bridge p/u. Now I have never replaced a p/u before but it does not seem to hard....my question is this, is there anything I need to know about the size of the p/u and such. I see a lot of them sat "f shape" and such. Basically I am asking what I need to look for to be sure that the new p/u will fit on my guitar. And any p/u suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
THanks
Ed

 

[patpark]

bridge pickup is F spaced, the pole pieces line up with the saddles of a tremolo bridge. 53mm E to E

neck pickup is standard spaced. 50mm e to e.

 

[ewaters70]

bridge pickup is F spaced, the pole pieces line up with the saddles of a tremolo bridge. 53mm E to E

neck pickup is standard spaced. 50mm e to e.

thank you sir, much appreciated

 

[RonJ5150]

dimarzios just drop in...i installed tone zone and air norton.

The stock pickups a pretty good...

 

[ewaters70]

trem help

thanks for the replys. I do have another question about the trem. please see picture. This is straight from my local guitar center, I have not done anything to it. It seems to play great, action feels pretty good...only issue is that the trem is not flush with the body as I think it is supposed to be. How do I fix this or is this even something to be concerned with. It does make the trem arm much higher and that feels a little odd. Just want to know, if I lower the posts will that screw up my action...same thing for tension screws? I don't know much of anything about guitars when it comes to set up, so any help would be great.
Thanks
Ed

 

[jamminjim]

that bridge pup looks pretty high

 

[ewaters70]

that bridge pup looks pretty high

really? that is how it was when I bought it. I thought they were set up before they left Orange. Is it possible that GC altered that set up?

 

[jds22]

Going from memory here but from the looks of it, I'd say it's in stock form from the factory and has not been tampered with.

As for the the angle of the bridge, that's how mine was so I assume all of them are like that. If you want the bridge to sit level with the body but still be in contact with it, you could place a small wood shim under the bridge to make it level. There are probably other solutions as well.

I'm with you about the angle of the trem arm. It's kind of high and feels awkward.

 

[patpark]

that is how they come. nothing wrong with this guitar. if the trem works and stays in tune and the action is fine then nothing to worry about here.

the angled bridge is from our neck angle, our angle is a little steeper than the USA Axis and our bridge sits a little higher as a result.

you could route the neck pocket so the neck sits lower and that would lower the bridge angle over the body, but then you might run into the issue of the bridge baseplate not having enough clearance to actually push forward.

If the action above the fretboard is good and the trem moves without issue, then you are good to go.

Guys I appreciate the help, but I would rather not have anyone other than EBMM or SBMM folk giving out advice and potentially causing more issues with his guitar.

Please direct these customer service issues or questions to me via PM or email at:
patpark AT praxismusical DOT com
I am always here and your questions will be answered correctly and quickly.

Thanks
Pat

 

[ewaters70]

excellent, thanks for all the great info. Pat if I have any other questions, and I am sure that I will, I will pm you directly. Just glad to hear that this is normal. I feel much better, lol. BTW, I have ordered a EVH D Tuna do you know if the angle will be an issue?
Thanks again
Ed Waters

 

[patpark]

Thanks Ed. I'm going to search for a forumite here who has some extensive experience with setting up Floyds and the D Tuna. His user name escapes me, real nice guy and knows his stuff. Give me a few and I'll dig it up for you.
Maybe he'll see this thread and chime in. Maybe you guys can PM each other, he can give you the pointers on the set up.

Thanks
Pat

 

[jds22]

Guys I appreciate the help, but I would rather not have anyone other than EBMM or SBMM folk giving out advice and potentially causing more issues with his guitar.
Thanks
Pat

Sorry, didn't mean to cause any problems.

 

[RonJ5150]

Pat, why did the factory go with this (Trem pulled back and not level) setup vs making it level by shimming the trem sustain block against the body?

 

[patpark]

Pat, why did the factory go with this (Trem pulled back and not level) setup vs making it level by shimming the trem sustain block against the body?

our neck angle is a little different and thus the bridge ended up a little higher off the body. wasn't really intentional, just the way it worked out. We've had no complaints about it, but I understand that its not the same as the Axis.

We made the trem cavity the same size and dimension as the Axis. If we wanted to keep the trem level with the body (as you described) we would need to modify the shape of the cavity or stick extra wood in there.

The difference in neck angle made the bridge sit higher and thus tilts back.

The USA Axis has less neck angle and the bridge sits closer to the body so it has less or no back angle at all.

 

[RonJ5150]

Ahhh....thats why the pickups sit higher - I used a 2-3mm spacing. So far I really like the guitar, my bandmates really like the look and sound. I found the pickups are fine, I didn't need to install Dimarzios but did. I swapped the trem because I have other guitars with OFRs and wanted to match the feel.

If your interested in feedback I would install a shim, 8mmx6cmx3cm, use longer screws for the spring clamp (5-10mm) and use OFR springs (2 of them). That would reduce the complaints owners/reviewers have about the AX40 feel (trem).

Cosmetically and sound wise you nailed it...

Cheers!