harmonics and pickup height?

E

emaccarthy

New member
Ok so I think I have heard equally from two different approaches when it comes to this. I have an alder/maple super strat with a jazz neck and Screamin Demon bridge floyd setup. When it comes to the bridge humbucker and really making natural and pinched harmonics really pop and squeal what recommend height is the best? I have heard people say to lower the pickup and that helps the notes "breath" a little and then the less compression and lower magnetic pull from the pickup helps the note ring "truer" and with more overtones and harmonics. I have also heard the exact opposite from people claiming to "raise them as far as they will go with out hitting the strings" so that the pickup is strongest and will make all the harmonics and notes pop out and squeal. What do you all think? Lower? Higher?....
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Closer would usually make it easier to pop them out, but your sound get muddier as a result. I'd just adjust the pickup to sound best overall and stick an overdrive in front of your amp when it's squeel time.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Sit down with the guitar and a screwdriver and raise and lower the pickup until you get the desired sound. Sounds simple but yes it is that simple.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

As long as your technique is down making simple height adjustments to the humbucker should help you find your sweet spot within 10 minutes or less.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

It's an interesting debate: i'm fairly certain closer will boost your signal & enhance harmonics in a way stronger than the "magnet away from the string effect.".... But the signal will overwhelm the character of the strings & wood more: whenever you shift the height dramatically, the eq center shifts too.

Ex: if the pickup is too close, too much bass knob sounds fake or forced: if the pickup is strong but screwed far away, you can actually dial your eq knobs down cuz there's a different tone character being worked upon, shaped more by wood, string & fingers. It's like saying it's more "acoustic".

So yeah, scrutinize with your ears
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Right now I have the treble side about a penny distance and the bass side a nickel distance from the pole piece to the underside of the string when pressed at the highest fret. That seem about right? I'll run this for a bit and tweak if needed I guess....


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Re: harmonics and pickup height?

I have one of those Stew Mac pickup height gage sets. They are making a killing on them at $10 but they make my life easier and they are non-magnetic. I use the gauges and set to suggested but I use those as starting points only. My ears and a small screwdriver does the rest. I just find it easier to have a consistent starting point to use as a reference. Then there are the individual poles to tweak if you want to dial it in.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Really, as far as making the squeals goes, my technique is my technique, which is a little unorthodox as far as squeals go (I curl my ring finger and touch the string as I pick to get squeals, so I don't really pinch). The only height adjustments I use are to balance the output between pickups. I start with the neck pickup to get the best sound out of it, then adjust my bridge to match that output. I can get squeals without overdriving the front end with a relatively low output pickup (PG), so even though the SD is a little higher it should be enough to squeal without a lot of fanfare.

I do, however keep my Dynacomp on all of the time through the front end, but have it set relatively low, for more of a sparkle when I play clean more than anything, but am sure that it does help a little with sustain, and leveling as well as bringing out my squeals a little.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

IME hotter the pickup (especially ones with ceramic mags), having some distance between strings and pickup would not hurt the harmonics amplitude. it also helps if you feel the sound is too compressed
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

emaccarthy said:
Right now I have the treble side about a penny distance and the bass side a nickel distance from the pole piece to the underside of the string when pressed at the highest fret. That seem about right? I'll run this for a bit and tweak if needed I guess....


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That's too close to the strings for my taste! On one guitar of mine my bridge humbucker is 1/4" away when the string is fretted at the last fret and on another guitar it is about 1/8" away. However, it is all about your own ears, tastes and preferences.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

SnakeAces said:
That's too close to the strings for my taste! On one guitar of mine my bridge humbucker is 1/4" away when the string is fretted at the last fret and on another guitar it is about 1/8" away. However, it is all about your own ears, tastes and preferences.
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Really? I think Gibson and Seymour Duncan both recommend 1/16" of clearance between strings and humbuckers when fretted at highest fret. A penny is just about 1/16" thick.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

emaccarthy said:
Really? I think Gibson and Seymour Duncan both recommend 1/16" of clearance between strings and humbuckers when fretted at highest fret. A penny is just about 1/16" thick.
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Yes, Gibson does ship their guitars out with a 1/16" clearance on their bridge humbuckers and 3/32" clearance on their neck humbuckers. I have never seen an official Seymour Duncan height suggestion but it would not surprise me if it was similar.

All I said was hey, 1/16" is too close for my taste. That's the thing about height adjustments... like I said in my post: it's all about your ears, tastes and preferences. Height adjustment is subjective.
 
Re: harmonics and pickup height?

I'm off the opinion that pickups should be set to your own tone expectations too.

like I've played single coil pickups in neck position till recently I got a guitar with humbucker in the neck spot. I really couldn't get the clarity I'm used to until I backed away almost as low as the pickup rim. that's when I felt I got the best balance between the clarity and fullness I was after.

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Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Ok thanks for the tips everyone. I'm gonna have to experiment now.


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Re: harmonics and pickup height?

Harmonics (and pinchie-squealies) rely heavily on frequencies; that is, frequencies your rig is capable of producing and just how much.

If your amp is dark in the upper mids and/or treble, you may need to push those frequencies more either via the amp's tone controls or with an EQ in front.
 
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