School me on Tele Pickup heights

[Aceman]

Classic combo - nothing funky or souped up.

Basic solid Tele setup.

 

[Demanic]

Do what you always do? Get them within two nickles distance from the strings. Then move them up and down a bit and adjust with your ears.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Nothing special here...I work on the bridge first, and get it close until I hear the effect of the magnet on the strings, then pull it back. I then move to the neck to balance it.

 

[Aceman]

It is just such a pain to have to remove the pick guard to get the neck right....

 

[JB_From_Hell]

It is just such a pain to have to remove the pick guard to get the neck right....

This makes me super thankful mine is mounted to the guard like a Strat.

 

[ErikH]

Do what you always do? Get them within two nickles distance from the strings. Then move them up and down a bit and adjust with your ears.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

Exactly what I was going to recommend. That's how I set the height on an Esquire build with a Broadcaster pickup. I eventually moved the pickup closer to the strings but nickel height is a good starting point.

 

[solspirit]

Do what you always do? Get them within two nickles distance from the strings. Then move them up and down a bit and adjust with your ears.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

I've been so reliant on plastic for so long that I really have to search for 2 nickels.

 

[dave74]

I'm in the Mincer camp on this.

 

[ToneFiddler]

easy.
1) the neck pu is mounted to the pickguard. normal adjusting…
2) the neck pu is mounted into the wood: play the guitar without a pickguard until you found a pleasing height…

 

[Aceman]

Was really hoping for a spec...or anything that said "neck really far from strings"

Thanks a lot....for all of the deep Tele insights! LOL

 

[Benjy_26]

I tend to set the bridge pickup where it sounds its best and then adjust the neck to match.

 

[justFred]

Fender specs: bass/treble side [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 5"]
[TR]
[TD]Vintage style[/TD]
[TD]6/64" (2.4 mm)[/TD]
[TD]5/64" (2 mm)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Securb]

Move it up and down until you get a sound you like

 

[Aceman]

Move it up and down until you get a sound you like

I got something you can move up and down until...

 

[Aceman]

easy.

2) the neck pu is mounted into the wood: play the guitar without a pickguard until you found a pleasing height…

See this? This is some deep Tele wisdom right there. This is useful and insightful. This is what someone says when they are not trying to be a flippin' comedian.

Thank you greatly ToneFiddler. It seems so obvious now! Many thanks and a blessing upon your home.

 

[idsnowdog]

There's no special formula for Tele's. It's pretty much the same as a strat style pickup with the exception that you can change the angle of the bridge. You are also more likely to not be dealing with staggered pole pieces.

 

[pskorz]

On all my guitars I keep the vol/tone controls all the way up on 10. With a tele, I’ve found that with the bridge pickup, I like the vol about 8, tone somewhere around 6-8.

that doesn’t answer the question about height, I realize, but it is a bit of tele insight.

 

[ToneFiddler]

with my 22 frets on teles i also have to remove the neck! (and strings) to remove the pickguard. thats why i do it this way.
tele necks are weak.
i tend to put the neck as close as possible to the strings without functioning as a 23th fret and any rattling.
the bridge as low as possible without sounding too plinky/tiny to balance the volume diff.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I wish there was a better way....
Actually, there is, an has been since a Tele was invented. But 'tradition' says Tele neck pickups can't have easily accessible height adjustment screws, or it's 'Not A Tele'. One of the many things in the Guitar World where tradition hampers progress, or form follows function.
Good thing is that you only have to go through this exercise once, until you switch string sizes or pickups.

 

[Aceman]

There's no special formula for Tele's. It's pretty much the same as a strat style pickup with the exception that you can change the angle of the bridge. You are also more likely to not be dealing with staggered pole pieces.

See - this is helpful!