Problem with my SL1

[dg]

I agree with what you're saying, but if it turns out to be the springs, it doesn't matter how much the guitar cost or how well-made it is. Springs can ring in a Squier, a masterbuilt Strat, a PRS, or a Jackson, and I've never seen any of the above come from the factory with foam under the springs.

[Gunnski]

Hey all, I realize this thread has been dead for the last two years (yikes!) but I wanted to bring this up again. I've had the opportunity to buy and play a few more SL1s and I believe I figured out what the problem is. It's actually just the neck/mid pickup pole piece pulling on the G-string because it sits in such close proximity to the string. If you're looking at the pickup from a side view, the G string pole piece sticks further up than any of the others. I believe this problem is referred to as 'strat-itis' because single-coil strats suffer from this pretty often due to the similar pickup configuration. Like I mentioned in my original post, the problem was really bad between the 9th and 15th frets on the G string which makes sense because fretting in that area brings the string closer to the pole piece while still leaving enough string length between the fret and bridge to be easily pulled by the magnet.

I was able to significantly reduce (but not eliminate) the problem in all my SL1s by replacing the stock 'classic stack' pickups in the neck and mid positions with Seymour Duncan Hot, Cool, or Classic Rails pickups in both positions. Cool rail pickups worked the best to minimize the warble...probably because of the weaker magnets.

My question to you all is: if this is such a common and well known issue, why would Jackson outfit the SL1 and SL3 with stock pickups that cause this problem? Especially considering the warbling sound gets worse the more gain you are using and Jacksons are typically used in high gain music. Or, I am the only having/noticing this problem? I'd appreciate your feedback on whether you've noticed this exact same problem yourselves and your thoughts on all this. Maybe I'm way off base but this makes me feel like Jackson doesn't really think too much about their choice of pickups.

[Lemures]

What a joke! An expensive joke! I've had several recently made Jacksons soloists & they've all had similar issues. Sell it & buy a Charvel San Dimas, you won't be dissapointed & you'll get the greatest neck on earth.

[Foulacy]

I really doubt that's what the problem is, or every electric guitar ever made would have the problem to an extent.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Sounds to me like the pickups are raised up too close to the strings.

[Gunnski]

That was my first thought too but even with the pickups set as far away from the strings as possible, the problem was still there. The real solution would have been to adjust the individual pole piece that goes with the G string but the pole pieces are non-adjustable in the stock pickups.

I am suggesting that this is a problem with all SL1/SL3 guitars...but it only gets really noticeable when the gain is high and you try to hold a note without putting any finger vibrato on it.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

OK, let me give you another theory... All guitars do it.

Yesterday just for shits and giggles, I tried this on my SL1. Plucked a note hard on the G-string at about the 18th or 19th fret and I heard it this warbling overtone... Tried the B and high E strings and not so much of the overtone, and not so much down around the 7th fret on the G-string.

I tried 4 other guitars and they all did it. Bolt-ons with humbuckers, Floyds, bolt-on hardtails... Every one of them did it.

[kamelot101]

Stop picking so damn hard!

[Gunnski]

Hey Jazznoise, actually I agree that all guitars do have this problem somewhat. I went through the same thing with lots of other guitars and they all have it to a certain extent. I guess my point is that it's especially bad on an SL1/SL3 to the point that if you play the 12th fret of the G string and don't put any vibrato on it, the warbling will be really noticeable and there will be almost no sustain because the magnet kills the string vibration really quickly.

Did you notice a difference in the level of problem on the SL1 vs. the other guitars you tried? Picking hard does seem to make it worse but it's definitely still very noticeable with a soft pick attack.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The SL1 was not appreciably/noticeably different from any of the other guitars I tried.

[RobRR]

EMG's FTW. 'Nuff said.

[gabor]

Isn't a part of the whole deal just because it's floyded?
springs can ring-dampen them, and floyds move back and forth, noticebly when you pick hard on higher frets, you will just have to live with that.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Isn't a part of the whole deal just because it's floyded?

Nope.