Original 1966 Mosrite Ventures Mark V (B1027)

[SouthernVersion]

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks! Definitely going back and forth between red and blue haha!

I do suspect the pickups were swapped accidentally when the original refinisher refinished the guitar. No matter how low I put the neck pickup the neck is always louder than the bridge pickup. I had checked the resistance of the pickups when I first received the guitar, I've since forgot those numbers (will check and post below).

-Matthew

According to my original post:

Bridge Pickup: 10.6K
Neck Pickup: 8.19K

So I guess I'm wrong. Oh well!

-Matthew

[Greg_L]

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks! Definitely going back and forth between red and blue haha!

I do suspect the pickups were swapped accidentally when the original refinisher refinished the guitar. No matter how low I put the neck pickup the neck is always louder than the bridge pickup. I had checked the resistance of the pickups when I first received the guitar, I've since forgot those numbers (will check and post below).

-Matthew

According to my original post:

Bridge Pickup: 10.6K
Neck Pickup: 8.19K

So I guess I'm wrong. Oh well!

-Matthew

The DC resistance of a pickup is a useful measurement but it's only a small part of the whole picture. You could have a magnet losing it's grip or any number of things that could be interfering with the output while the DC resistance appears good.

[101Volts]

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks! Definitely going back and forth between red and blue haha!

I do suspect the pickups were swapped accidentally when the original refinisher refinished the guitar. No matter how low I put the neck pickup the neck is always louder than the bridge pickup. I had checked the resistance of the pickups when I first received the guitar, I've since forgot those numbers (will check and post below).

-Matthew

According to my original post:

Bridge Pickup: 10.6K
Neck Pickup: 8.19K

So I guess I'm wrong. Oh well!

-Matthew

Whatever the case, the neck pickup being louder than the bridge pickup is a common thing. It was the same way on mine, and I also had that problem on a Squier Telecaster that I no longer have. It was probably worse on the Tele, because Fender-type guitars don't normally have any kind of neck angle at all.

There are a few ways to fix this issue so that the volume is equal between both pickups.

(1:)

Shim the neck enough so the neck pickup is farther from the strings. This is what I did, and my bridge pickup is about 2x higher than the neck pup. Measuring with a digital micrometer, the strings at the bridge are about 0.970" - 1" from the body of the guitar, but the large neck angle still makes the string action low and usable.

The bridge pickup is about 0.530" above the pickup ring on the Low E side, the neck pickup is about 0.270" from the pickup ring on the Low E side.

(2:)

You could wire in another volume control for the neck pickup so it's not such a problem.

I prefer option 1, personally. The higher string angle also changes the sound of the guitar a bit, it seems that the higher pressure on the bridge sends more string vibration through the body, and that changes how loud the guitar is acoustically. The harmonic sound of the strings also sounds different this way. I say this after setting my strings 1" from body height on my Silvertone 1448, and it made a large difference compared to the stock height that didn't have a neck angle. I did change that neck back to stock later, but it made a large difference.

- Austin

[SouthernVersion]

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks! Definitely going back and forth between red and blue haha!

I do suspect the pickups were swapped accidentally when the original refinisher refinished the guitar. No matter how low I put the neck pickup the neck is always louder than the bridge pickup. I had checked the resistance of the pickups when I first received the guitar, I've since forgot those numbers (will check and post below).

-Matthew

According to my original post:

Bridge Pickup: 10.6K
Neck Pickup: 8.19K

So I guess I'm wrong. Oh well!

-Matthew

Whatever the case, the neck pickup being louder than the bridge pickup is a common thing. It was the same way on mine, and I also had that problem on a Squier Telecaster that I no longer have. It was probably worse on the Tele, because Fender-type guitars don't normally have any kind of neck angle at all.

There are a few ways to fix this issue so that the volume is equal between both pickups.

(1:)

Shim the neck enough so the neck pickup is farther from the strings. This is what I did, and my bridge pickup is about 2x higher than the neck pup. Measuring with a digital micrometer, the strings at the bridge are about 0.970" - 1" from the body of the guitar, but the large neck angle still makes the string action low and usable.

The bridge pickup is about 0.530" above the pickup ring on the Low E side, the neck pickup is about 0.270" from the pickup ring on the Low E side.

(2:)

You could wire in another volume control for the neck pickup so it's not such a problem.

I prefer option 1, personally. The higher string angle also changes the sound of the guitar a bit, it seems that the higher pressure on the bridge sends more string vibration through the body, and that changes how loud the guitar is acoustically. The harmonic sound of the strings also sounds different this way. I say this after setting my strings 1" from body height on my Silvertone 1448, and it made a large difference compared to the stock height that didn't have a neck angle. I did change that neck back to stock later, but it made a large difference.

- Austin

I'm going to keep on adjusting the pickup height until it sounds alright. This spring I'm going to do an overhaul of the guitar. Fix all the little issues, do a refinish, try and recover the neck pocket date. Thing's like that. I have all winter to continue to think of the color I want haha.

-Matthew

[101Volts]

I'm going to keep on adjusting the pickup height until it sounds alright. This spring I'm going to do an overhaul of the guitar. Fix all the little issues, do a refinish, try and recover the neck pocket date. Thing's like that. I have all winter to continue to think of the color I want haha.

-Matthew

Alrighty then. Whatever the case, you probably know, but do recall that sanding on the edges is a lot quicker than sanding on a flat surface - and Mosrites have the carve to be concerned about when sanding the paint down evenly.

Good hearing about the neck pocket date, and we both probably expect it to be October 1966 - if it was even dated. Mine is a misprint after all, and yours confusingly doesn't have 2 screw holes drilled for the neck pup (the only example of that which I've ever seen on any Mosrite model,) so Mosrite sometimes goofed on occasion.

- Austin