Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My friend has a 325 that was modded extensively by the previous owner. One of the things he wants to revert back to factory setting was the pickup heights. Does anyone know how far from the strings the bridge pickup should be in millimeters out of the factory? I looked for pictures but I couldn't find a good closeup on the side of the pickup.

The pickup's overall height is pretty much fixed by the grommets or foam pad between the pickup and the guitar body (the foam pad allows a little more height adjustment than do the grommets).

The bridge height is what actually sets the distance between the pickup and the strings I typically set the bridge height based on two criteria: (1) all of the strings need to ring clearly throughout the fret board (no buzzes or dead spots anywhere), and (2) the strings must clear the pickups with no interference (no strings hitting the pickup tops when played anywhere on the fretboard).

Although not taken to show the string height per se, here is a picture of my 325v59:

My 1981 320 has the neck pickup screwed down almost completely compressing the foam, with the treble side a tad higher, the bridge pickup just enough to start compressing the foam and keep the pickup stable, and the middle pickup somewhere in between. Hope this helps.