Highway 1 pickup height

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:25 pm

Well, i decided my new Highway 1 strat needed a little setup...so i set it up according to the Fender website support section and its seemed to change the original tone of the guitar...im thinking its the pickup height because i adjusted that along with everything else...can anyone tell me what there factory pickup height is from the factory in 64th's for a S/S/S model? Thanks

Martian · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:51 am

stratdude83 wrote:

Well, i decided my new Highway 1 strat needed a little setup...so i set it up according to the Fender website support section and its seemed to change the original tone of the guitar...im thinking its the pickup height because i adjusted that along with everything else...can anyone tell me what there factory pickup height is from the factory in 64th's for $@!/S model? Thanks

Forget the factory specs. Play around with the adjustment of each pickup to where you find the sound and response most pleasing.

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:01 pm

Martian wrote:

stratdude83 wrote:

Well, i decided my new Highway 1 strat needed a little setup...so i set it up according to the Fender website support section and its seemed to change the original tone of the guitar...im thinking its the pickup height because i adjusted that along with everything else...can anyone tell me what there factory pickup height is from the factory in 64th's for $@!/S model? Thanks

Forget the factory specs. Play around with the adjustment of each pickup to where you find the sound and response most pleasing.

Yea i know but the reason i bought the guitar was how it sounded...and now i changed that and cant seem to get that growl and bite back...errrr

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:31 pm

Is it a pre or post greasebucket tone model?

Martian · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:30 pm

stratdude83 wrote:

Martian wrote:

stratdude83 wrote:

Well, i decided my new Highway 1 strat needed a little setup...so i set it up according to the Fender website support section and its seemed to change the original tone of the guitar...im thinking its the pickup height because i adjusted that along with everything else...can anyone tell me what there factory pickup height is from the factory in 64th's for $@!/S model? Thanks

Forget the factory specs. Play around with the adjustment of each pickup to where you find the sound and response most pleasing.

Yea i know but the reason i bought the guitar was how it sounded...and now i changed that and cant seem to get that growl and bite back...errrr

Well, then try the usual generic: Pressing down on the 6th string at the 12th fret, adjust the bass side of the pickup approximately three nickels in thickness away from the strings. For the treble side, do the same by pressing down on the 1st string at the highest fret.

Ceri · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:43 pm

Aw, c'mon guys; let's not toy with Mr stratdude83. :lol:

Let's just reveal to him the official specs and he can take it from there.

Stratdude83, Fender's spec for "standard single-coil pickups" is 5/64" / 2 mm on the bass side, 4/64" / 1.6 mm on the treble side. Those are distances between the top of the pole piece and the underside of the string with the string fretted at the last fret.

No mystery: those numbers and many others are to be found here:

http://www.fender.com/support/stratocaster.php

(Near the bottom for pickup heights.)

Though Martian is absolutely right: those specs are just starting points. From there try lowering your pickups and see if that helps. You could even try raising them - some prefer that. And you can tilt them more or less to favor the treble side or not...

Good luck - C

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:44 pm

cool thanks...yea i did a little more searching around the Fender site and found a setup guide...so i'm going to use that and see if i can get it to sound any better...cause it seems like i missed a couple things in there...ill let you know how it turns out

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:56 pm

bit the bullet and sent it off to a really good local guitar shop...hopefully he'll get it back into working order...one question tho...are your bridges floating or resting on the body???

i just noticed that i may have converted mine from a resting configuration to a floating config...this may have caused the tone differences i noticed...

bluesstrattone · **Joined:** Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:08 am **Posts:** 2265

you did yor own set up?
now the growl is gone?
did you intonate the strat. were the settings thesame on the amp?

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:32 pm

didnt touch the amp at all...i think what i did is the strat was initially setup with the bridge NOT floating and i swtiched it to a floating bridge...i would think this would have a dramatic affect on the tone

Martian · **Posted:** Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:56 pm

stratdude83 wrote:

didnt touch the amp at all...i think what i did is the strat was initially setup with the bridge NOT floating and i swtiched it to a floating bridge...i would think this would have a dramatic affect on the tone

I wouldn't use the word, "dramatic" because if everything else was set up properly, having the bridge flush might increase resonance slightly but that's about it.

As always, this is IMO, YMMV.

stratdude83 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:17 pm

Martian wrote:

stratdude83 wrote:

didnt touch the amp at all...i think what i did is the strat was initially setup with the bridge NOT floating and i swtiched it to a floating bridge...i would think this would have a dramatic affect on the tone

I wouldn't use the word, "dramatic" because if everything else was set up properly, having the bridge flush might increase resonance slightly but that's about it.

As always, this is IMO, YMMV.

Idk man it was definitely noticeable, the change in the guitars output...i guess the real test will be when i get the guitar back...because i'm having him set it up as in a hardtail setup and not a floating setup

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Highway 1 pickup height

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