RAISING PICKUPS

[kokytomv]

Hi everybody, I've got my new thomastik flatwounds...they sound awesome. Just one more question.

Is there any tutorial about how to raise the rick bass pickups???


I have an idea about how to do it....but I'd like to know if there is any web or video or at least pictures showing how to do it.


We don't any luthiers for ricks in my country.}

Can anybody help me?

PS
I have a 4003 mapleglo 2011

[jps]

You have lots of adjustment room on the bridge pickup with the two large screws, one on each side of the pickup surround. The neck pickup has very limited range I usually just set it to the highest point without making the screw tension too high to avoid cracking the pickguard. If you need to get it higher than that as stock you can cut down the grommets that are on the underside of the pickguard or even carefully remove the four screws on the corners of the hi-gain pickup to gain even more height. If you do the latter you might want to use very thin wire to hold the pickup together!

[Baker69]

The only thing to remember really is that adjustment is the reverse of most other pickups i.e. screwing clockwise raises the pickup whereas on such as a Fender this action would lower the pickup. This is because the adjustment screws are into a treaded baseplate and not into the wood.

There isn't really a 'set' position to adjust the bridge pickup height to, as far as I'm aware it is pretty much all down to personal preference.

As jps has said, be careful with the neck pickup, there isn't much adjustment on it and it is very easy to crack the pickguard! Removing the 4 screws that hold the pickup to the mounting plate will get the pickup closer but in my opinion this shouldn't be necessary. If you feel the pickup is too far away from the strings and affecting output it could be your string height is too high.

[kokytomv]

Interesting information

[jps]

I neglected to mention that your bass (given it's age) has adjustable pole pieces on both pickups which can be used to balance out the strings volume-wise, but can also be used to some extent to get more volume from the neck pickup, in particular, by raising them higher. There is a limit to this though, don't raise them too high as 1) you will start to lose volume if they stick out too far from the bobbin and 2) you will hit the poles if they get too close to the strings.

[cassius987]

It's just a matter of right-tighty, lefty-loosy with the height adjustment screws. Use a ruler if you really want to be precise, but the ultimate final judgement is your ears (or a dB meter) with a flat EQ and no other effects. I use GarageBand to record each open string 4-5 times and make sure the outputs are balanced.

As a general rule I find it's usually better to lower the pickup on one side to match the other, not vice-versa (raising the lower side to match the higher one). Your amp's input stage can be raised in level to make up for any minor output loss from the bass. The overall tonal character will be fine with the pickup further away, if not improved. Also, leave a little extra distance between the bigger strings and the pickup (from 0.5-2 mm, your preference) to make sure you don't have any magnetic pull on the strings, which is more of a problem with the big ones like low E and B.

[kokytomv]

Wow it sounds difficult to do. I'll try it and see how it works.

Thanks guys

[cassius987]

It's the opposite of difficult! It just pays to do it methodically so you get the best results.

[jps]

Wow it sounds difficult to do. I'll try it and see how it works.

Thanks guys

More simple than it sounds; just set the neck pickup as high as it will go without putting undue strain on the pickguard (just snug up the screws), then adjust the height of the bridge pickup to how you want the two pickups balanced to each other. It's just turning a few screws, that's all.