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how do I correctly adjust pick-up height?


Santuzzo

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Hi,

Since I lowered the action on my RG2228A, the 8th string is now very close to the pole piece of the bridge pick-up, so sometimes when I mute the string with the palm of my right hand the string actually hits the pole piece which results on this ugly "boinck" kinda sound.
I need to lower the pick-up but I was wondering how do I know what's the right pick-up height? Is there something like a sweet spot or is it just a matter of personal preference?

Are there any rules of thumb as how how/low the pick-up should sit under the strings?

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Quote Originally Posted by NeloAngelo

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get a screwdriver, turn it till you like it.

 

 

Quote Originally Posted by fretless

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yup do it by ear , balance the output as best you can with the lows and highs and the other pickups . It helps to have a clean sound to do that without a lot of overtones that can fool you .

 

OK, thanks guys! thumb.gif
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Lookup factory specs online and get one of those little metal pocket rules that are broken down by millimeter or fractions of an inch, press down on the highest fret and measure the gap between the top of the pickup or pole magnet to the underside of the string. Just screw the pickup up or down th set them to factory specs

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if each pole piece is adjustable then I'd follow the radius of the bridge with them all accept for the G-string, that one will need to be further away for some reason. When it too follows the radius it tends to overpower the other strings

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I use the Bill And Becky method;

The distance between pickup and string is a very important factor for output and sound.
As a general rule for the bridge pickup - put a nickel on top of the pickup under the high E string and play the highest note on that string. Adjust the height on that side of the pickup till the string touches the nickel. Repeat the same with the low E string, but use two nickels on top of each other. If this gives you too much output, you can reduce the height slightly. Don't forget that twice the distance will reduce the output by about 60%, and the sound will lose some lows. NOW, you can adjust the neck pickup to match the output of the bridge pickup. For the sound test, use stage volume.

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Quote Originally Posted by NoRomoFan

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Lookup factory specs online and get one of those little metal pocket rules that are broken down by millimeter or fractions of an inch, press down on the highest fret and measure the gap between the top of the pickup or pole magnet to the underside of the string. Just screw the pickup up or down th set them to factory specs

 

This is what I do to get started, then I adjust by ear
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I always adjust the bass side a little higher. I don't use the factory suggestions because I find them to be arbitrary. For example, my SG and V pickups were adjusted to the same height even though the V had a higher output bridge pickup.

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Quote Originally Posted by diocide View Post
I use the Bill And Becky method;

The distance between pickup and string is a very important factor for output and sound.
As a general rule for the bridge pickup - put a nickel on top of the pickup under the high E string and play the highest note on that string. Adjust the height on that side of the pickup till the string touches the nickel. Repeat the same with the low E string, but use two nickels on top of each other. If this gives you too much output, you can reduce the height slightly. Don't forget that twice the distance will reduce the output by about 60%, and the sound will lose some lows. NOW, you can adjust the neck pickup to match the output of the bridge pickup. For the sound test, use stage volume.

I use this method as well, it never failed me yet.
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Quote Originally Posted by diocide View Post
I use the Bill And Becky method;

The distance between pickup and string is a very important factor for output and sound.
As a general rule for the bridge pickup - put a nickel on top of the pickup under the high E string and play the highest note on that string. Adjust the height on that side of the pickup till the string touches the nickel. Repeat the same with the low E string, but use two nickels on top of each other. If this gives you too much output, you can reduce the height slightly. Don't forget that twice the distance will reduce the output by about 60%, and the sound will lose some lows. NOW, you can adjust the neck pickup to match the output of the bridge pickup. For the sound test, use stage volume.

This does work really well, but you have to keep in mind that the Wilde pickups have a lower amount of string pull... So something with more string pull might affect him...

That being said, it has worked very well for me too thumb.gif

Cole
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