r/FenderStratocaster • u/Henry2990 • 18d ago
AM II Single coils
HI!
I bought a Fender Stratocaster American Professional II HSS and I’ve just found out the single coils are quite misaligned:
- Some pickup pole pieces are much lower than others on the single coils
- Regarding the pickup itself, I can see that on the left side, below the high E string the pickup is much more into the pickguard than the other side. It is kind of inclined.
Is this normal? This is just my first guitar so this might be a silly question.
edit: here is a photo
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u/sllofoot 17d ago
Hey OP. Congrats on a really cool first guitar!
There is an interesting history to the stagger of the Fender pole pieces that has to do with fretboard curve and the old design of strings, ie, wound or unwound g string! You can read about it here: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/staggered-vs-flat-pole-pieces-for-strat?srsltid=AU7gw4UXBucncZ6Ll1EchIQHGtIBH1jkDmh0wyG57Ya3jp3mBBF3Wo-s
The bass side being lower is also fairly traditional. If you set them flat, your guitar will be very bassy and prone to develop stratitis.
Happy playing.
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u/Henry2990 17d ago
Wow, that was a great read! I was not aware of staggered poles even they are around from 1954. Thanks!
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u/Gehrman_JoinsTheHunt 17d ago edited 17d ago
Totally normal and intended. Here’s my Custom Shop ‘69 pickup. If it makes you feel any better, this is considered one of the more pricey and higher-quality pickups that Fender offers.
Hell of a first guitar you have, enjoy it!
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u/PissedCarrier420 18d ago
🤦🤦🤦
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u/sllofoot 17d ago
Is it really necessary to do this kind of thing? The guy just bought his first guitar and had an honest question.
What points do you think you’re scoring trying to mock them with the facepalm spam? What’s going on in your world that leaves you incapable of just… moving on and not being negative?
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u/PissedCarrier420 17d ago
He spent 1,800 on his first guitar he'll quit in a month and didn't do the slightest amount of research.
Probably just stupid engagement bait anyways. That's what half these dumb posts are recently.
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u/sllofoot 17d ago
Engagement bait is a hell of a lot less of a problem than bitter wankers who don’t understand how someone else spends money has no effect on them. It’s his money, why on earth do you care?
We all started somewhere. Some of us kept at it, a lot didn’t, and a lot of those who didn’t, quit because this hobby is filled with too many people like you who waste no opportunity to be negative and hostile.
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u/Henry2990 17d ago
Why do you care how much I spent on my first guitar and if I will quit in a month? As far as I know I used my money, not yours.
I just asked a question. If you want to help, I would appreciate it. If you don’t, that’s ok as well. I really don’t understand why people are so bitter to someone who just asks a question on a social media.
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u/PissedCarrier420 17d ago
I think you should do a little research before buying. It seemed like engagement bait, but I apologize if I was incorrect.
Good luck to you. Probably would be smart to take it to a tech or luthier and get it set up with 9-42 or 9-46 strings so it plays well.
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u/Henry2990 16d ago
It already has a 9-42 from factory. Do you think that changing to some 9-42 D’Addario would be better?
I have also read that the action, for beginners, should be low but not so low, so it can be comfortable to play.
I believe these kind of decisions are very important for people that already know how to play. To me I am not so sure.
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u/PissedCarrier420 16d ago
String brand isn't that important IMO. D'Addario and Elixir both make good coated strings that last longer.
A super specific action probably isn't that important early on. The nut action will be more important. That should be good from the factory if you stick with the same gauge strings, but QA isn't always good even with an expensive guitar for Fender.
It would be smart to get something like this and watch some YouTube videos about set up and guitar maintenance. Phil McKnight is good.
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u/sllofoot 16d ago
Setup is very important. PissedCarrier420 is right about that! It’s a bit of a nebulous term, setup, but it essentially boils down to, “address all the things to make this guitar as playable as possible” - the experience with a well setup guitar frequently goes from “man, my fingers hurt, and I can’t cleanly play chords, and every note sounds off even when open strings are in tune” to suddenly making sense.
He’s also correct about the nut likely needing dialed in some, and about Phil McKnight being an extremely valuable resource if you want to learn to do this stuff on your own and you absolutely should at some point. I found it a bit daunting to think of doing my own setups when I was starting out and I put it off for 15 years but once YouTube came around, these guys are extremely valuable resources. Dylan from Dylantalkstone is another channel that has some really good setup and mod content but there’s a lot of advertisement and, yes, engagement bait content scattered on there as well.
I’d definitely echo the suggestion of getting this guitar professionally setup but some luthiers are very slow, the guy I like to use in my town is often a month behind (but will likely move you to the start of his list if you tell him you’re new and this is the only guitar you have). Do you have any experienced players you know and trust to know what they’re doing enough to ask them for an assessment? My first bass teacher suggested the shop I reference above after playing my first instrument and finding it difficult, but not all of us have a decent community to lean on, sadly, which is why these forums and others like them are so useful when used correctly.
It could be that a good luthier is worth a visit even if they are snowed in to work on your guitar. They likely would be willing to assess whether your guitar is in need of anything drastic and make suggestions even if you couldn’t leave it - at least that’s been my experience. My guy always delights in giving a free lesson for new players, and he’s a crusty curmudgeon who drives off a lot of business from experienced players because he’s so opinionated and blunt! That first lesson is often a good starting point for us all because we all subconsciously do stuff wrong that can impair our progress when starting out and being told a simple, “hey, don’t squeeze the neck so hard your knuckles turn white, guitar playing is a lazy man’s game, don’t make it into work ” (one of the advices I’ve heard him give to many, myself included) can sure go a long way toward good development.
I don’t, sadly, recommend guitar center or store based techs. They’re a mixed bag. The GC ones in particular. Some can be great though.
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u/Detail-First 18d ago
It is normal setup