pickup measurements

[Mad Tele]

 

 

heres a few of my guitars:

52RI Telecaster

neck pickup low side: 3.5mm

neck pickup high side: 3.1mm

bridge pickup low side: 4.1mm

brideg pickup high side: 3.9mm

 

CIJ 'Micawbre' Telecaster

neck pickup low side: 4mm

neck pickup high side: 3.8mm

bridge pickup low side: 4mm

bridge pickup high side: 3.4mm

 

Gibson SG 1970s Tribute

neck pickup low side: 3.2mm

neck pickup high side: 3.2mm

bridge pickup low side: 4.5mm

bridge pickup high side: 4mm

 

specs

52RI Tele : Fred Stauart Blackguard pickups. A3 magnets, 7.51K bridge, 6.09K neck

CIJ 'Micawbre' : Rumpelstiltskin 1950 Black Rope pickups.  A3 magnets, 43 guage wire, 11.9K bridge, 7.01K neck

 

SG 70s Tribute: Stock Gibson Minihumbuckers, A5 Magnets, dual blade design. 6.9K bridge, 6.20K neck

 

the way I set them i first get the low strings to have good sustain, and clarity. I play through my Tweed Deluxe cranked which brings out weird wolf notes, farty bass notes,  and notes that die if pickups are too close. 

Next if I have a 4 way installed I get the brideg pickup to be the dominant signal, but just slightly. I like to hear them both but I want the bridge to be the leader. I use this in-series humbucker position a lot so it must sound good together. If not I sacrifice either the bridge or (more likely) the neck, by loosing some volume from that pickup.

 

btw i measure with a ruler by depressing the last fret and measuring from top of the two outer poles, to the bottom of the string. Of course low and high side refers to low E and high E respectively.

 

what do you guys do? do you have a sytem? or is it ears only?  I like to have a system so if I swap things I have a good base to go off of.

 

yes I undertsand there is no right or wrong and its all subjective-just curious if y'all are like me, or im just a nutter.

 

in general i like high side a tad lower than bass side. I try to balance the neck and bridge, but if it sounds better in-series slightly out of balance thats fine too.