So here's what I been doin' all day, see

[Tincup]

Screw in some p90’s and call it good.

 

[purpleplexi]

I've done this many times. By the time I've finished faffing around I can't remember what it sounded like in the first place. Usually it ends up where it started. Read a piece somewhere someone dropped the pickups real low then screwed the slugs right out. Reckoned it sounded awesome but I tried and it sucked. One man's awesome is another man's crap.
Just out of curiosity what heights do people use?

 

[Filipe Soares]

this is a crucial part of a guitar setup and most people ignore it. great work!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I was just kinda surprised at the improvement I got because I'd always paid more attention to the balance. What I always did was adjust the general height, then balance the polepieces so the volume and/or gain was even, and that was that. But by dropping them way back and slowly moving them up, I got a more accurate sense of how the gain was increasing and found I got clearer tone but still plenty of gain.

This may seem gheyonic
And my computer quite gheytronic
There is some amount of gheyality to this art of tonality
But don't call me a Klingon, nor call me a Gheyon
Uhm..
Do you have any Grey Poupon?
(sorry )

 

[saxon68]

What about us with sustainer pickups??? I’ve got 2 guitars with them, and they REALLY pull on the strings. If I back them off they lose the mojo.

 

[Headache]

I move them just far enough out of the way to where my palm mutes don't drag the bobbins.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

What about us with sustainer pickups??? I’ve got 2 guitars with them, and they REALLY pull on the strings. If I back them off they lose the mojo.

Mah, you're probably screwed.

Just kidding.. I always wanted to try those because of The Neal Schon.

 

[Tatzmann]

Pickups are devices which are brought
into existence by theory of magnetism,
therefore they are under constant influence
of all believed laws which are uttered by
the scientist which the believer believes in
without questioning.

Ever wondered why your guitars sometimes
seem to sound like shit and a couple days
or weeks later it sounds good again (too you)?

Ever hold a strong permagnet against your
pickups...

Just sayin, you can go nuts whit that sort
of shit or just play some good ole RocknRoll.

 

[G the wildman]

Using the same map I always use with the same settings (gain is usually 8 or 9), I did this:

I took all four of my les pauls and documented the current pickup heights, then chucked the ruler across the room.

Follow me so far with this?

Then I lowered the pickups down on all of them as close to China as I could go without the screws fall out of the retainers.

Then, one by one, I raised the bridge pickups until I got what I liked as a best balance between gain, tone, clarity and treble & bass balance.

I went back across the bridge pickups on all 4 guitars and re-checked them so that they were all about the same, tonitalitarily.

And now, all of my les pauls sound better than they did before.

In the end, all the pickups were much lower than I expected and I had better tone.

Therefore I declare, that everyone who does not try this is ghey.

Slightly of topic. I spent yesterday testing my 4 electric guitars through four amps, with and without pedals.

I found that my tele and strats sound great through all amps.

My LP however only sounds good through my DSL 5 cr.

It should sound good through my SV20 head and matching cab but it does not.

I am using Mini mass so can crank it. I love my strats and hot rodded tele through the SV.

Any suggestions - I like GnR sound, the Darkness. It could be that I have just gotten used to strats.

G

 

[G the wildman]

Pickups are devices which are brought
into existence by theory of magnetism,
therefore they are under constant influence
of all believed laws which are uttered by
the scientist which the believer believes in
without questioning.

Ever wondered why your guitars sometimes
seem to sound like shit and a couple days
or weeks later it sounds good again (too you)?

Ever hold a strong permagnet against your
pickups...

Just sayin, you can go nuts whit that sort
of shit or just play some good ole RocknRoll.

Yes, I have noticed that one day guitars sound good and another day they do not.

Why?

G

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Slightly of topic. I spent yesterday testing my 4 electric guitars through four amps, with and without pedals.

I found that my tele and strats sound great through all amps.

My LP however only sounds good through my DSL 5 cr.

It should sound good through my SV20 head and matching cab but it does not.

I am using Mini mass so can crank it. I love my strats and hot rodded tele through the SV.

Any suggestions - I like GnR sound, the Darkness. It could be that I have just gotten used to strats.

G

Yeah, I like The Darkness too. To me, that's the definitive classic 70's Marshall sound. I have no idea what-all those guys use from day to day, but the best "70's rock n roll" pickups in my opinion are the 480R & 498T set.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Yes, I have noticed that one day guitars sound good and another day they do not.

Why?

G

We've discussed that before, there's a million opinions on things like temperate, air pressure, voltage fluxes, ...your own ears; depending on how much sleep you've had. Nobody knows for sure, but you can bet on one thing: if we (guitar players) hear anything that's a little "off" more than once or twice, that's reason enough to add a whole new Marshall to the collection.

 

[Michael Roe]

Slightly of topic. I spent yesterday testing my 4 electric guitars through four amps, with and without pedals.

I found that my tele and strats sound great through all amps.

My LP however only sounds good through my DSL 5 cr.

It should sound good through my SV20 head and matching cab but it does not.

I am using Mini mass so can crank it. I love my strats and hot rodded tele through the SV.

Any suggestions - I like GnR sound, the Darkness. It could be that I have just gotten used to strats.

G

I had a similar thing happen. Then I rolled the tone on my bridge pups on my strat and tele and.......It makes them sound better and my LP doesn't sound muddy now. But yes, if you play your strat and tele too long your LP can sound a bit....muddy. Btw, I love the sound of my strat bridge with the tone rolled to about 5-6 and my tele at about 7.