Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

[Notes_Norton]

OK, I play sax, flute, wind synth, keyboard synth, guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Sax/wind synth is my primary instrument.

I just got a custom Parker DF522NN (The NN Stands for Notes Norton) with 2 P-Rails installed.

It's beautiful and I love the versatility of the pups.

So how much distance should I put between the strings and the bridge and neck pickups (please specify if that should be with the string depressed on the last fret or not).

I'll use that as the starting point, and when I find the sweet spot, I'll post some samples.

Thanks,
Notes

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

I'd start with the pups about an 1/8th inch from the strings (strings depressed at last fret) for the bridge, and maybe 3/16ths for the neck pup. But the final resting point should be decided by your ears, not the ruler.

 

[Notes_Norton]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

Thanks!

I've messed with guitars for many years. Mostly playing rhythm (barre chords) with the guitar player's 'other' guitar when the songwriter didn't have the good sense to make room for a saxophone part

Did bass a couple of years during the psychedelic era when nobody wanted to hear saxophones.

A couple of years ago I decided to get serious about guitar. I'd been playing sax, wind synth, flute and keyboards on stage with my duo, but decided I'd rather play guitar for 3 reasons (1) it was more appropriate for the music we are playing (2) it looks better {how many instruments do you play?} in a show-biz sense and (3) I just wanted to make the kind of music guitar players make.

So I bought a used Casino (P90s), got a weekly outdoor gig on a dock over salt water so scored a LTD Faux-LP for almost free and put Mean 90s in it (I didn't think the buzzy overwound HBs were appropriate for my targeted audience).

I progressed rapidly but it is my 7th instrument, I was comfortable on the fretboard from all those barre chords, and I played a Fender P bass for a couple of years. Plus I practiced a lot.

As I got better at guitar, my wife, duo mate, and also a guitarist, encouraged me to get a better guitar (having a guitar playing wife is good for GAS). She plays a Parker PM10 and the build is incredible. You can't even tell where the neck meets the body without taking it out in the bright sunlight.

So I got a Parker DF524NS on a 90 day trial. I love everything about it including the variety of tones I can get with the stock Duncans and piezo. I immediately bonded with that guitar.

It's comfortable, it's like wearing the guitar, not holding it ... no neck dive ... light weight but with decent sustain ... ebony fretboard and hardened stainless frets make bending a breeze ... Sprezel tuners, graph tech nut and saddles and an almost straight string path from end to end make for remarkable tuning stability, even with the whammy in floating mode ... long scale and radius ... and easy to reach master volume fit me perfectly.



Although I loved the SC and HB sounds I could get on this guitar and the additional tones I could get mixing the piezo with the mags, I missed the P-90 sounds.

So after much research on the 'net, I decided to have Parker build one for me with P-Rails.



Sorry about the color, taken with my phone on a cloudy day.

Now I can still have the SC and HB sounds along with the P90s I miss. Stock from Parker they sound very good, but as this will be my gigging guitar, I'll want the P90s to sound as good as I can get them. Thus the question you so generously answered (thanks again). I'll start there and use my ears from that point.

The NN model is now my gigging guitar and the NS my practice at home guitar.

I remember the Mean 90s on the LTD took a long time to get right. At first they were too thin, then too muddy, and finally just right. But I don't remember what I did to make them sound good, as I was just tweaking between gigs. I read somewhere than P90s are more sensitive to height than other pickups - of course, everything I read on the 'net I take with a grain of salt.

When I get the pups adjusted just right for me, I'll post some sound samples on my website and put some links here.

Notes

 

[Scott Olson]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

That Parker looks great and looking forward to the soundclips. GuitarDoc is right, ears is the best way to go but general rule is 1/8" which is about equal to two pennies.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

Oh, Scott:

I've been wanting to tell you...

I don't think your "head (is) in the clouds". You seem pretty firmly rooted on good ol' solid Earth.

 

[DeathMetalRob]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

Thanks!

I've messed with guitars for many years. Mostly playing rhythm (barre chords) with the guitar player's 'other' guitar when the songwriter didn't have the good sense to make room for a saxophone part

Did bass a couple of years during the psychedelic era when nobody wanted to hear saxophones.

A couple of years ago I decided to get serious about guitar. I'd been playing sax, wind synth, flute and keyboards on stage with my duo, but decided I'd rather play guitar for 3 reasons (1) it was more appropriate for the music we are playing (2) it looks better {how many instruments do you play?} in a show-biz sense and (3) I just wanted to make the kind of music guitar players make.

So I bought a used Casino (P90s), got a weekly outdoor gig on a dock over salt water so scored a LTD Faux-LP for almost free and put Mean 90s in it (I didn't think the buzzy overwound HBs were appropriate for my targeted audience).

I progressed rapidly but it is my 7th instrument, I was comfortable on the fretboard from all those barre chords, and I played a Fender P bass for a couple of years. Plus I practiced a lot.

As I got better at guitar, my wife, duo mate, and also a guitarist, encouraged me to get a better guitar (having a guitar playing wife is good for GAS). She plays a Parker PM10 and the build is incredible. You can't even tell where the neck meets the body without taking it out in the bright sunlight.

So I got a Parker DF524NS on a 90 day trial. I love everything about it including the variety of tones I can get with the stock Duncans and piezo. I immediately bonded with that guitar.

It's comfortable, it's like wearing the guitar, not holding it ... no neck dive ... light weight but with decent sustain ... ebony fretboard and hardened stainless frets make bending a breeze ... Sprezel tuners, graph tech nut and saddles and an almost straight string path from end to end make for remarkable tuning stability, even with the whammy in floating mode ... long scale and radius ... and easy to reach master volume fit me perfectly.

View attachment 49082

Although I loved the SC and HB sounds I could get on this guitar and the additional tones I could get mixing the piezo with the mags, I missed the P-90 sounds.

So after much research on the 'net, I decided to have Parker build one for me with P-Rails.

View attachment 49083

Sorry about the color, taken with my phone on a cloudy day.

Now I can still have the SC and HB sounds along with the P90s I miss. Stock from Parker they sound very good, but as this will be my gigging guitar, I'll want the P90s to sound as good as I can get them. Thus the question you so generously answered (thanks again). I'll start there and use my ears from that point.

The NN model is now my gigging guitar and the NS my practice at home guitar.

I remember the Mean 90s on the LTD took a long time to get right. At first they were too thin, then too muddy, and finally just right. But I don't remember what I did to make them sound good, as I was just tweaking between gigs. I read somewhere than P90s are more sensitive to height than other pickups - of course, everything I read on the 'net I take with a grain of salt.

When I get the pups adjusted just right for me, I'll post some sound samples on my website and put some links here.

Notes

I can't say I'm a fan of Parker Guitars but, these look smooth

 

[Notes_Norton]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

Thanks.

I'm not fond of the original Parker Fly shape, the upper horn 'arthritic thumb' just looks too angular for my tastes. I wasn't a fan until my partner got one. She got one of the PM series, single cut, made in Korea I think.

The fit and finish of her PM guitar is incredible. It's a glue-in neck, and you cannot see the neck joint unless you bring it outdoors in the bright light. The wood grain almost matches. The wiring and everything else was built to the same standards.

I've often wanted a strat-like guitar but didn't want a Fender because of their short radius fretboards. The only 12" I could find at the time had gold hardware, and that doesn't hold up well here in Florida.

I also like light weight guitars. I switch instruments a lot between sax, guitar, wind synthesizer and flute. My 8.5lb Faux-LP was killing me. I've had bursitis in my shoulder since I was a kid (hereditary) and the on/off, lift put back on the stand action simply aggravated it.

The DF came out about the time I was looking for a new guitar at 5 pounds. I googled the stock Duncan pups and they had a good reputation among Fender strat users who replaced the stock pups with them, so I went for the DF524NS. I immediately bonded with it.

I had an issue with a crack in the body after the warranty expired. I e-mailed Parker customer service, and they said to send it back and they would fix it for no charge. Well over a year after the warranty expired, it cracked in the same place. Parker said that the wood was obviously bad, and if I send it back, they would send me a brand, new guitar. They did, and they even paid for the return shipping. That's great customer service.

So I'm gigging a lot, and trying to practice on one of my other guitars. But the practice isn't working well. The shorter scale was no problem, but the more narrow string spacing at the bridge was. I'd practice all day on the Gibson or Casino and on the gig with the Parker I'd pick a lot of dead air between the strings. Perhaps if I were a more accomplished guitarist this wouldn't be a problem. I know different key placement on different saxophones only take about 5 minutes to adjust to, but I've only been playing guitar a couple of years.

So I decided I need another Parker at home, so if I could practice without getting the gigging guitar out of the case and putting in back in the stack to be loaded in the van when I'm done. I immediately bonded with the DF524NS, and couldn't see getting another one with the same pickup configuration and that's when I started looking at P-90 alternatives. The P-Rails with the Triple Shot Pickup rings seemed to be the answer. So that's what I got on the DF522NN.

So far I find the P90 sounds a little brighter than either my Gibson or the Mean 90s in my Faux-LP. But the tone control takes care of that. I'm doing a one-nighter every day until Christmas so the height adjustment will have to wait until after.

The Rails sound as Strat-ish as I need, and I like the series HB sound a little better than the HB on the NS. It has a bit more nastiness. I haven't found a use for the parallel HB mode yet. It sounds a little thin, perhaps like mini-HB pups (I've never had a guitar with one so take that comparison with that in mind). Perhaps with the right amount of Piezo mixed in I can come up with something I like. Ah, but December is the time for Christmas party one-nighters, and there isn't time for much else.

When a musician is working, life is good!

Notes

 

[Notes_Norton]

Re: Pickup height suggestions for P-Rails - newbie question

Reading the above post, I sound like an advertisement for Parker.

I have no commercial interest in Parker guitars, paid the going price for them, and don't make a penny from the endorsement.

I just bonded with the DF and think it's the perfect guitar for me. Of course, as always YMMV.

I hope to get the sound clips up after Christmas. We have some family down from 'up north' but I should be able to sneak a few hours in. The challenge will be recording the guitar into the computer. Something I've not done before. I've recorded the output of my MIDI tone modules as I make my own backing tracks, but never a guitar. I have a USB interface that has a guitar and line input, so hopefully things will go smoothly. If not, I'm in for a learning curve.

Notes