Silvertone Artist pickup question

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

My Silvertone seems to have low output. I tried raising the the pickup poles (which didn't make any noticeable difference. When I did this, I found that one of the two sidepieces is a piece of wood and the other is steel. That gold colored one sitting to the side in the photo is the wooden one.

Thinking this might be the problem, I substituted the metal sidepiece from a similar Lollar pickup I have. That made no difference, either, but it made me wonder why there would be a piece of wood on one side.

The Lollar pickup came out of a Waterslide electric guitar (Strat), and both the side pieces are steel. It's a powerful string-through pickup modeled after the vintage ones, like the one in my Silvertone. Per their website, 6.4k resistance. So why is my Silvertone's pickup so weak sounding? Do these go bad somehow over time?

I'm thinking about putting the Lollar pickup in the Silvertone. Had planned to save it in pristine condition in case I ever sell the Waterslide, but that's not likely.

I guess I need to have the output of the Silvertone's pickup tested. But if anyone has this same pickup, can you tell me what kind of output these should have, and do they weaken over time for some reason?

Thanks.

Michael Miller · From: Virginia

The metal side pieces are magnets that drive the pickup. Be sure the polarity agrees (positive or negative) poles point up. I had a '38 Supro that I put a pair of Lollar magnets in and it really boosted the output.

The metal/wooden combo in your Silvertone (actually made by Valco/National/Supro) was sometimes found in student model guitars.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Looks like a good candidate for Rick's mags.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=397991&highlight=nibros

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

I dunno what's going on with this. It seems to be louder now and, I'm gonna sound like a total dufus for saying this, but I think I might have had my volume pedal backed off all this time. Either that or raising the pole pieces had a greater effect than I thought.

But, what I'm hearing here is that replacing those magnetized blocks on either end of the pickup can boost the pickups output...is that correct? I didn't hear any change when I replaced the wooden one with a steel one from my other pickup, so it doesn't make sense that replacing those pieces would have a significant impact on output.

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

OK, I just saw the post about those replacement magnets, and the glowing reviews. I'm sold.

Rick Aiello · From: Berryville, VA USA

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

Rick, I only put one of the Lollar mags in place. Perhaps with two there would have been a more noticeable difference?

Noob question: would flipping the one actual magnet around, leaving the wood dummy on the opposite side, have any effect on the output?

Rick Aiello · From: Berryville, VA USA

With only one magnet ... it doesn't matter

If you have two ... they both have to have "like" poles facing up ... doesn't matter if it's both North's up or both South's up ... but they must be the same.

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

Hey Rick!

Got the magnets. Honestly, I couldn't figure out which pole is North and which is South, but after trying them a couple different ways I landed on a positioning that makes a noticeable improvement in tone and volume. So, I guess I got them positioned correctly. The tone is less "stringy" when played clean, if that makes sense. And with overdrive it definitely sounds "fatter."

Very pleased with the results, and with your service. Thanks!

Rick Aiello · From: Berryville, VA USA

Enjoy ...

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