How Do You Have Your Pickups Set?

[Bearded Fish]

A minor point maybe, but I'm curious anyways! Do you like to set 'em parallel to the pickguard or at even distance from the strings? Or maybe something else? Even volume across pups? The reason I ask is I thought I'd adjust mine to Fender spec (1/8" bass; 3/32" treble), as it's never really crossed my mind before, and the result is quite a heavy angle on the pickup. The bass side is about a mm about the pickguard with the treble end quite a bit higher. My action is in-check and adjusted correctly btw. Be nice if some of you could reply and say how yours are on your Strat. Thanks...

[cooltone]

I start with each pickup as low as I can get it (flush with the pickguard) and raise it up until I am satisfied with the tone. Once I have done all three (on my strat), then, I adjust to even out the output. With many of the custom pups out there, you may find that you get a better tone with them set lower than factory specs. That also depends on the pickup, I guess.

[Skip]

when I set my Fat 50's I did it pretty much like Cooltone stated...as I followed instructions given on this forum supplemented with the Fender instructions...I found they sounded way better low. The neck pickup was near flush at the bass side and barely cleared thed guard at the treble. They were slightly higer for middle and bridge progressively.

so to answer your question they were not level with the pickguard.

[Tele-Bob]

I tend to to set my Strat p'ups low. I never measure, I simply adjust them until they sound right. That always seems to be low in the pickguard. And yes, I do set my bass side lower than the treble side.

[photoweborama]

I've played with the pickup heights quite a bit and with the sets I have, they all end up sounding best set at 8/64" on the bass side and 7/64 on the treble side. But the bridge is a bit closer like 6 or 7/64" and a lot of times the bass and treble side are the same, otherwise a 64th" lower on the bass side.

I spent a lot of time adjusting them by ear.. Hours adjusting by ear, then I would measure them and they would end up being right there...

Even the Lace Gold's I have temporally in the FMT sounded best at the same place. Even the Fender pickups I have in my Squire ended up being set at the same place...

But the Curtis Novak custom hand wounds I had sounded best at 4/64"....

Again I would adjust by ear, then measure so it was easier to set them at the same place after working on the guitars... Now I just go straight to 8/64".

[Kap'n]

MY Dumb question.

When you list heights, is that open, or fretted at the 21/22 fret?

[Edited to keep you from thinking that I thought the original question was dumb. Only mine was.]

[Tele-Bob]

.........or fretted at the 12th fret.

BTW, isn't 8/64" really 1/8"

[onetubetone]

I've always liked my pickups a certain way. neck pick pretty high on the high strings and low, almost to the pickgaurd, on the low strings. Middle pickup the opposite... perfectly flat, mid distance. I find I get the best quack tones that way. My bridge pickup is a HB so I dont know if that applies.

[tonemonkey]

Fretted at the top fret for me.

I have a pretty major action on my strat, so the pickups aren't flush with the guard, but they are reasonably far from the strings. When I lowered my custom shop '54's from factory specs it was like taking earplugs out of my ears.

[photoweborama]

MY When you list heights, is that open, or fretted at the 21/22 fret?

The last fret, be it 21 or 22.

BTW, isn't 8/64" really 1/8"

Well yes.... But 64ths is the FENDER way of measuring....

[Bearded Fish]

tonemonkey, how far from factory specs did your '54s come alive? Why would the volume increase? Is it because the magnetic pull chokes the vibration for certain pups?

[Marcondo]

I set mine like the pic in my avatar low the treble side slightly higher than bass side.

[tonemonkey]

The volume didn't increase, it decreased a touch, what happened is that the loss of a kind of 'too much' tone, there was just too much of everything, they sounded harsh, overly middy and 'damp' in the bass. About two full turns of the screwdriver was all it took to make them really special, sweet highs, punchy mids when you dig in and tight snappy bass. I have to say I love these pickups.

[weelie]

Don't you guys use nickels to measure?

[photoweborama]

I don't. I used my ear, then a ruler so I can set them the same way again later.

Really small adjustments make a lot of difference on pickups.. Even 1/64th inch will change it.