Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

[UTGrad]

So I wasn’t crazy about the tone of the Gibson Super 57 bridge in my LP and it dawned on me maybe it’s the pickup height. Went and got my gauge and sure enough pups were quite low from factory. Put the bass end on 3/32 and treble 1/16 from string (fretted at 22 fret) and voila, totally satisfying Slash like tone. Yep i overlooked a super basic step.


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[beaubrummels]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

Gibson factory is 3/32” top of the pickup to bottom side of the string on both sides of the bridge and 3/32” treble side of neck, 4/32” (2/16”) bass side of the neck, with the high E and low E fretted at the highest fret. If they weren’t set to that already, they weren’t at factory spec before.

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

So I wasn’t crazy about the tone of the Gibson Super 57 bridge in my LP and it dawned on me maybe it’s the pickup height. Went and got my gauge and sure enough pups were quite low from factory. Put the bass end on 3/32 and treble 1/16 from string (fretted at 22 fret) and voila, totally satisfying Slash like tone. Yep i overlooked a super basic step.


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It is amazing how different the same set of pickups (in the same guitar, with same amp, same etc) can sound just by moving them 1mm closer or further from the strings.. I dedicate a notebook to pickup heights to find where each one sound best, but then I swap pickups often..

 

[Aceman]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

First comment: Nice job Gibson. For 2-4 grand you couldn't set the effing pups to spec. What an effing loser company. Quit buying stuff from them people.

Next: Far too few people spend time REALLY tweaking the settings on a pup. Put it to spec, arc the poles if needed. Then really listen. a little higher / lower overall, raise / lower a pole here / there. You can really do a lot....

 

[Discharged]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

Finding the "right" p'up height is the most basic and most overlooked setting, which also happens to be the single, most important setting of'em all! This is often referred to as the "sweet spot".

This just can't be emphasized enough. This makes or breaks your instrument.

/Peter

 

[Diego]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

Yup to all of the forementioned. Single coils particularly are super sensitive to this, it takes a ton of trial and error but it pays to have a nicely balanced set of pickups.

I used to own a Les Paul and the neck HB couldn't be any muddier when I first got it. Fat as hell but no clarity, no spank.
I thought it was just a crappy pickup, which I'd correctly set to "factory" specs. Saw some pictures and noticed that quite a few notorious LP players set their neck pickups very low, particularly from the bass strings side.
Thought what the hell and tried it. BOOM! Instant improvement, less output, and highs! They were there after all!
I did go too far down in my first attempt but that was the starting point for what actually was a terrific sounding guitar that I wasn't treating right.

Raised the polepieces a bit and some microadjusting here and there, and nailed a beautiful, balanced and sweet sound.
That was a good lesson.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

Finding the "right" p'up height is the most basic and most overlooked setting, which also happens to be the single, most important setting of'em all!

This

 

[David Garner]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

It's funny. The stock 490r/498t set that came in my 93, the 57 Classics I ended up putting in it, and then the Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups I put in after the 57s all liked being lower. I had the Wolfetones at, give or take, 1/8" from the strings (depressed at last fret). I think the treble side of the neck pickup might have been a hair closer at 7/64, but it's been a while since I installed them.

The Seymour Duncan pickups in both my Les Pauls now love to be set near factory height. 4/64 both sides on the bridge for both, and 6/64 both sides for the Antiquity neck and that or a shade under 7/64 for the Custom Shop Pearlies. Any lower and they start to lose punch and character, though I can go as much as a half turn and still have good basic tone. They just sound better up a bit.

Any higher and they start to get muddy. I have the pole pieces up above the covers, and both are very clear and articulate.

At any rate, everyone says set them by ear, but Seymour Duncan seems to wind them to where they work best close to those factory specs, at least based on my limited 2 pickup set sample.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

Based upon what I've see others do over the years, I think that I tend to set my pickups lower than most. Though on a few of them I've set the pickup low while raising the screw or hex poles for better attack definition. I've never liked the sound of any of my pickups adjusted so high that they barely clear the strings. Though I do use fairly high output pickups. I suppose vintage winds needed to get that close to hit the front of the amp harder, back before there were so many after market options.

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[cmopatrick]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

I agree, pickup height is the real deal... and honestly, pup height is my biggest annoyance right now. Then again, I've done it to myself, since I have two pairs of unrelated magnets (Red Devils paired with AL5 single coils in an instrument cut for dual humbuckers) that want to kill sustain if I get them too high and want to lose tone if they go too low.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

I usually go through two or three rounds of tweaking them. I adjust, play for a week or so, and repeat one or two more times.

It takes time man. You adjust a screw or two, you play for a minute, you adjust again, you play for a minute, too high too low, you go back to center, nah - higher was better, not that high though....a little more on this pole, play a minute, a little more on that pole. Takes patience, but worth it.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

I usually go through two or three rounds of tweaking them. I adjust, play for a week or so, and repeat one or two more times.

It takes time man. You adjust a screw or two, you play for a minute, you adjust again, you play for a minute, too high too low, you go back to center, nah - higher was better, not that high though....a little more on this pole, play a minute, a little more on that pole. Takes patience, but worth it.

Agreed and depending on the pickups a little change can make a BIG difference. The most sensitive to this by far in my experience have been most Strat style single coils , the old Carvin M22's and anything with an Alnico 8 mag.
Also do not overlook the pickup angle to the strings. If a pickup is cocked in relationship to the strings it can REALLY affect the tone!!

 

[Aceman]

Re: Adjusting Pick Up Height Difference wow

I consider "factory" to be spec height + pole arc for strings if that's a factor. I play LP/TOM's so it usually is....