String & Pickup Height

[STAT1STICK]

I was just wondering what you guys/gals prefer for your string and pickup height. I usually keep my bridge PUs about 1/16 of an inch from the strings on both sides. For middle and neck PUs, I keep the bass string side 1/8 of an inch away from the strings and the the treble string side 1/16 of an inch away from the strings.

I have another question, too...

What height should I keep my strings to get the best action possible on the fretboard? I like the action I get from the start of the fretboard but when I get down toward the pickups, the strings are pretty far away from the frets and it's pretty hard to play fast and accurately. I'd even go as far as to say that it feel clumsy down there. The last time I checked, the strings were 1/8 of an inch away from the frets. I want to have good action without getting a lot of sting buzz.

I know how to adjust a truss rod, so if I have to do anything like that, it won't be a problem. I think I just have the bridge riding too high.

Any help will be awesome!

Thanks!

 

[Zaphod B]

Why not just experiment with lowering it? Bring the string height down until you start to get string buzz, then bring it up a bit.

You can't hurt the guitar by playing with string height.

 

[ggunn]

I was just wondering what you guys/gals prefer for your string and pickup height. I usually keep my bridge PUs about 1/16 of an inch from the strings on both sides. For middle and neck PUs, I keep the bass string side 1/8 of an inch away from the strings and the the treble string side 1/16 of an inch away from the strings.

One thing to keep in mind is that if the strings are too close to the pickups, the magnetic field will mess with the free vibration of the strings, and you'll get some weird warbling harmonics that sort of sound like strange intonation problems, especially on the thinner strings. It's commonly called "stratitis", but other guitars (other than Strats, that is) can suffer from it, too.

 

[Zaphod B]

One thing to keep in mind is that if the strings are too close to the pickups, the magnetic field will mess with the free vibration of the strings, and you'll get some weird warbling harmonics that sort of sound like strange intonation problems, especially on the thinner strings. It's commonly called "stratitis", but other guitars (other than Strats, that is) can suffer from it, too.

This is true. Some pickups can be right up on the strings (Lace Sensors, for example) but others need some distance.