Let me start by qualifying this topic with the pickups I use; on the strat I built I use DiMarzio Area 61/58/Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues ( on my Reissue I have Fralin Blues pickups, and believe it or not I much prefer the DiMarzio's). For the sake of this thread I'm talking about my custom built strat. The Areas and Heavy Blues both use Alnico II magnets, that have, only behind Lace pickups, have the lowest magnetic pull Ive encountered. On this guitar I have the neck/bridge pickup set pretty high; +3/32 on the bass side & 1/16 treble for the neck, +1/16 bass side and +3/64 on the treble. I put the middle pickup to the same height as the neck them backed it off so each screw turned back about 1 3/4 turns (i tried this after reading how Eric Johnsons main strat was setup, I just wanted to know what it would do & why he would choose to do it). The Area and Heavy Blues react very dramatically to small adjustments. I did it this way so that the neck and bridge would have more output And compress a bit more than a typical single coil would, while the middle would stay more vintage like w/ less output, and they have a more pronounced quack in possitions 2&4. How do others have theirs ?

On My Vhr Ri 57 Everything Is Still Factory Set. Since I Want A Flat Neck in My New Setup It Will Be Interesting To See How Rauen Guitars Adjusts Them. I'll Let You Know.

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Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

I view the factory recommendations as just that, suggestions, not rules and like Nevin I ususlly find myself favoring something a little lower than spec.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I start at the recommended setting and after playing for awhile get screwdriver in hand and play with them until it sounds good to me,and that's with any pups I install....the very first thing I listen for is the neck pup and if the bass strings sound out of tune,then lower it until the beating stops.

Ditto

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+1

My Strats with traditional single-coils usually end up with 3.00 mm on the bass side, 2.00 mm on the treble. I set my SCN's a skosh lower than that and my DiMarzio's a bit higher to account for the differences in magnet composition.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I usually start by using the "Nickel Method" (Do a search) and then fine tune from there. Most of my guitars have the pickups set quite low.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

On my US Strat with Duncan SSL-1's I have them
position bass treb
neck 8/64 6/64
middle 8/64 6/64
bridge 9/64 7/64

This seems to give the best balance across the pups.

I can't remember what my HSS is set at. N3 noisless in bridge and middle and Fender Atomic in the bridge.

I'm still playing with it a little but they are now about 7/64 or so (maybe 8/64, can't remember) and the bridge humbucker is a bit closer maybe 5/64 or so. Still trying to get the best tone and balance.

Hope this helps..

Jeff

I have mine set as far from the strings as possible. But not too far that the volume is knocked down too much. If your pick ups are too close to the strings the magnets affect the sustain. But if you use active pickups aka EMG I would go closer to the strings. Also I think the clarity of your notes is determined also by the distance (too close distorts your notes more). Jazzy or clean stuff would be further away... Hope this is helpfull

Well based on the amp and pickup I'm using, I would adjust my p/u hight. For a higher output p/u and clear touch sensitive amp I would lower them more than normal, and for a clear p/u and punchy more forgiving amp, I would raise them.