Pickup height

[Thom]

Saw thison the Bareknuckle forum and thought it was quite interesting, so thought I'd share.

I've always been interested in pickup heights, but much more so since getting involved with BKPs. With what I've learnt recently, I've actually found that I can seriously improve stock or non-BKPs with pickup height adjustment now.

I think improve is seriously subjective though - we all want slightly different things out of our pups, so I take everything I read here with a pinch of salt, but it's all worth a try to see what it does for me. Maybe he was experimenting at the time? But if it works, it's right...

My current thinking is as follows:

If the pup has adjustable poles, set them all level with the cover first - I'll only adjust them nowadays if I have a perceived loud or quiet string after the other adjustments. I used to fiddle with these all the time and used to get in a terrible mess.

I start with the treble side of the bridge pup. I do get it as close to the strings as Twinfan does (didn't used to, but I found BKPs like this more than other pups I've used over the years). I set the bass side slightly lower because I know that's roughly what I'm going to want (from previous experience).

Then I balance the neck (and middle if it's a strat) by comparing its output to the bridge - nothing to do with measurements on this one for me! If the neck ends up too high (catches the strings or produces magnetic problems), then I get it as high as possible then lower the bridge by output comparison. Again, the bass side of the pup(s) gets set slightly lower. BTW - I use a very clean sound for output comparison, I do it by ear mainly, but I'm also watching meters on a mixing desk - trust the ears first though

That's the initial settings - I then I live with it for a bit (days/weeks, depends on how I feel), tweaking as necessary, going right back to the beginning if it gets out of hand!

During the tweaking phase, I use the pup heights to control tone - at least this is my perception of what I'm doing. Like Twinfan, I fine tune by ear, but I tend to think in "quarter turns" of the screws - it really is that sensitive.

I learnt this "tone control" thing with my Mississippi Queens - closer to the strings means fatter, more output, less perceived treble. Further from the strings is thinner, more clarity, and more perceived treble. It really shows up on MQs, so I experimented with the others - seems to apply to them all (non-BKPs as well). So my simplified rule of thumb is "If I want more bottom-end, raise it, if I want more clarity or bite, lower it" - I can do this to any side of any pickup, and then I have to rebalance the pup outputs. There's quite a bit of extra fiddling to get the inbetween sounds, when more than one pup is selected, just right, but you get the picture...

Following this routine, my strat has the bass side of the pups at least 3-4mm lower than the treble side (each pup is different). I'd happily accept a bigger difference if the tone dictated (and the screws can manage it )... I wanted the top strings fatter and the bass strings clearer, and that's what I've got - sounds excellent now.

My MQs (Gib Explorer) have a similar difference, slightly less pronounced maybe. My Riff Raffs (Epi SG) have an enormous difference between bass and treble side, but that's a work in progress. Both guitars have more pronounced slant on the bridge pickups. My Mules (Tokai Love Rock) are almost flat - seems nicely balanced at the moment. My Blackguarded Tele has the bridge almost flat but the neck has definite down-slant on the bass side.

I've only learnt this "tone control" aspect recently with my MQs, and I'm so glad I have, albeit some 30 years late . When I was young I heard old strat players saying you get "better tone" with the pups further from the strings - better than what?! You try adjusting your pups and it is different but you lose some stuff as well, but you live with it, wondering whether you can hear what they're hearing... Then you get others saying you get better output jamming the things up against the strings - again, better than what?

Now I've figured out that pickup height is just a "tone control" for me, and I've figured out exactly how it works on my guitars, I can get my own personal "better" without having to trust other people's apparently conflicting advice .

[Will]

My PUPs have been creeping higher and higher lately. I think on my 2 U-1s there about 1-2mm from the strings. On the '57, I can use the PUP as a 24th fret! I think I'm mostly putting them up higher to get more midrange and a better signal/noise ratio.

[Sloan]

Thanks for this post.
I've been on a setup kick lately and pickup height is one thing that's hardly covered anywhere.

[euan]

Pickups on my Tele just jumped a shit load. I've always naturally prefered the sound of lower pickups but I'm experimenting for cheap thrills.

[markleton]

That dude always posts essays on the bkp forum! I think he's great though, not like the usual uninformed tools on forums these days. the original topic is Here

[euan]

I find having your pickups above the strings to bring the best tones. The upside down magnets bring a great clarity to the high end.

[Fran]

Excellent post Lamp.
Some pups, like DiM Super Distoritons as example work better at a low height especially on the low end or everything turns to mush, no note definition. Its a simple thing during set up that most guitarists overlook.

[Sloan]

One thing I've been thinking about lately is setting the neck pickup further away so it's not nearly as loud as the bridge. If your using a tube amp, you should just be able to switch to your neck pup and instantly clean up your tone. Just an idea, haven't really tried it yet.

[euan]

Depends if that is how you use your guitar. I would guess using your volume control (or independent volumes) would give you that as well with the bonus of easy access distortion on your neck pickup as well.

Certainly independent volume and switching between that is better than reducing the functionality of the neck pickup.

[Sloan]

Depends if that is how you use your guitar. I would guess using your volume control (or independent volumes) would give you that as well with the bonus of easy access distortion on your neck pickup as well.

Certainly independent volume and switching between that is better than reducing the functionality of the neck pickup.

The thing about rolling back volume is that it really fucks with the response of an amp and just makes things shitty.

[euan]

So does imbalanced pickups.

[Mages]

yea, I would say that lowering pickups, rolling back volume or just playing lighter all really does the same thing and is going to have the same effect on your amp. I actually prefer sloan's technique though. I set my pickups, vol and tone where and want them and just switch quickly to the sound I want with the switch.

[Sloan]

I just tried it, here's a clip:
http://bestnetworx.com/uploader/files/5 ... eckpup.mp3

Epiphone Goth Les Paul

• Stock neck pickup
  GFS Crunchy Rails bridge pickup

Ampeg VL-1002

• Channel II (overdrive/distortion)
  FX Send out to...

Speaker Impulse

• Ampeg VL-1002 Power section > BlueVoodoo 4x12 with WGS Veteran 30's > Audix i5

NOTE: This would probably work a lot better on a loud clean channel - i can't simulate power tube distortion this way.

I might keep it this way for a while and try it out. I like using one channel.

[mezzio13]

Sloan, for teh metalz, I usually crank the pup as close as I can without hittint the strings while hitting it hard. Then I get th pole pieces up even more, especialy on the bridge where the adjustable poles are towards the bridge anyway. You'll get all of the bass and mid response, plus you gain as much top end definition as you would need. This also makes palm mutes nice and bitey. You don't have to worry about magnetic pull at this point if you are heavy handed with your picking.

[tmotomm]

the thing is a low pickup can get muddy and a high one breaks up.