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Post subject: Re: response
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 2:29 pm
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fretless5 wrote:
CAFeathers wrote:
fretless5 wrote:
Two quick opinions on this:

1) I would not mess with the pickup height. These are electronic components that have been designed to work in a particular scenario. I can tell you from experience that it's best to have leave them at the factory setting if you don't want to screw up your sound all the time.

2) Before investing in some more equipment, I would encourage you to play with the adjustments on your amp, and make sure that you understand what the amp is capable of. I also play a jazz and I've never felt the need to load on a bunch of electronics to get a lighter or heavier sound (special effects notwithstanding). You've got two pickups, and two hands and that is quite a toolkit (especially if you play finger-style) for producing a variety of tones.

How is adjusting pickup height screwing up your sound all the time?

Adjusting your pickup height helps to dial in the tone you want. Some pickups have adjustable pole pieces for even more fine tuning.


The string is metallic, and the pickup is magnetic. There is a sweet spot where you get the best sonic result based on the relative distance between the two. Any other type of adjustment to this relation represents a compromise in sound as you are basically taking the instrument from an optimal condition to something suboptimal. You wouldn't wear shoes two sizes too big just so you can wiggle your toes. By the same token, you shouldn't adjust your pickups for a result that only benefits 10% of your sound, causing the other 90% to suffer.

The magnetic quality of a pickup effects only volume, not tone. Tonal differences (other than that produced by your own hands) are a result of string choice, type of wood in the instrument, and electronic processing (i.e., the pickups and your amp).


What is optimal on one guitar may not be on another as no 2 guitars are exactly alike. String gauge and the material the string is made of as well as the type of magnet used in the pickup and magnet strength and pickup output all have a bearing on this.
Setup guides are exactly that: guides, starting points. Many of us tweak our guitars past those guides to get what is the optimum setup for us.
Pickup height does effect the tone of the guitar. Pickups up closer to the strings are going to have a more over driven distorted tone, where as pickups that are set lower will have a more vintage mellower tone. Pickups that are set lower will allow the string to vibrate longer giving more sustain.
If pickups were made to not be height adjusted they would just be screwed into the guitar and not have "adjustment screws".

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Post subject: Re: response
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 6:20 pm
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Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:24 pm
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CAFeathers wrote:
fretless5 wrote:
CAFeathers wrote:
fretless5 wrote:
Two quick opinions on this:

1) I would not mess with the pickup height. These are electronic components that have been designed to work in a particular scenario. I can tell you from experience that it's best to have leave them at the factory setting if you don't want to screw up your sound all the time.

2) Before investing in some more equipment, I would encourage you to play with the adjustments on your amp, and make sure that you understand what the amp is capable of. I also play a jazz and I've never felt the need to load on a bunch of electronics to get a lighter or heavier sound (special effects notwithstanding). You've got two pickups, and two hands and that is quite a toolkit (especially if you play finger-style) for producing a variety of tones.

How is adjusting pickup height screwing up your sound all the time?

Adjusting your pickup height helps to dial in the tone you want. Some pickups have adjustable pole pieces for even more fine tuning.


The string is metallic, and the pickup is magnetic. There is a sweet spot where you get the best sonic result based on the relative distance between the two. Any other type of adjustment to this relation represents a compromise in sound as you are basically taking the instrument from an optimal condition to something suboptimal. You wouldn't wear shoes two sizes too big just so you can wiggle your toes. By the same token, you shouldn't adjust your pickups for a result that only benefits 10% of your sound, causing the other 90% to suffer.

The magnetic quality of a pickup effects only volume, not tone. Tonal differences (other than that produced by your own hands) are a result of string choice, type of wood in the instrument, and electronic processing (i.e., the pickups and your amp).


What is optimal on one guitar may not be on another as no 2 guitars are exactly alike. String gauge and the material the string is made of as well as the type of magnet used in the pickup and magnet strength and pickup output all have a bearing on this.
Setup guides are exactly that: guides, starting points. Many of us tweak our guitars past those guides to get what is the optimum setup for us.
Pickup height does effect the tone of the guitar. Pickups up closer to the strings are going to have a more over driven distorted tone, where as pickups that are set lower will have a more vintage mellower tone. Pickups that are set lower will allow the string to vibrate longer giving more sustain.
If pickups were made to not be height adjusted they would just be screwed into the guitar and not have "adjustment screws".


Here's what Fender says: http://fender.com/support/bass_guitar_setup_guide.php

Here's what Gibson says:http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/Tone%20Tips_%20Pickup%20Heights/

It's possible that the pickup heights are also adjustable to allow for different string gauges and non-tapered strings versus tapered. When I temporarily switched from tapered ends on the B and E, I found that I had to raise the pickups on the bass side quite a bit to make up for the increased distance to the string. At any rate, after reading the Gibson article, I see that you can get some tonal difference by adjusting pickup height, but I think in all fairness to players unaccustomed to doing adjustments, that they get this work done by a trained technician.


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Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:15 pm
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I only change pickup height if changing to a different string gauge or type. For a starting point I set the pickups so that when fretted at the very last fret closest to the pickups the E string (the fattest string) at the very last fret there is clearance for 4 medium gauge guitar picks stacked. This is only a starting point now.

Then I plug it into my mixer with all EQ set flat, turn off the compressor and turn on the computer recording software and use the big VU meter in the recorder interface to adjust the other pickup screws to achieve the best string to string volume balance possible without moving the E string side much at all. I play each string open and at the 12th fret for comparison, then move to the next string. Sometimes I do have to move the E string side farther away from the string to get good string to string balance.

The main thing is to stay far enough away from the pickups so the strings can vibrate freely. If I get to the point where the G string side of the pickup is too close to the string I have to lower the E side more to achieve a good string to string volume balance.

I try to make each string about the same volume on the VU meter.

Pickup height does matter and often it is a compromise to achieve a good volume balance. You can not always get it perfectly balanced, but you make it closer than it was.


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