Pick up height adjustment issues

[demioblue]

I have the old "farting amp" syndrome. Especially on the low E string. Are my pickups too close?

[chuckocaster]

lower your neck pup down. probably a case of "stratitis".

[refriedwhiskey]

Somebody tell a Strat noob what Stratitis and Farting Amp Syndrome are. Are they contagious?

[cdw2000]

Stratitus: When your pickups are so close to the strings that the magnetic field from the pickup pole-pieces actually interfere with the string vibrations, resulting in poor tone, poor sustain, and sometimes weird overtones that beat with the note in an unmusical manner. This tends to happen more with single coil pickups - hence the name.

Solution: Lower your pickups.

Farting amp syndrome: When you play a low note and the amp/speaker goes BWAAAP instead having a nice defined note. Sometimes occurs with Stratitus, sometimes its the amp/speaker.

Solution: (1) Lower your pickups. (2) Get rid of that POS amp and buy an original '65 Fender Twin Reverb, you cheapskate.

(this coming from the owner of a cheap solid-state Peavey amp)

Sorry, I'm feeling cheeky today ... it's been a long week

[refriedwhiskey]

this coming from the owner of a cheap solid-state Peavey amp

Hey, I had two of those in the 1980s, when I was a metal head. A 20w Backstage and a 160w (!) 2x12 Renown. I wanted a Marshall stack, but I couldn't afford one on my fast-food paycheck.

[cdw2000]

I'm an EE and still can't afford a better amp. Or rather, justify it to my wife, since I am strickly a couch player.

[refriedwhiskey]

Yeah, man. I'm single, but it's hard to justify even to myself spending a whole lot of money on a guitar and amp that will never be played outside of my living room. I'd certainly love a vintage Strat, an LP Custom, a '59 Bassman and a Mesa Dual Recto (covering both my Jekyll and Hyde sides there), but I'd have to make a lot more money before I could justify buying those things just to noodle about at home.

More's the pity!

[demioblue]

(2) Get rid of that POS amp and buy an original '65 Fender Twin Reverb, you cheapskate.

This POS amp has nostalgic value for me... It's my 1st ever Fender amp. It's a bronco, and it's TWEED!!!!!!

I just love it to death... heheheh...

[demioblue]

lower your neck pup down. probably a case of "stratitis".

JUST the neck pup? wouldn't that bring the output volume of the neck pup lower than the other 2? Isn't that weird?

[cdw2000]

Use Fender's setup guide as a starting point:


Set too high, pickups can cause a myriad of inexplicable phenomena. Depress all of the strings at the last fret. Using 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the 1st and 6th strings to top of the pole piece. Rule of thumb-the distance should be greatest at the 6th string - neck pickup position, and closest at the 1st string - bridge pickup position. Follow the measurement guidelines from the chart as starting points. The distance will vary according to the amount of magnetic pull of the pickup.

.......................Bass Side..........Treble Side
Texas Specials.........8/64" (3.6 mm).....6/64" (2.4 mm)
Vintage style..........6/64" (2.4 mm).....5/64" (2 mm)
Noiseless™ Series......8/64" (3.6 mm).....6/64" (2.4 mm)
Standard Single-Coil...5/64" (2 mm).......4/64" (1.6 mm)
Humbuckers.............4/64" (1.6 mm).....4/64" (1.6 mm)
Lace Sensors As close as desired (allowing for string vibration)

[refriedwhiskey]

Nice! That'll come in handy with my Vintage Noiseless installation. In playing with their height adjustments last night, I already experienced "Stratitis" first-hand. Those magnets are a lot stronger than I thought!

[cdw2000]

Yup, you can see that they recommend a greater distance from the strings for the Noiseless series. Others say they sound better if you lower them further.

[chuckocaster]

JUST the neck pup? wouldn't that bring the output volume of the neck pup lower than the other 2? Isn't that weird?

yeah it will but you'll be able to tell real quick if it's the amp or the guitar. if lowering the pup fixes the problem then do as fezz says and adjust the others so they're matched. that's how i do it. factory specs are really just a starting point.

[demioblue]

I always start with all the pickups on the deck. I raise the neck pickup to where it sounds good. Then i raise the middle to match it in volume, the I raise the bridge to match it in volume. Use your ears, not a ruler.

Got it... heh. problem solved. Mainly a distance issue. I lowered the pups significantly, and the tones are really sweet now. I didn't know Kinman Woodstocks could quack like that! whahahaha...

[andresbriceno]

[QUOTE=fezz parka;415589]I always start with all the pickups on the deck.

Does this mean all the way down???

All both pups on my telecaster american deluxe?

Thanks

Andrew

[Gravity Jim]

Does this mean all the way down???

Yep. Although I don't know if this is how Fezz approaches setting up a Tele... he usually advises this for a Strat, and it's good advice. I get much better tone and definition from my EMG SV's since setting them up by these instructions.

The irony is that many EMG users brag about their ability to run the pickups way up high, real close to the strings, without causing Stratitis. So I did that for a long time, thinking it was a "feature" of the pickups and the best way to make them sound good. Oh, yeah, big time output. But it sounds way better cranked down low.

[Don]

I like Tele pickups set pretty high, Strat pickups lower.

Another cause for a Tele or Strat's lower strings to fart out is not having enough break angle over the nut.
Adding another wind or two on the tuner post can beef up the tone of the low E string.

[concert410]

Great advice Don. I've noticed it before but wasn't sure if my ears were playing tricks w/ me.