Who would have thought pickup height made such a difference !

riffpowers

I've owned an es335 for a few months now and struggled to get the sounds I wanted out of it . I've even posted a couple of threads on here about changing the pickups . A few months ago i raised the pickups a bit to try and get some more dirt out if it . Last week for a change I plugged it into my fender champion and noticed that the bottom strings were really farty sounding , even on the amps low input and with the volume low . I thought the amp might be knackered , so I plugged my Hamer studio in , nope , not the amp , not farty anymore . So I lowered the bridge pickup on the 335 using the clean amp until the fartyness went. Then I plugged it into my tiny terror hardwired . What a difference . The guitar is now much livelier , has more clarity and sparkle , and even sounds crunchier and more responsive . I'm finally getting the sounds I was after in the first place ! I had no idea lowering the pickup height a little would make such a huge difference !

ElectroDan

I learned from experience that having single coils too high causes all sorts of weird sounds. Kills sustain too. I back 'em off now until there is no noticeable effect.

steamabacus

Pickup height does make a huge difference. I find that around the 'sweet spot' for pickup height (and that height will obviously vary depending in your preferences and playing style), even very small adjustments will have a significant effect. It's a case of 'tuning' it in to your exact needs.

You might want to try experimenting with the relative height of the screw poles (compared to the slug poles) as well. For example, I will often raise the screw poles on the bridge humbucker slightly. This seems to give more clarity and definition. I'm guessing this is affecting the relative influence of the two coils (maybe akin to slightly unbalanced coils?) but I'll leave it to someone more technically knowledgable to explain that one. Very effective, in combination with the overall pickup height and the relative height of the bass and treble ends of the pickup, for tuning in exactly the sound and response you need.

guitarfishbay

Yes it makes a big difference. I've even adjusted pickup heights in shops before when trying out instruments. In between sounds are really affected by relative heights too.

Voxman

Its a very important but oft overlooked simple adjustment that can massively change tone & playing dynamics.  A lot of folk think the nearer the strings the better, because it gives more volume.  But in fact that can kill tone and regardless of whether you're looking at single coils or humbuckers, it's vital that there's room for the strings to resonate at their optimum for the best tones.  The most sensitive of my guitars to pup height where even slight changes can impact on tone is my 1988 Fender Telecaster USA Standard...much more so than on my LP/SG/PRS/Strats/Epi Sheraton.  

ESBlonde

I learned a lot from this if you fancy a bit of a read.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154644

if the link no worky, search

Adjusting Pickups: The "Sweet Spot" with Soundclips

mike_l

Clarky did advise me to adjust the pickup heights many moons ago.

The Charvel and ESP both sound way better since the pickups were lowered. Much clearer, no muddiness..

Sassafras

I've had to back off the pickups on most secondhand guitars I've ever bought. Even a couple of new ones have benefited from lower p/ups in terms of clarity and getting rid of weird artifacts. One advantage of doing this is that I don't catch my fingers or picks on them when playing vigorously and recklessly! 

Basher

Most of my pickups sound better backed off to me.

An exception seems to be P90s, which is odd as I'd have thought being a dirty great single coil, they'd be far more susceptible to the problems you get with strat pickups being too close to the strings.

I am generalising from a tiny sample size here so I could be, and most probably am, talking crap.

ChrisMusic

Basher said:   Most of my pickups sound better backed off to me.  An exception seems to be P90s, which is odd as I'd have thought being a dirty great single coil, they'd be far more susceptible to the problems you get with strat pickups being too close to the strings.

P90s have the magnets under the coil and pole screws just like humbuckers.  A quite different construction from single coils with the magnets as pole pieces, and different construction from humbuckers too.

guitarfishbay

The only pickups I've found that I prefer the sound of closer are EMGs.  But even then I don't think I have mine as close as some might.  I set my heights by feel as well as tone - with the EMGs you can really feel where the compression/clipping kicks in, so I've set it where it feels good to me.  That ended up being higher than I'd have a normal humbucker, but not as high as they could go.

OilCityPickups

Basher said:

Most of my pickups sound better backed off to me.

An exception seems to be P90s, which is odd as I'd have thought being a dirty great single coil, they'd be far more susceptible to the problems you get with strat pickups being too close to the strings.

I am generalising from a tiny sample size here so I could be, and most probably am, talking crap.

A P90 has essentially the magnet structure and orientation we are used to seeing in a Humbucker, plus, because the pole screws don't recess into the bobbin the coil is relatively lower compared to the main mass of the pole screw head. 

Basher

Thanks to @TheGuitarWeasel and @ChrisMusic for the information.

A great example of my stupidity as said Mr Weasel has already explained about P90 magnet swaps and sent me some new magnets to install.

You'd think that having disassembled and arsed about with some P90s, it might have sunk in that they are fundamentally different to strat pickups, but no.....  

blueskunk

Iv recently bought a GandL with jumbo mfd single coils which have individual adjustable pole pieces

Well cool. Got the neck pickup well spankey and the bridge well aggressive

TinLip

riffpowers said:

I've owned an es335 for a few months now and struggled to get the sounds I wanted out of it . I've even posted a couple of threads on here about changing the pickups . A few months ago i raised the pickups a bit to try and get some more dirt out if it . Last week for a change I plugged it into my fender champion and noticed that the bottom strings were really farty sounding , even on the amps low input and with the volume low . I thought the amp might be knackered , so I plugged my Hamer studio in , nope , not the amp , not farty anymore . So I lowered the bridge pickup on the 335 using the clean amp until the fartyness went. Then I plugged it into my tiny terror hardwired . What a difference . The guitar is now much livelier , has more clarity and sparkle , and even sounds crunchier and more responsive . I'm finally getting the sounds I was after in the first place ! I had no idea lowering the pickup height a little would make such a huge difference !

Could you please upload a sound sample of farty? I am sure you will agree that there is a wide range of fartyness sounds, why - I myself produced one that spanned 3 octaves this morning.

mike_l

Only 3 octaves? You're slacking.

axisus

I have to admit that I've never particularly noticed the difference with height adjustment, but I only play at quiet volumes at home, does that make a difference?

axisus

ESBlonde said:

I learned a lot from this if you fancy a bit of a read.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154644

if the link no worky, search

Adjusting Pickups: The "Sweet Spot" with Soundclips

Link no work and no search function either! Guess you have to be a member there.

mike_l

axisus said:

I have to admit that I've never particularly noticed the difference with height adjustment, but I only play at quiet volumes at home, does that make a difference?

It did with both of mine that I mentioned. Especially the ESP, the Virtual Hot PAF actually sounds like a hot PAF, as opposed to a noisey mess.

PolarityMan

The only thing with lowering the pickup is, doesnt that giv more noise particualrly for high gain?

I suspect Im the exact target market for EMGs to be honest but I'm not confident enough to start carving up my guitars to fit them!

mike_l

I took EMG's* out the ESP to fit DiMarzio's.

 

*EMG-a-likes