Adjusting pickup height on Fender Jazz bass

[Spinal Tapper]

I've had my Geddy Jazz bass for almost a year now, and I've never noticed until last night that my bridge PUP is set WAY higher than my neck PUP, thus making it louder when I play down there with my right hand. The thing is, I play closer to the neck (usually resting my thumb on the neck PUP when I play the E string).

Will I get a better output if I raise the neck PUP to where the bridge pickup sits, and lower the bridge PUP?

I don't wanna mess anything up - I've also had this bass in for a setup by a highly rated tech in my area, so should I just leave it?

[iamthebassplayr]

You will get a more neck pup sound out of it, warmer and rounder sounding. By lowering out the back one you will mellow out the growl and other "bridge" pickup sounds.

[Spinal Tapper]

Can I leave them both up high meaning: leave the bridge one and just raise the neck one? Or is it better to have one lower than the other?

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by Spinal Tapper

Can I leave them both up high meaning: leave the bridge one and just raise the neck one? Or is it better to have one lower than the other?

Of course you can - you just have to decide what tone you are shooting for. You can also compensate for differences by adjusting your volume controls...

I know that I always had the neck pickup lower than the bridge, since I wanted a more bridge-focused tone (snappier, more high-mids).

I don't know how that particular jazz bass keeps the pickups up or down - every Fender I've had just has a hunk of foam under the p'up - - I'd hope they've move forward a bit from that, but I found that that foam can get worn down so it won't force the p'up back up after a time, even if you loosen the screws... If that's the case, you need to jam some more foam in there or, like many folks, put some little springs on the screws between the p'up and the wood...

Good luck.

[telebravo]

I messed with mine ('62 vintage reissue) without knowing how close I could go, and was plagued with strange chorus-like effects, uneven note to note volume shifts, and sustain issues for a long while until I got a feeler gauge and read a lot about setups here (this board) and else-where. I was surprised to find out that pickup height is measured by holding the string down at the last fret when taking a measurement, hence the difference in height between front and back. Pickup height is the last thing I do when setting up my bass. I'm now only slightly away from the stock settings listed in the fender setup guide, and I've been very please for awhile now.

http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php

note: when purchased my bass was nowhere near the stock settings listed in the fender manual.