Horseshoe pickup question

[John Viterito]

I posted this question a few days ago and didn't get a response, so I thought I'd give it another shot. I have a six month old Jerry Byrd frypan. The horseshoe pickup has a little wiggle (top to bottom of guitar) in it. This is my first guitar with a horseshoe pickup, so I'm wondering if this is normal/acceptable. Any input about this would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Joe Cook]

I have one of the JB frypans from Fuzzy guitars and the horseshoe is not actually a magnet. It is cosmetic and has no effect on the tone. You can actually remove it if you like. I do like the tone of the pickup in mine and I left the "horseshoe" on. Mine wiggles a little but it doesn't bother me. I really like the playability and feel of these even if they are a reproduction. Jerry Byrd had a lot of input on these and I think they are very good guitars. Hope this helps, John.

[Kevin Glandon]

Actually..according to Rick Aiello, a Rickenbacher authority and one who builds horseshoe pickups…the faux magnets on JB steels do affect the magnetic field and do affect the tone. Don’t remove them. I own a Fuzzy JB as well as Rics, The JB is comparable in tone in every way. I don’t know about the pickup wiggling though.

[Matt Berg]

I'm curious, is the horseshoe a magnet that's not connected electrically to the pickup system, or not even a magnet? If the former, I could easily see it evening out the magnetic attraction of the strings to the actual pickup and providing greater sustain, if the latter, it would seem to be just a visual ornament.

[John Viterito]

Thank you, Joe, Kevin, and Matt. The JB is a great sounding guitar as Kevin states , beautiful, and a joy to play as Joe points out. Kevin, your pickup (I call this the "hand rest") is firmly fixed and doesn't move at all?

[Stephen Cowell]

I bought a JB frypan from Dave Geigrich's estate... it arrived with a broken pickup. Turns out that the faux horseshoes do make it more vulnerable if it takes a lick. The assembly relies on the bottom of the bobbin, which is just plastic.

Rick Aiello made me a Halbach-array using the fauxshoes... it works great. The extra magnetism 'wakes up' the shoes.

You might just have loose screws in your pickup bottom... take the back off and have a look.

[John Viterito]

Thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen Cowell]

Thanks, Stephen.

Did you take the back off and look at the screws holding the horseshoes? What did you find?

[John Viterito]

There is no back on the JB frypan; I'd have to go in from the front by unscrewing three screws on either side that appear attached to the horseshoe. I usually don't fiddle with my guitars; I may take it to the local guy not because it is huge movement or playability is impacted, it's just an itch I need to scratch and really want to know if it is supposed to do that.

[Kevin Glandon]

The pickup is firmly mounted…but that term is relative. If you grab hold of the pickup, you can move it like you can any pickup that is mounted the way this one is. They are not mounted solidly. They usually have springs that the adjustment height screws go through. This will always allow for some movement. It is normal.

[John Viterito]

Thanks, Kevin. What you say makes sense, and perhaps I've been unduly concerned about this.