Re: sh1 sh4: Setting the height of your pickups
One persons approach.
Taken from poster Gavin Allred from another forum. While he refers to Fender I think much of his approach would be universal.
I'm basically looking for a classic strat tone, I like my Strat's to sound like Strat's, Tele's to sound like Tele's, and Les Pauls to sound like a Les Pauls... etc. so if you're looking to get a Les Paul sound out of your strat....this might not work. It helps if you have a good idea of what tone you're looking for before you start tweaking. If you're into clean tones you may want to sink the pickups lower...muscle blues, maybe a little higher and so on. Also, your amp is going to have an impact as well. Power amp/preamp distortion, stomp box, etc. I also tend to set up pickups in comparison to the other guitars I use. If I'm working, I want to be able to change out guitars without having to fiddle with amp settings cause my Tele pu's are set up way hotter or brighter than my Strat. I make all adjustments and comparisons at full working/stage volume.....this is important. It's also important that you start with a guitar that is set up well with a fresh set of strings, string buzz kills tone and a guitar that won't play in tune will always sound "off" no matter where you put the pickups.
1. Rough in the heights
I usually start with the Fender recommended spec's and adjust from there. Most of the time I end up lower than the Fender Spec, but that's where I start. I measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pickup pole. Normally start around 5-6/64ths on the bass side and 4-5/64ths on the treble. I rough in all three pickups to this height and start playing around to see what I've got.
2. Fine tune heights
Once I've got them roughed in, I start critically listening to the neck pu. What does it sound like clean....what about driven. What I'm looking for is a full, balanced sound when clean that still maintains string definition and clarity when driven. I like my normal rhythm drive sound to still be able to clean up when picking soft and dirty up when I dig in. I'll usually take the bass side down until it starts to clean up with no flab/mud with medium amount of drive. Then I balance the treble side to that. Looking for nice, even, balanced output from top to bottom. I'll then match the mid and bridge to the neck pickup output while balancing those pu's (bass to treble). I then go back and fine tune all 3 pu's, looking for three distinct sounds with good dynamics across the set. Neck-full, even sound with clarity on the bass notes that doesn't get too muddy with overdriven chord work or too thin for lead work. Middle- brighter with chime, little more in your face with spank that stays defined when finger picking with a little drive. Bridge-Aggressive, in your face upper mid, but still maintaining a good bass to treble balance and not too shrill. Although we can only really adjust bass or treble, the midrange is really where it's at here so that's really the key. Bass guitar is going to bury the extreme lows and the cymbals are going to eat some of the top end. At the end of the day, the midrange is going to be the biggest determining factor for the overall tone of the guitar.
3. Fine tune the quack (Positions 2 & 4)
Once I have the three individual pickups set up as above, I start to evaluate the in-between positions. I find that both 2 & 4 have a sweet spot that usually exists within a quarter of a turn or less of the pickup screw. I find this easier to adjust using a clean tone. At this point, I'm only adjusting the middle pickup and the middle pickup only.
I divide the Philips pickup height adjustment screw into quarters (or 8ths if I need to) and use that as a reference so I don't lose my place. I start off listening critically to the bass notes in the 4 position. Starting off the bass notes will have that typical out of phase quack, but will lack definition & focus on the higher overtones. I start to lower the bass side of the middle pickup a half turn at a time, what I'm looking for is the point where the base notes just start to clean up and "snap" and then I check this with a medium drive tone. Keep track of the number of turns as you tweak, evaluate, tweak, evaluate. Once I find that spot, I'll go past it a little just to make sure. Once the sound starts to lose focus and snap on the upper harmonics, I'll back it up to the sweet spot. Do the same with the treble side, there's a sweet spot there as well where the upper harmonic will become more focused and pronounced and the guitar will start to "feel" better under hand. I then check the # 2 position, this time adjusting only the bridge pickup to find those sweet spots. Overall, this fine tuning emphasizes the "quack" tones and really maintains definition with overdrive.
4. After all of this, put the guitar down and walk away. Come back in a few hours or so and have another listen. This time, try to focus on the "overall" sound of the guitar and not the details. Sometimes, if you spend too much time focusing on the nuances above, you'll lose perspective. If I need to go back and address something that sticks out, I'll usually start back at step #2. Once you get everything where you're happy with it, forget about everything above and play the damn thing! Some folks may find this technique a little obsessive, but I find that at the end of the day you end up with a better sounding and feeling guitar.
Like I said above, this works for me....It may not work for you.
Gavin Allred, Nov 17, 2011
#22
