Lowe the pick up or raise the action?

[cindyp16]

Hey guys... & gals,

Here's the deal, last week I bought a Washburn Idol off of e-bay (new for $360) it's the black one with the SD pups ('59 in the neck, custom custom in the bridge) it arrived yesterday and after tuning it, I plugged it in and had a quick play. The action is really low, which I love - riffing involving open strings are a dream on this thing, BUT and here begins my dilemna. When I press down the low E sting on or above the 12th fret the string hits the neck pup! Obviously this does not contibute much to the sound! Now my question is; (about time I here you cry!) Do I raise the action or lower the pup? And how would I go about doing either?

thanks

cindyp

 

[faderbug]

euh.... let me see, when the action is good you should lower the pup.

 

[cindyp16]

Is it easy?

OKay, makes sense I guess, but how do I go about doing this, is it difficult or easy?

thanks

 

[Disposable]

You should be able to just loosen the screws on either side of the pickup.

 

[cindyp16]

stupid question

Okay, I'll have a look at that when I get home. Stupid question probably, but should I avoid a magnetic screwdriver?

 

[Scottgman]

Yeah, just loosen the screws on the pickup, that will make it go down.

You should plug in your guitar and pick the low and high E strings to compare relative volumes as you lower the pickup. If the pickup is closer to the high E, then those first three strings will be louder than the top three. Vice versa if the pickup is closer to the low E. You want them basically balanced.

Same goes for both pickups (there are two pickups, right?). If your bridge pickup is closer to the strings than the neck pickup, the bridge pickup will be louder than the neck pickup. You want the two pickups to be balanced in volume.

Good Luck!

 

[cindyp16]

Scott,

Yeah it has 2 pups, the bridge is WAY lower than the neck though. Guess I'll be busy tonight

thanks for the advice

cindyp

 

[Fusioninspace]

I'm sure somebody knows more about this than me...

I read somewhere (here?) that if the PUP is to close to the strings, the magnets will actually have enough magnetic effect on the strings and act like a buffer to reduce the duration of string vibration (i.e. sustain). So it could be a good idea to drop the pups down a little anyway.

But it's all personal pref I suppose.

 

[AlfredB]

i heard that too, and it makes a lot of sense, esp. the sustain on lighter strings (high E) seems to be impaired

 

[Dani Pace]

Fusion is right, if the pickup is to high (cloce to the strings) it will dampen the sustain, it will give you more attack and distortion but what you loose in sustain isn't worth it. A general rule of thumb is; the lower the pups, the cleaner the sound, you loose a little volume but get a sound that is clocer to the natural sound of the guitar. Hope this helps.

 

[Clive Hugh]

Fusion, You are partially right, having a single coil pickup close to the strings causes magnetic pull but with a humbucker it is not a problem and you can have them really close to the strings although I find with the hot p/u's I get far more distortion than I want up close so back them off too till I get a clean(er) sound.

 

[apl]

Action and pickup height should be treated independently.

Set the action (or have it done by a pro) the way you want.

Adjust pickups per the above suggestions.

Rock on...

 

[Fusioninspace]

Clive - Thanks for the clarification! I was thinking there was something else to that...

 

[Light]

Fusion, You are partially right, having a single coil pickup close to the strings causes magnetic pull but with a humbucker it is not a problem and you can have them really close to the strings although I find with the hot p/u's I get far more distortion than I want up close so back them off too till I get a clean(er) sound.

Magnetic pull is TWICE the problem with humbuckers (more magnets pulling on a wider area of string). The two coils are WOUND in opposite directions, but the magnetic pull does not get canceled out.

We usually set the neck pickup about 1/16th of an inch away from the high E string when it is fretted at the highest fret. Balance the low E to the high E, then adjust the pole pieces to ballence all of the strings. Balence the bridge pickup to the neck pickup, then balence the pole piece on the neck pickup. Done.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[apl]

Hey, Light, do you balance the strings by ear, or do you measure it?

 

[Light]

Hey, Light, do you balance the strings by ear, or do you measure it?

By ear. You can hear it very easily. Besides, it is a perceptual thing, and there is no way to measure that (kind of like mixing). Different frequencies are perceived as have different volumes.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi