Pickup height vs. pole height?

[Gear_Junky]

On pups with individually adjustable pole pieces - is there a difference between getting the whole pickup closer to strings vs. moving it away, but adjusting the poles closer?

[Spin Doctor]

Fuck if I know...

That's a very good question.

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

On pups with individually adjustable pole pieces - is there a difference between getting the whole pickup closer to strings vs. moving it away, but adjusting the poles closer?

Hopefully Muttley or Light will pop in with the correct answer.

[Roguetitan]

Guitar Pickup Adjustments: How To Adjust Pickup Height and Adjust Pole Pieces on Your Guitar Pickups:

Pickup Adjustments are usually a quick way to get a little or a lot more pickup tone out of your guitar. You're probably visiting this web page because your guitar tone is not hot enough or what is should be. Guitar Pickup Adjustments are usually a quick way to get more tone or hotness out of your pickups. One word of caution is not to overdue the pickup adjustment. Sometimes if you over adjust pickup height or poles pieces this can affect the intonation and tonality of your guitar. Basically, you will know if you over adjust due to the sound of your guitar for the most part. You would hear an out of phase type sound.

Remember to unplug your guitar from your amplifier before making any adjustment to guitar electronics

Pickup Height Adjustment
There are basically two ways to adjust a guitar pickups tone or hotness. The first way to adjust the pickup is to either tighten or loosen the screws on either side of the pickup. Most people think these screws just hold the pickup in place, but they also adjust the height of the pickup. Sometimes these screws are located on the pickup cover. Now it depends on the pickup, but for the most part if you tighten the screws you'll lower the pickup and if you loosen the screws you'll raise the pickup. If you want more tone or a hotter sound raise the pickup closer to the strings. If you want less tone lower the pickup away from the guitar strings. Pretty simple right. Make small adjustments and then plug in the guitar and check out the sound. You don't even have to take the strings off to do this adjustment. Just lower or raise the pickup with screws on either side of the pickup. Try to turn the screws with equal turns for each side of the pickup. Small adjustments can make a big difference. As we talked about earlier, do not over adjust because this will negatively affect the tone of your pickup.

Guitar Pickup Pole Pieces Adjustments

The second pickup adjustment is to raise or lower your pickup pole pieces on your guitar pickup itself. Let's say you've already raised your pickup height, but still want a little more tone. Try raising the pole pieces. Pole pieces are the 6 metal magnetic rods or pieces on a single coil pickup or 12 metal pole pieces on a humbucker. If you need more info on guitar terms please visit the guitar glossary link. Now, not all pickups are able to have there pole pieces adjusted. You will need to check your pickup to see if there small screws or hex adjustment pole pieces. If this is the case you can adjust the pole pieces on the pickup. You would either need a screwdriver or hex wrench to do the procedure.

To raise your pole pieces loosen the screw or hex adjustment in very small increments so that you can see the pieces rise a bit. Raising the pole pieces in not recommended for some pickups or guitars so check your guitar manual or check the pickup manufacturer Adjustable pole pieces are mostly on Humbucker Pickups. You don't see many adjustable pole pieces on single coil pickups. Some hotter Single Coil pickups you may see staggered pole pieces, or basically the pole pieces are raised to different heights from the factory. For Example, Fender Texas Special pickups have staggered pole pieces in the bridge position.



Adjusting Pole Pieces is a trial and error process so make a small adjustment while the guitar is unplugged, then plug in and try the guitar. You should notice a hotter tone the more you raise the pole pieces. Do Not raise the Pole Pieces to far as this will negatively affect tone or tonality of your guitar. If you do raise the pole pieces to far start tightening the screw or hex adjustment to lower the pieces.

You should notice a nice difference in tone after doing these pickup adjustments. Basically, adjust to how you feel you would want you pickup tone to be either hot, fat, thin, or whatever you like. The tips above should help anyone improve his or her guitar tone. Most guitar technicians can do these adjustments at a fairly low price, so if you don't want to try it yourself take your guitar to a professional.
http://mediawebsource.com/guitar/pickupadjust.htm

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by Roguetitan

Guitar Pickup Adjustments: How To Adjust Pickup Height and Adjust Pole Pieces on Your Guitar Pickups:...

All they've really said is it changes the tone and volume, but not which.

[Roguetitan]

Originally Posted by mixsit

All they've really said is it changes the tone and volume, but not which.

it is an either or or both sort of thing that is why the article suggests playing around with it until you have it set to how you like it.
hell It aint brain surgery or rocket science

[mixsit]

Mostly I just got a kick out of, higher gives you 'more tone'.
..Ok.

[Roguetitan]

Originally Posted by mixsit

Mostly I just got a kick out of, higher gives you 'more tone'.
..Ok.

*snk snk*
Ear *COUGH COUGH CHOKE COUGH* Dats sum Good shit Man!

[Gear_Junky]

RogueTitan, thanks for the input. I hope you can take a little constructive criticism (nothing personal): that essay, although written with newbies in mind, would not be helpful to either a newbie or someone with experience. It doesn't explain what "overadjusting" means (getting it too close to strings) and also "why" it's bad - that makes things very simple and making sense, because, like you said, it ain't rocket science

It also doesn't explain the type of tonal results one might expect from moving closer/further from strings and doesn't give any starting points. It's all trial and error, yes, but the spectrum is fairly wide, especially for a newbie and the reason they might read such an article in the first place - is to avoid some of the trial-and-error.

[Roguetitan]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

RogueTitan, thanks for the input. I hope you can take a little constructive criticism (nothing personal): that essay, although written with newbies in mind, would not be helpful to either a newbie or someone with experience. It doesn't explain what "overadjusting" means (getting it too close to strings) and also "why" it's bad - that makes things very simple and making sense, because, like you said, it ain't rocket science

It also doesn't explain the type of tonal results one might expect from moving closer/further from strings and doesn't give any starting points. It's all trial and error, yes, but the spectrum is fairly wide, especially for a newbie and the reason they might read such an article in the first place - is to avoid some of the trial-and-error.

Its all good man
I agree that the article did leave out several point of views however it did give you some kind of idea what to expect once you start monkeying around with your pups, the whole procedure is definately trial and error/ hit or miss sort of deal it is really not much different than editing a a track you keep monkeying around with the damn thing until it sounds good

[Dani Pace]

I wouldn't put too much faith in the info on that page. It reads like a political speach... lots of words without telling you anything.

[robin watson]

Originally Posted by Dani Pace

I wouldn't put too much faith in the info on that page. It reads like a political speach... lots of words without telling you anything.

Absolutely.

The question wasn't even addressed was it?

In pulling the pickup away from the strings and further raising the pole pieces, you are effectively reducing the amount of flux within the coil since there is now less pole piece within the coil, so output would be reduced.

The coil of a pickup is not magnetic, so the locality of the pickup itself in respect to the strings shouldn't make a difference in sound, except that the pole piece position within the coil will be different.

And since it's all down to that subjective topic of sound, it's a moot point anyway. Experiment.

That's my take.

[JMarcomb]

it seems like it would make a subtle difference... never had adjustable poles

but yeah... id adjust and play to listen to the tonal differences

[robin watson]

Originally Posted by Roguetitan

Guitar Pickup Adjustments: How To Adjust Pickup Height and Adjust Pole Pieces on Your Guitar Pickups:

Pickup Adjustments are usually a quick way to get a little or a lot more pickup tone out of your guitar. You're probably visiting this web page because your guitar tone is not hot enough or what is should be. Guitar Pickup Adjustments are usually a quick way to get more tone or hotness out of your pickups. One word of caution is not to overdue the pickup adjustment. Sometimes if you over adjust pickup height or poles pieces this can affect the intonation and tonality of your guitar. Basically, you will know if you over adjust due to the sound of your guitar for the most part. You would hear an out of phase type sound.

Remember to unplug your guitar from your amplifier before making any adjustment to guitar electronics

Pickup Height Adjustment
There are basically two ways to adjust a guitar pickups tone or hotness. The first way to adjust the pickup is to either tighten or loosen the screws on either side of the pickup. Most people think these screws just hold the pickup in place, but they also adjust the height of the pickup. Sometimes these screws are located on the pickup cover. Now it depends on the pickup, but for the most part if you tighten the screws you'll lower the pickup and if you loosen the screws you'll raise the pickup. If you want more tone or a hotter sound raise the pickup closer to the strings. If you want less tone lower the pickup away from the guitar strings. Pretty simple right. Make small adjustments and then plug in the guitar and check out the sound. You don't even have to take the strings off to do this adjustment. Just lower or raise the pickup with screws on either side of the pickup. Try to turn the screws with equal turns for each side of the pickup. Small adjustments can make a big difference. As we talked about earlier, do not over adjust because this will negatively affect the tone of your pickup.

Guitar Pickup Pole Pieces Adjustments

The second pickup adjustment is to raise or lower your pickup pole pieces on your guitar pickup itself. Let's say you've already raised your pickup height, but still want a little more tone. Try raising the pole pieces. Pole pieces are the 6 metal magnetic rods or pieces on a single coil pickup or 12 metal pole pieces on a humbucker. If you need more info on guitar terms please visit the guitar glossary link. Now, not all pickups are able to have there pole pieces adjusted. You will need to check your pickup to see if there small screws or hex adjustment pole pieces. If this is the case you can adjust the pole pieces on the pickup. You would either need a screwdriver or hex wrench to do the procedure.

To raise your pole pieces loosen the screw or hex adjustment in very small increments so that you can see the pieces rise a bit. Raising the pole pieces in not recommended for some pickups or guitars so check your guitar manual or check the pickup manufacturer Adjustable pole pieces are mostly on Humbucker Pickups. You don't see many adjustable pole pieces on single coil pickups. Some hotter Single Coil pickups you may see staggered pole pieces, or basically the pole pieces are raised to different heights from the factory. For Example, Fender Texas Special pickups have staggered pole pieces in the bridge position.



Adjusting Pole Pieces is a trial and error process so make a small adjustment while the guitar is unplugged, then plug in and try the guitar. You should notice a hotter tone the more you raise the pole pieces. Do Not raise the Pole Pieces to far as this will negatively affect tone or tonality of your guitar. If you do raise the pole pieces to far start tightening the screw or hex adjustment to lower the pieces.

You should notice a nice difference in tone after doing these pickup adjustments. Basically, adjust to how you feel you would want you pickup tone to be either hot, fat, thin, or whatever you like. The tips above should help anyone improve his or her guitar tone. Most guitar technicians can do these adjustments at a fairly low price, so if you don't want to try it yourself take your guitar to a professional.
http://mediawebsource.com/guitar/pickupadjust.htm

Who the fuck wrote this shit??

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by robin watson

In pulling the pickup away from the strings and further raising the pole pieces, you are effectively reducing the amount of flux within the coil since there is now less pole piece within the coil, so output would be reduced.

i thought about that, but the poles actually protrute a bit on the bottom of the pickup, so there's a little extra - raising them within reason does not really reduce the amount of pole within the coil.

by now i'm just thinking that if there'd be anything to gain, there would be pickups with extra-high poles.

[Torpid-x]

This is just my theory,
if you notice there is only one set of adjustable poles on a humbucker. On a single humbucking guitar they should be on the bridge side. Raising the pup height you are bringing both sets of poles closer to the strings, raising the poles will make the bridge half stronger, although results vary for every pup, you may bring out more of a single coil sound by lowering the pup and raising the poles.

There's also the simple answer: use the pole adjustability to compensate for string radius if your bridge is set up with a significant radius raise your pup to the sweet spot and adjust the poles as needed to increase um "hotness"? in the center.

also, on factory set single coils (that I've had), the b string is set lower for some reason. with the D and G set highest.

[rayc]

Wow,
I just didn't learn a whole lot.

In other words - wow subjectivity can really get in the way can't it?
I'd have thought there'd have been a degree of science/physics in the question & its answer. Instead it's anecdote, inuendo & taste.
Silly of me.

Now I'll go get some book learning to balance the non elucidation!

[castlerock]

it's always been my understanding that you adjust poles to get a balance across all six strings and adjust pickup height to add or reduce overall gain from the pickup.

[Torpid-x]

Originally Posted by rayc

Wow,
I just didn't learn a whole lot.

In other words - wow subjectivity can really get in the way can't it?
I'd have thought there'd have been a degree of science/physics in the question & its answer. Instead it's anecdote, inuendo & taste.
Silly of me.

Now I'll go get some book learning to balance the non elucidation!

Wow,
a talking thesaurus with nothing to say! unique!

yes, there are physics involved, but every one of the thousands of pick-up models ever made is different, different magnets, different number of winds per coil, each with it's own magnetic signature, using an electrical meter you can find the exact "scientific" sweet or hot spot, but you might not like the sound.

so go fetch ya some more book smarts an let us ignorant folks be.

[rayc]

Hello Torpid-x,
All thesauri talk - it's just that not everyone can listen/cares to listen/believes in listening/isn't deeeef/has sufficient band width left after the tinnitus has set in. As to the content & the value set upon it by the listener -that is relative &/or subjective.
You missed the point which was/could currently be/may remain that there was no actual supported & definitive answer offered about how the things actually work. One came close but was subsequently qualified by the author and several constructive critics.
I am vaguely aware that there are different puckups out in eeeelectricity guitar world & that they are more diversly engineered than the popular pigeon hole placement of single coil & humbucker would suggest. There is, however, a definitive answer as to what raising a pole piece does/can/will/may do/has the potential to achieve & what response can be elicited by the raising a pick up that would have a degree of universality across that diaspora that is the guitar pick up. Something not unlike that which castlerock has suggested, (which sounds quite plausible to me & having read many of his posts: his opinion - note opinion not statement of fact - carries significant weight with me), but empirically proven rather than anecdotally recorded.
Oh, I did look in a couple of books as well as online - the sources were, similarly, ambiguous and lacking scientific rigour and not in total agreement - cross referencing a piece of information before broadcasting it is important unless you qualify it with "I believe...", "I think...", "IMO.." et cetera or in castlerock's case (sorry to use you as an example CR) "it's always been my understanding that..."
To summarise: I'm waiting for an answer of fact.
Finally, I am, as you can read under my avaatar, a pompous git. I, however, also have a sense of humour and can fillerbuster really, really well don't you think?

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

RogueTitan, thanks for the input. I hope you can take a little constructive criticism (nothing personal): that essay, although written with newbies in mind, would not be helpful to either a newbie or someone with experience. It doesn't explain what "overadjusting" means (getting it too close to strings) and also "why" it's bad - that makes things very simple and making sense, because, like you said, it ain't rocket science

If you get a pickup too close to the strings, its magnetic field will influence the vibration of the strings in unpleasant ways. You'll hear a sort of warbling overtone especially when you play a single string. This is called "stratitis" by many folks because the single coil pickups on Strats are especially prone to this. Some people look for the sweet spot by adjusting their pickups up until they start hearing this effect and then backing off a bit.

[castlerock]

Originally Posted by rayc

Oh, I did look in a couple of books as well as online - the sources were, similarly, ambiguous and lacking scientific rigour and not in total agreement - cross referencing a piece of information before broadcasting it is important unless you qualify it with "I believe...", "I think...", "IMO.." et cetera or in castlerock's case (sorry to use you as an example CR) "it's always been my understanding that..."

hey, no worries ray. the instant i click the submit button my posts become public property anyway.

[rayc]

Hello Torpid-x,
A special link for you to try - I guarantee you'll get at least one laugh from it. Just to show there're no hard feelings...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg77Lt-W48U

Castelrock, thanks!

Any Beatles/Rutles fans out there? The link may secure mild amusement.

[Roguetitan]

Thats funny shit mang

[bkkornaker]

i think the main reason to it is because of different neck radius, and bridge radius.

while most people measure pickup height by pressing down on the low E/HIgh E string at the highest fret, and measure the distance between the bottom of the string....to the top of the pickup pole piece. This will only be a good balance of distance for the E strings........what about all the ones in between?

thats why you can adjust the pole pieces.....for balance. Now you can measure all individual pole pieces and adjust accordingly.

EXAMPLE: some people like to have a distance of 2 mm between the string and low E/high E pole piece. If you measure the other strings pole pieces, youll notice they are at about 2.5 to 3mm in distance. You can now raise the other strings pole pieces so all strings can measure at 2mm from string to pickup pole piece for all strings. This will give an even balance sound.

.......ever notice why fender strat pickups have the G and B pole pieces raised?....thats to compensate for the neck radius. Fender starts have a bigger radius than most guitars.......this helps balance the sound out.