pickup heights?

[mrh1275]

i'm going to install some new sd's as soon as i get some tips from my previous post..is there a recommended height to adjust p/ups from the strings or is it a case of experimenting ?..playing an explorer pro but the set-up from gibson is poor to say the least.:yell:

 

[Funky P]

Re: pickup heights?

Start really close to the strings then lower the pup until you get the sound you like

 

[RW James]

Re: pickup heights?

There was an old post that gave some good advice - for at least a place to start.

For the bridge pickup set it the width of one American nickel below the strings... for the neck - two nickels. Then adjust to taste.

I use this and it works for me.

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: pickup heights?

There aren't any hard and fast rules.

If you get the pole pieces close to the strings you get a more intense sound from the tightly focused flux. Harmonic content is dominated by those harmonics with a significant displacement over the pole piece. You may get "magnetic weighting", caused by the magnets pulling on the string, causing false intonation.

Back the pickups off further and the flux spreads out. The response is less intense, the flux's footprint on the string is larger so the spectral response is wider (more harmonics). In short, the sound is more "acoustic".

Find the point you like best. If you play "dirty" most of the time you need to take into account that signal/noise ratio of the input signal is more important than harmonic content, so you are better off with the pickups closer.

 

[D-EJ915]

Re: pickup heights?

I've heard of pickups changing the intonation, but does it really make that much of a difference?