Pickup Height

**Skiroy** · 02-20-2012, 10:38 PM

I just wanted to strat a thread talking about PUP height and how it effects the tone and if people perfer different heights dpending on the style of playing or music. I noticed the further the PUPs the thinner and more cutting and the closer they are the more I guess fuller/compressed they sound.

Whats your take on height if you were going to mostly play clean to slight dirty tones for Jazz/R&B/Reggae?

By the way I have a es-335 with clasic 57s and a Epiphone standard LP with real Gibson 390r and 498T in the bridge(well I messed that up)

**bborzell** · 02-21-2012, 12:26 AM

I think there are a large number of other variables that come into play with respect to the range of tone (and volume) that might be available with the same pickup set at different heights.

Since adjusting PU height is so easy and feedback so immediate, I suggest simply pulling out a phillips and twist, play and listen. Your own setup will likely tell you more than anyone here can.

**Jim Soloway** · 02-21-2012, 01:01 AM

I have a very simple view of it: the further you get the pickup from the string, the more you hear the guitar; the closer you get it, the more you hear the pickup.

TH · 02-21-2012, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by bborzell

I think there are a large number of other variables that come into play with respect to the range of tone (and volume) that might be available with the same pickup set at different heights.

Since adjusting PU height is so easy and feedback so immediate, I suggest simply pulling out a phillips and twist, play and listen. Your own setup will likely tell you more than anyone here can.

+1
Exactly. A little like asking "how fast do you walk? Give me your comments."
Here's a haiku for the thread anyway:

Little pickup screws
Round and round and up and down
So what do we hear?

...
As an anecdotal aside, I worked for Hoshino (Ibanez) and it was my job to set up instruments that came in from overseas (which all of them did and our crew set up EVERY Ibanez that's sold in the US) and set them to spec. Part of that was to set up the pickup height to tolerances within less than 1/32nd of an inch. Well of course this is very personal and varies widely with what the customer would eventually string the guitar with, how they played and what sound they were looking for. When I asked just how such tight tolerances were arrived at, the answer was: "This is kind of in the middle of where a lot of people can live with so it's easier to find their sound from this starting point." It seemed that there's an assumption that everyone can, should and does adjust their pickups as routinely as one would be able to change their strings or tune their guitar. No formula-just what pleases your ear as a player.

David

**kris** · 02-21-2012, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

I have a very simple view of it: the further you get the pickup from the string, the more you hear the guitar; the closer you get it, the more you hear the pickup.

+1 Exactly.

**Retroman1969** · 02-21-2012, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

I have a very simple view of it: the further you get the pickup from the string, the more you hear the guitar; the closer you get it, the more you hear the pickup.

This has been my experience playing around with pup height, and it makes sense.
Lower=more acoustic sounding (and mellow)
Higher=more electrified sounding (compressed/crunchy)

**nado64** · 02-22-2012, 12:25 PM

For the height of the pickup and the plots, I use the G-Tune software (the trial version is quite sufficient).
It has a decibel meter. I avoid the metaphysic issues with this tool.

**kenbennett** · 02-22-2012, 06:22 PM

Set it so it sounds good.

**Skiroy** · 02-23-2012, 01:22 AM

I know this is off topic but for recording do you perfer a Twin or Deluxe Reverb and how do you mic it?

**ruiner54** · 02-23-2012, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

+1
Exactly. A little like asking "how fast do you walk? Give me your comments."
Here's a haiku for the thread anyway:

Little pickup screws
Round and round and up and down
So what do we hear?

Nothing like a good haiku first thing in the morning (well at least morning where I am).

Does pickup height not have a lot to do with the pickup itself...how much coil, how it's coiled etc?

**robertm2000** · 02-23-2012, 08:30 AM

I read on Bill Lawrence's website (the pickup maker who started as Billy Lorento, not Jzchak Wajcman) a tip for adjusting pickups - start with the treble strings a nickel's thickness away from the pickup's polepieces and the bass strings two nickels' thickness away. This has worked very well for me - it usually doesn't take a lot of adjustment from those settings to optimize the sound.

**oldane** · 02-23-2012, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by robertm2000

I read on Bill Lawrence's website (the pickup maker who started as Billy Lorento, not Jzchak Wajcman) a tip for adjusting pickups - start with the treble strings a nickel's thickness away from the pickup's polepieces and the bass strings two nickels' thickness away. This has worked very well for me - it usually doesn't take a lot of adjustment from those settings to optimize the sound.

As I see it there are no hard and fast rules and I have always adjusted the PU height bye ear. But I think the Bill Lawrence recommendation is a good starting point.

PUs too close to the strings can affect the sound and intonation adversely if the pole pieces are the magnets themselves which is the case with Strat PUs and the old Gibson "Alnico" PUs (looks superficially like black dog ear P90s). The proximity of the magnets to the strings causes a magnetic pull on the strings so they don't vibrate freely.

**SearchForMeaning** · 02-23-2012, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by Skiroy

I know this is off topic but for recording do you perfer a Twin or Deluxe Reverb and how do you mic it?

How about solid state amps? I use a polytone when I'm playing bass and it's better than anything I could get from a Fender.

**zigzag** · 02-23-2012, 11:05 AM

Great tip! I was looking for a woody, throaty sound out of my ES-335, so I lowered the pick-ups and got much closer to the sound I'm looking for. Thanks!

**mangotango** · 02-23-2012, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by robertm2000

I read on Bill Lawrence's website (the pickup maker who started as Billy Lorento, not Jzchak Wajcman.....

Jzchak Wajcman? That man needs to go out and buy himself some more vowels...........not so much a name, more a bad hand at Scrabble.

Oh come on, it's only a bit of humour on a Thursday afternoon............

**Skiroy** · 02-23-2012, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by SearchForMeaning

How about solid state amps? I use a polytone when I'm playing bass and it's better than anything I could get from a Fender.

You know I heard the Roland Cube on You tube being played by Alex Hutchings and it sounded better to me than my $1200.00 DR or Twin for smooth modern clean jazz. Now Blues is a different story.

**HillBilly Cat** · 01-28-2024, 01:24 PM

Thanks for the tip. My Heritage Super Eagle had been feeding back on the 5th string F. With this adjustment that went away? And the guitar sounds better. Awesome. I use the Nickel/dime rule for string height at the twelfth fret. This trick for the pickups 2 nickels bass side, 1 Nickel treble side is another fantastic quicky measurement rule.