Pick-ups adjustment?

[anonymous]

Howdy Mark! I was wondering how close my pick-ups should be to the strings, on my 330/6, to get the best sound from my guitar?
And may 2002 be the best year for you and the rest of the forum!!!

[anonymous]

Thanks Dan , to set the pickup height on any brand guitar ....press all of the strings down at the last fret ,this must be done AFTER it is set up and the playability is not a factor .Meaning ,it plays great !

Press ALL of the strings down at the last fret and raise the treble side of the bridge pickup so that it is 3/32" to 1/16" from the high E string .

Plug the guitar in and raise the bass side of the same pickup till the Low E has the same output/volume level as the high E.

Now raise the neck pickup the same way ,but flick the selector switch back and forth from pickup to pickup ...you will notice that if both pickups have the same output ....and they are adjusted the same distance from the strings,the neck pickup is noticably louder!

This is why Seymour Duncan makes neck and bridge pickups ....they sound the same but when adjust the same setting/distance ...they are the same volume!
With non different pickups (Rick ,Fender ,And Gibson PAF or P-90 pickups) the neck pickup needs to be farther away from the strings to get an even balance .

If you have a middle pickup ,this can either be adjusted between these two pickups ,or lower than either .
The third pickup is added together with the neck and is magneticly out of phase ,it gives you a #4 click on a 5way strat switch type tone .You never get the deep woody tone of the neck pickup .

But this has been covered under ....what does the 5th knob do? see that for more info .

[anonymous]

Already I hear a big difference in the sound... It was worth asking! Thanks very much, Mark!

[m_cuffa]

That procedure should be applicable to a bass too, right? Though I'm assuming on a Ric bass it would be 1/8" instead of 1/16" ?

[rictified]

I like my basses hot, I adjust the pickups as close as I can get them and not hit the strings and not overdistort, (I like a little dirt in my sound) I always have the bass pickup as high as it will go or close to it. And the treble pickup, I set so it is a little louder than the bass pickup when I flick the switch back and forth. I adjust so that the volume is equal from string to string on the same pickup. I set my amp's tone controls flat to do this and try to do it in a room that doesn't have any resonances, usually a small room is better. I have never measured the distance because I do it by ear, but 1/8 inch sounds pretty close to where I set mine, it also depends on how hot your pickups are and what kind of a sound you want. Nothing is set in stone, I also use Ric's standard 6/64ths E side 12th fret and 4 /64ths 12th fret G string as a starting point when I set the action on basses. I usually end up with the G a little higher and the E a little lower when I set them they way I like it to play and sound.
Experiment, it's fun and you'll really get to understand and know your bass(s) and you will probably realize that they are all a little bit different and every bass has best set points for you for the various adjustments and they may be a little different from bass to bass. The settings can even change from season to season, humidity, cold, etc.

[m_cuffa]

Thanks Bob. I adjusted the pickups yesterday but I think I'll do it
again with my amp's tones flat just to make sure.
Right now my neck p/u is about 1/8" from the G, and the E side is as high as it can go (and it just barely manages to get the same output as the G side).
The treble p/u is about 3/16" away on the G side (I want it a little further than the neck p/u so as not to overpower the sound)
and slightly closer on the E side. As for my string height
I'm using TI flats so I need to set them a little higher than the factory specs.

[shamustwin]

Thanks to the artist formerly known as bobampeg.