P90 proper pickup height

jacoby75

New member
Hey guys,

I have a Guild Blues 90 that I’ve owned for about 12 years or so. I was looking at doing a little setup overhaul on it, since I have only played it in church on occasion over the years and have never really set it up apart from adjusting the intonation.

From what I’ve read, the two soapbar P90’s in it are Seymour Duncans. I don’t know if they’re antiquity, hot output, or specifically what model they might be. They have a white cover and silver pole pieces, but I know that means nothing. I emailed Guild but haven’t received a response.

Let’s assume for a minute that they are SD P90’s. Does anybody know the “factory” height for the pickups? What’s a good ballpark for how far the pickups should be from the strings? I realize it’s subjective, and can be changed for any number of reasons. But I thought knowing the ballpark of where the factory starts them out might give me a good place to start as opposed to just guessing, since I don’t really have a frame of reference or other guitar to compare it to to know what it “should” sound like.

Thanks!
 
Re: P90 proper pickup height

Welcome to the forum.

A cursory trawl of the Interweb reveals that, with both pickups selected, hum is cancelled. Hence, the pickups in the Guild are NOT Antiquity P90s.

If you are committed to adjusting the pickup to string distances from their present positions, there is nothing to lose by unscrewing each of them and reading the model ID stickers on their baseplates.

As a very rough starting point, try these distances;
Neck/Rhythm = 4mm low E, 4mm high E
Bridge/Treble = 3mm low E, 2mm high E

Arrange the pole piece screws to approximately the same radius as the fingerboard. See how the strings balance for volume. Tweak until you are satisfied.
 
Re: P90 proper pickup height

welcome to the forum! I like to start with the pole pieces just about flush on the bridge pup and adjust it under an 1/8" from the strings when depressed at the last fret. see how that sounds and adjust it up or down accordingly. I raise the poles on the neck pup a little higher than those on the bridge then adjust the neck pup so the output is about the same as the bridge. that's a decent place to start then adjust the pups and pole pieces to get them closer to your liking. usually the bass side is a touch further away on the neck pup.
 
Re: P90 proper pickup height

Thanks, guys! Great to be here. I'll have to try that, Jeremy. Sounds like a good starting point. I started tweaking the height of each earlier, and now I feel like it sounds worse. But I might have had them too low. @ funkfingers, are your numbers with the strings depressed, or just as they are? Thanks.
 
Re: P90 proper pickup height

With strings open and with all pole screws showing above the surface of the plastic cover.

My figures were only offered as a starting point. You can and must make the adjusts to suit your instrument, amplification and playing style.
 
Re: P90 proper pickup height

Thanks, guys. That made a pretty big difference just having a decent frame of reference to start with. I think the pickups were way too high. I have been going through an overdrive pedal search as of late, but haven't been able to find anything that didn't sound harsh and brittle to my ears. Then I started thinking the problem might be the guitar. Lowering the pickups a bit definitely helped smooth out the sound and make it less harsh.
 
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