Hi, I bought an used RG3120, I want to know how can I adjust the height of the pickup, because the pickup is mounted directly to the wood without springs, like in my old RG 7620, is this normal? or is because somebody has removed before?

Thanks for your reply!

Rest assured, you have the correct mounting. The pickups have two strips of thick foam tape on the bottom of them. The foam acts as a spring, but is very quiet as compared to an actual spring. The screws are pretty long.....long enough to raise the pickups high enough to touch the strings.

BTW...congratulations on your 3120. One of the best Ibanez's ever and one of my personal favorites

Ok, Im going to unmount the pickups to see if there is any foam at the bottom, because when I loosen the screw, the pickup remains at the bottom and very loose but didnt raise !!!
I will let you know.

Thanks!

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong (I have never adjusted the pickups but I 'm considering it)

Foam mounted pickups work well when you want to push them in because they make pressure against the foam which gives in and the pickups go lower.

But the opposite doesn't work so well..once you loosen the screws, the foam may not expand back entirely so if you want to raise the pickup you actually have to put more foam to compensate for the deformation of the original foam.

You are partially correct. It depends on how old the foam is.

The longer it sits in a compressed state, the more 'memory' it gains and will resist going back to its original shape.

New foam is very malleable and will snap back quite easily... old foam, not so much.

You can replace the foam quite easily, and you don't even have to get the sticky foam.

DiMarzio humbucking p/ups come with a triangular foam block. I simply cut strips from that just eye-balling the correct size and shoved them under my p/ups. I did remove the old, compressed foam first though.

My p/ups are quite solid and still move up nicely if I want to raise the p/ups, for now anyway.

It's similar to the foam you would use to insulate a window mounted air conditioner, but a little less resistant to compression.

You should be able to find something that will do the trick at just about any hardware or home improvement store.

LOL....I used the same DiMarzio packing foam for my RGT pups.

This is the foam tape that Mic is talking about. I get it from Lowes for $4 and some change. The 10 foot roll will last quite a long time and is good for other projects around the house.

Thanks for the replies !!!
but, correct me If Im wrong!!!
I always love the humbuckers mounted directly in the body, so, If I need to put some foam, or more foam to raise them, does it affect the tone???
will be better to put a small piece of wood ?

I appreciatte your opinions on this case!!

thanks

For the most part, no, I don't think so.

You could use wood, but you'd have to cut it perfectly, and also cut a channel for the wires to to through, and I'm sure there are other intricacies that I'm overlooking at the moment.

Plus the fact that you're stuck with that height, and over time wood expands/shrinks and if your string height changes, or any number of things that can/will change over the years, you'll be cutting new wood blocks a couple, or a few, more times over the life of the guitar.

The sound of the wood resonating doesn't get transferred to the pickups through the pickup itself. Pickups don't produce sound by vibrating themselves, it's the disruption of the magnetic field, and 99.99% of that disruption comes from the vibrating string(s).

What direct mount does is give you a few 'advantages' (this is speculative),

The p/ups don't move or vibrate on a set of springs, giving a more 'solid foundation' for your tone since the p/ups don't move in relationship to the strings.

No mounting rings. Less parts to come loose/alter tone. Plus the neck p/up can be set a little closer to the neck (the bridge can be closer to the bridge as well) without the rings and this DOES alter tone slightly.

No pickgaurd. Most guitars with pickguards are front mounted, and the extra routing can alter the tone of the wood, and some people just don't like pickguards for the appearance.

After all that, let me answer your question.

I don't think you'll notice any difference in tone if you use foam or if you use a fitted block of wood. Either way the p/ups are solidly mounted to the wood and aren't going to vibrate much, if any, differently. (not that this is going to effect the tone to a noticeable degree even if it does vibrate).

I thought I remember reading an article that was related to Satriani is some form or another where the foam under the pickups helps reduce the amount of feedback. Yeah....something to that effect.

Thanks for the answers!!
MicJustMic, You convince me !!! Im going to put new foam, to be able to raise the height

thanks again!

just curious;

did any of you guys tried something solid (like wood or metal) for adjusting the height? did it change the sound?