How high are your 'buckers?

[PanaDP]

I adjusted the pickups on my new-to-me Orville by Gibson les paul today. I was surprised at how low they ended up compared to every factory setup guitar I've played. Here's how mine ended up, measured with the strings fretted at the last fret:

 

Neck-1/8" on treble side, perhaps a hair more on the bass side

 

Bridge-9/64" treble side, 5/32" bass side

 

Gibson's factory setting are 3/32" for the neck pickup and 1/16" for the bridge. I assume their numbers were arrived at by some kind of system. Given that, I wonder why they're so far from what I found sounds best. One would think the "experts" would be pretty close, but not in my case.

 

Anyway, out of curiosity, how far are your humbuckers from your strings fretted at the last fret?

[[VictorinoX]]

On my SG, when you fret the strings on the highest fret, there's about a millimeter or two of space between the string and the bridge pickup. High enough to give a good, powerful sound, but low enough to allow space for string vibration.

[magnido45]

My Gibby LP is set at the factory setting...and they sound fantastic!!!

[trashedlostfdup]

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs.

 

if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that.

 

so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you.

[photon9]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs. if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that. so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you.

 

 

Why not deviate from Gibson specs even if they are stock? Everyone has a different idea of what good tone is. You should ajust them to where they sound best to you.

[tlbonehead]

mine are always a fair amount lower than Gibson's "suggestions, which is all they are. Set them the way you like them. Everyone has different tastes and has their rig dialed in to their own liking.

[tlbonehead]

.

golly, gosh:facepalm:

[[VictorinoX]]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs. if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that. so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you.

 

 

Except certain styles of music and playing require different specifications. Just because some big brand company has something set to a certain level, doesn't mean it's wrong to do otherwise. You think the Strat was really designed to be flipped over and strung upside, ala Hendrix? You think the SG was meant to be tuned to C# with banjo strings, like Tony Iommi did?

 

Think about that.

[tlbonehead]

yep^ And do ya think Dickie Betts has his adjusted the same as Zakk Wylde

[monto]

 

On my SG, when you fret the strings on the highest fret, there's about a millimeter or two of space between the string and the bridge pickup. High enough to give a good, powerful sound, but low enough to allow space for string vibration.

 

 

same here with my SG. i have it really close like you as i just feel i get a 'nastier, more agressive' sound

 

and i get a kind of 'plink plink' sound and nice attack etc on solos

 

maybe i lose a bit of sustain due to the closeness, but with my high gain amp anyway, it just doesnt seem to make a {censored} of difference to what/how i play anyways

[Superrust]

Mine are nearly flush with the pick up rings. I have BB pros and I think the sound is so much fuller this way. I have found that pups can be to close to the strings causing the magnets to pull on the strings making it nearly impossible to intonate.

[whataracket]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs. if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that. so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you.

 

 

I think if you care about tone it's important to understand what the effects of changing pickup height are, and play with it to get what you like. It's easy, and completely reversable.

 

I use 57 Classics on my ES-335. Pick-up height of the neck pickup for clean playing for me is a compromise. Higher means a fuller tone with more output, while lower makes a more clear, bright sound with lower output. Higher accentuates the attack, or plucking dynamics, because the relative distance to the pickup changes a lot when you pluck hard. When the pick-up is lower, there is less relative difference between a hard pluck and a softer pluck. I tend to like the pickups pretty high because it really makes the picking dynamics jump out of the amp, making the overall instrument (guitar and amp) more lively at performance volume. However, I don't set them as high as I could because I still like that bright aspect of their tone.

 

For the bridge pickup, which I use mostly for moderate gain distortion, I have it set about as high as I can (about like the Gibson spec). There's not so much of a difference in picking dynamics with height differences on the bridge pickup because the string movement is so small that close to the bridge.

 

Again, I'd encourage experimenting with it - you can't hurt anything as long as you don't lower them so far they fall off the screws.

[Darkstorm]

Yours are so far away from the factory settings cause you took the time to adjust them to personal taste preferance. Factory setting should never be regarded as anything special. Theyre simply a basic start point or mediocre inbetween setting. Same for guitar action in many cases actually.

 

My pups get pole peice and overall height adjustments to accomplish three end goals. First to get best basic sound from each individually according to individual sound preferance. Then tweaks to the height of one or the other to get best both pups on full voice for me. Then minor tweak for sound slightly rolled toward neck or bridge. 1. Solo. 2. Both on full. 3. Blend tilted toward bridge or neck a little. The last one is final settings with the previous two getting them to the point that number 3 is simple small dial in adjustment. Ive never ever found the out of box pup condition (height and pole peice positions) best for me sound wise. And I could never understand those who complain their pups dont sound good or are muddy who havent tried adjusting them for better sound. People adjust the action for best playability yet often dont even think about there pups being adjustable for tonal changes. Its not just for string to string volume adjustment. Thats the least use of adjusting pups. Sound tweak is main reason to adjust them actually.

 

On my Epi SG the brdige and neck pups are allmost the same distance from strings and pole peices for both bridge and neck are slightly raised above the top cover. On my BC Rich Eagle the bridge pup is further from thbe strings then the neck pups. Its bridge pup has pole peices about flush even with the top cover and on the neck pup the pole peices are slightly raised. Both guitars have the same bridge pup (BC Rich BDSM) but diff neck pups (EMG H1 neck for the SG & BC Rich BDSM for the Eagle). This is in part to best deal with the voice char between neck and bridge of the pups for each and in part due to different neck woods tone tweak to the sound. Mahogany set neck SG, maple bolt on for Eagle. plus set neck versus bolt on sound tweak from neck joint.

[PanaDP]

What does raising or lowering individual polepieces do? Is there a "best" way to go about it to avoid doing a bunch of things at random?

[the_gunslinger]

All my humbuckers are as close to the string as I can get them with out the string hitting it. Works better for the way I play.

[Bob411]

I bought a used guitar off Ebay. When it arrived, the neck pickup was as low as it can go, bridge was normal. It made me wonder if the guy only played the bridge, and was worried that 2 pickups lessened the sustain.

[Faber]

medium-ish. Not too different than the singlecoils on my fenders actually, but usually with the bridge a bit higher than the neck

[the new guy]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs. if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that. so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you .

 

 

 

 

I guess that's just about the craziest thing I've ever read here.........

 

I don't follow "factory specs" for any pickups. I don't know how or why they arrived at their numbers, and really don't care. You cannot hurt anything by deviating from.

 

All that being said, I tend to keep all my pickups, humbucker and single coil, further away from the strings then most people. It just sounds better to me that way. So yeah, mine are pretty low.............

 

If you have to have a number, I start at around 5/32" (just a random number) and adjust from there until it sounds good to me........

[kirs]

Just use your ears. There's nothing entirely scientific here (outside of electromagnetism, lol). If it sounds good on your gear just go for it.

[etawful]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs.

 

 

Nonsense.

 

Every pickup varies from spec. There is no pickup that will have the exact output of another pickup, thus variations in setup are always necessary.

 

Gibson spec is simply a starting point that is used to simplify factory setup. It's simply a middle ground that will work in most cases. It's not a matter of "research", it's a matter of cost-cutting and time saving.

 

If it was a matter of "research", Gibson would have different specs for every different model of LP that comes with different pickups, as each pickup is different correct?

 

Gibson spec, Fender spec, or any other manufacturers spec is just a happy medium that simplifies factory setup before shipping, nothing more, nothing less.

[lp_junkie]

 

if they are stock pickups, there would be no reason to deviate from gibson's specs. if the pickups are aftermarket, then you would want to deviate due to different strength in the magnetic field, and a million other factors like that. so if they are stock. keep them where gibson recommends them, they have probably put more research into it than you.

 

 

Gibson specs are a generic starting point, most factory setups suck, a good tech will dial the guitar in for the individual player.

 

I have been doing my own tech work for 25 years, I adjust them until the sound I want is achieved and leave them there, it varies from guitar to guitar. My Orville has the best setup on it right now, but it's been my main guitar for 13 years, the 3 Gibsons I just bought are still in the "break in" period where I am deciding what I like and want out of each of them.

 

I have gone through at least 100 Les Pauls in the last 33 years, every one of them was different and the ideal setups were not according to Gibson specs.

[hshaitan]

Mine used to be pretty high. But then I had to give that up due to my living situation. Now they're just sober.

[mdintx]

I set them to my taste with neck pretty low and the bridge a little above the pickup ring:

 

[[VictorinoX]]

Saw this video and thought of this thread

 

[YOUTUBE]HPNnFiYApSE[/YOUTUBE]

[ashasha]

 

What does raising or lowering individual polepieces do? Is there a "best" way to go about it to avoid doing a bunch of things at random?

The idea behind adjusting the individual pole pieces is to balance the signal between the strings and the basic concept is to adjust them to match the radius of the strings.

 

I've done it on a few guitars with very mixed results. I personally don't care for it because the G and D strings just get too loud for me. I am pretty sure that it has a lot to do with what I am used to hearing vs what is optimal.

 

As for the overall height of the pickups, I tend to go pretty low as well. It lessens the pull on the strings so they ring out a bit longer and there isn't that pull (I've actually been able to feel the difference which shocked me). I also think that it sweetens the sound up a bit; it's just not as harsh. I'm sure that someone else wouldn't care for where I set them.

 

As far as measuring them goes; I couldn't care less what a ruler tells me, I go by ear.