Pickup heigth

LeadPaint

New member
Pickup height on my Strat Plus has always been how the previous owner set it. I want to set it to the standard height and adjust from there if necessary.

The pickups are Fender Lace Sensors Gold, the Lace site says:
ADJUSTMENT TIP: For optimum tone and output from our Sensors, we recommend adjusting the height to .170" from string to pickup, or approx. the height of 2 dimes and a nickel. (REMEMBER string thickness applies to height - use bottom of string closest to pickup for measurement.)

I don't understand what they mean with "string closest to pickup". Could someone help me out and explain what to do? :)
 
Pickup height on my Strat Plus has always been how the previous owner set it. I want to set it to the standard height and adjust from there if necessary.

The pickups are Fender Lace Sensors Gold, the Lace site says:


I don't understand what they mean with "string closest to pickup". Could someone help me out and explain what to do? :)

It is referring to the string with the smallest distance between the top of the pickup and the bottom of the string. The distance will not be the same on all strings due to action and fingerboard radius..

Set the height they suggest at the Top E with a slightly greater distance on the Lower strings and adjust to taste. Essentially you want to get the pickup as close as you feel gives a balance you like but without the magnetic field disturbing the strings natural vibrating shape.
 
It is referring to the string with the smallest distance between the top of the pickup and the bottom of the string. The distance will not be the same on all strings due to action and fingerboard radius..

Set the height they suggest at the Top E with a slightly greater distance on the Lower strings and adjust to taste. Essentially you want to get the pickup as close as you feel gives a balance you like but without the magnetic field disturbing the strings natural vibrating shape.
Thanks for explaining!

Do you measure the distance between the pickup and string with the string open or fretted?
Can you hear "the magnetic field disturbing the strings natural vibrating shape"?
 
Thanks for explaining!

Do you measure the distance between the pickup and string with the string open or fretted?

Unfretted. If you then have problems down the line you back off the pickup hieght a notch to reduce the problems with.....

Can you hear "the magnetic field disturbing the strings natural vibrating shape"?

... the characteristic monophonic sound that a magnet gives to a string if it is affecting the natural vibrations by being too close. You will know what that sounds like when you hear it.
 
Hey Muttley...

That '62 Gretsch I picked up, for whatever reason some jackhole had adjusted the neck pickup poles so high they were actually buzzing the strings. Straight away I tweaked them all down while I was sorting things out, hoping there were no other probs. There weren't, luckily. Neck is fab, frets looking good. I did replace the nut with a pre-cut. It's one of those Tusq jobbies. I needed pre-cut as I don't have any fret files. It has a zero fret, so I suppose it doesn't matter much for tone if I use it or bone, or whatever.

Anyway, I suppose it's all personal preference, for the most part. But, do you know of any specs on individual pup pole adjustment to get the most of the axe, the classic sound...maybe factory preset? Maybe even a general idea?

btw, as i'm sure you already know: I've seen it called a "solid body", which is a misnomer. It's actually chambered, or I guess more accurately it's a hollow body with a block straight down the center.
 
Last edited:
Hey Muttley...

That '62 Gretsch I picked up, for whatever reason some jackhole had adjusted the neck pickup poles so high they were actually buzzing the strings. Straight away I tweaked them all down while I was sorting things out, hoping there were no other probs. There weren't, luckily. Neck is fab, frets looking good. I did replace the nut with a pre-cut. It's one of those Tusq jobbies. I needed pre-cut as I don't have any fret files. It has a zero fret, so I suppose it doesn't matter much for tone if I use it or bone, or whatever.

Anyway, I suppose it's all personal preference, for the most part. But, do you know of any specs on individual pup pole adjustment to get the most of the axe, the classic sound...maybe factory preset? Maybe even a general idea?

btw, as i'm sure you already know: I've seen it called a "solid body", which is a misnomer. It's actually chambered, or I guess more accurately it's a hollow body with a block straight down the center.

Doesn't matter what nut material you use with a zero fret.

As far as setting the pickup poles. There is no golden rule for pole piece setting and as I imagine it at the time they didn't mess around too much with them when they were factory installed. I would guess they would have been pretty much in line. One thing I would keep in mind if you are after a "classic" sound is the strings you use. Back in the 60's it was still quite common to use medium to heavy gauge strings and most likely flatwound. The string gauge and material will dictate pole piece height and sound. You may also want to try it through some of those old 60's amps that were popular at the time.

see top of this thread on setting pickup height maybe start with that. Other than that it's a matter of balancing the output of each string and avoiding any messy string noise from the magnets. Yours may well have degaussed a bit so going "original" may not be best in any case. Also string allows are better and more consistent these days..
 
thanks, i'll mess around with height starting in line with various flat tone settings on amp.

got another question but won't go off topic asking here
 
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