Tele neck pickup height - any trick?

TimmyO

I have a Tele with a 22nd fret overhang, and pickup mounted the traditional way (screwed in to the body - no pickguard adjustment) 

It turns out I need to set the neck pickup higher (it's quite quiet - will prob set the bridge a bit lower too) but I can't get the pick guard off because of the 22 fret overhang. Do you need to take the neck off to adjust it each time or is there some trick I've not spotted?

ta
Tim

ICBM

Push the pickup down hard against the height springs and slide the guard back.

Set the pickup with the top just level with the top of the fingerboard at each side (not the top of the frets, obviously!). That should be about right and avoid having to take it on and off too many times.

TimmyO

Will try, ta.

I think its rubber grommet type things rather than springs so quite hard. 

Also the pickup is a Rio Grande Vintage Tallboy Tele - so it doesn't have a cover like a normal Tele pickup, so I'm guessing I need to account for that - how much height does a cover add normally? 

ta
tim 

TimmyO

hmm - there appears to be no squish-travel pressing down... 

Neck off then :-( 

TimmyO

ok, it's better, and staying as it is now :-)

set thus:

ICBM

Yes, that looks about right. The cover would add just about the thickness to the top of the fingerboard.

More importantly, it just looks right. Golden rule with Tele neck pickups - when it looks right, it is right. You do all the adjustment with the other one .