Now that this guitar is mine, I decided to read your whole thread. LOL. I'll have to test the HFN at loud volume when my wife is out of the house.
I did change your strings and put 12s on it. I also took off your high saddle and put back the medium height saddle with no pickup or elastomer strip, so the action is low. Lower than the low saddle with the element and elastomer strip. maybe too low?
Do you think the guitar would sound warmer if I put just the elastomer strip back in? My stock plaintop seems to be louder acoustically (and much louder plugged in).
The hard part will be deciding which one stays in Ohio and which one moves to Florida.
Quote:
Originally Posted by martingitdave
JungWoo
It was bothering me that I couldn’t get the HFN working well in my Sable. Since I am stuck at home due to COVID-19 lockdown (don’t have it thankfully) I was able to spend an hour on it. Basically, I learned the following:
McPherson uses a thin elastomer strip under the Element pickup. I think this allows for more stable pickup seating. I did my test by removing both the pickup and the elastomer strip. I then made a new saddle with the blank I had ordered from McPherson for $10. I matched the action to the setup with the pickup. Then, I used the provided 3M tape and installed the HFN VT Active system. I was super careful to get the pickup lined PERFECTLY under the saddle line, and centered e to e.
The results:
Sounds really good. Maybe as good as the Anthem at low volume. I don’t think feedback rejection will be as good.
The guitar is louder acoustically, but maybe not as “warm” sounding with the pickup and elastomer. That’s all a matter of taste.
I am going to play it at home for a while and take it like this to my next gig. If it works, great. If not, then I can re-install the Anthem with the elastomer. It’s very easy to do.
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