Pick-up detaching from interior of instrument

[PhilGE]

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who's re-adhered pick-ups to the interior of instruments.

I have a McIntyre Feather pick-up installed in my Old-Wave A w/oval hole. It appears that 1/3 to 1/2 of the pick-up on the lead side has lost adhesion. I assume this is affecting at least the signal quality from the pick-up if not limiting the range of frequency captured. My concerns were raised when I could simply not believe that the pick-up was not capturing the amount of low-end my ears were hearing. When I peeked in using a dentist's mirror, I saw the pick-up in it's current state. I assume that it's supposed to be fully adhered to the interior surface of the instrument top, up to the lead.

My local luthier has offered to remove and permanently glue on the pick-up after making a simple tool to safely access the pick-up.

Any concerns or comments before I take this in for some "corrective surgery?"

[glauber]

A little duct tape oughta do 'er.




(just kidding)

[mandocanoe]

I have had the same thing happen on a mando and a guitar. I called the folks at Mcintire and was told that the problem was probably that the wood surface was not as clean as it should be when the feather was installed. The suggestion was to remove the pick-up, clean the wood with alcohol, and re-attach the pick-up with double sided tape. He suggested trimming the tape so that it does not quite reach the edge of the pick-up. I also put some tape on the wire that comes out of the pickup to attach it to a brace (It looked to me like the weight of the wire might have been helping to peel the pick-up off the top).

Good luck,
Mike

[PhilGE]

A little duct tape oughta do 'er.

Actually, I was thinking hot melt glue would do the job...


Mike, thanks for the tips.

[PhilGE]

Mike - that was the ticket. The pick-up has now been glued into place and the lead is taped to a brace. The difference in gain and tone range is tremendously improved.

Thanks again!

-Phil