G&L Pickup height

[Franko Relaxo]

Howdy all,

I've decided to change my right hand technique to that of the great Gary Willis. Whilst trying to apply this fantastic way of playing, I realized that my setup won't really allow it.

So I went about making some slight changes in my G&L L2000 to help accommodate this new way of playing.

Problems right away. I thought I'd raise the pickups to help me play with a lighter touch, stop me digging in as much and all that. The closer I brought the pickups to the strings the more horrible my bass sounded. I'm assuming this is to do with the magnetic field effecting how the string vibrates. Thing is, I really need something under my right hand fingers, so I can only see two solutions:

1. New pickups. Something with a flat surface similar in build to the ones Gary Willis uses. However, I'd like them to sound similar to the 2 G&L Magnetic Field humbucking pickups that I have.

2. Some kind of ramp that goes OVER the pickups. This would probably effect the sound and be pretty messy, but I'm willing to try anything.

Any other ways around this that I'm just not seeing?

Thanks in advance,

Franko

[lug]

I drop mine all the way and have no problem getting a good output from them. A ramp might be your best bet. If it's made of wood, it will not effect the tone or amplitude much, if any at all.

[Franko Relaxo]

Don't suppose you've ever seen any made like that? It'd be helpful if I could bring some examples to show the fella who'd be building it.

[BarkerBass]

I tried a similar technique and found my jazz bass has the same pickup height and tone problems so I found a lot of old membership cards and credit/debit cards and cut them to the shame of the jazz pickups then used a layer of foam/cardboard to pack it up until it sat under the strings. This way you get the smooth plastic of the cards forming the top surface and assuming you don't use too many layers you'll get a firm and stable feeling ramp. I found double sided tape works really well for fastening the layers together and to the top of the pickup.

[Franko Relaxo]

That's ingenious! But I'd like to have the whole area the same height.. I suppose it could be done though

[Infernal Affair]

You can still lower the pole pieces individually to compensate for the pickup height. This might be the easiest solution. G&L pickups are hot.

[Franko Relaxo]

I had... no idea you could do that. Cheers! I'll see about figuring out doing that. Would I be able to do it or would I be better off bringing it to a shop?

Yea those pickups are mental. I raised them to about 3 - 5mm away from the strings and the bass just sounded disgusting.

[Infernal Affair]

You just need a set of allen wrenches (or if you have slotted pole pieces a screwdriver) and it's pretty straightforward. I forgot what size allen wrench is needed to adjust them.

[Franko Relaxo]

Ahh, I had a look and there they were, allen key groves laughing at me as I pulled my hair out. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to break anything, looks fairly straight forward.

Thanks a million guys

[Infernal Affair]

No problemo. Hope it works out for ya.

[Franko Relaxo]

Can't lower the poles enough. It's helped a bit though, thanks

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by Franko Relaxo

Howdy all,

I've decided to change my right hand technique to that of the great Gary Willis. Whilst trying to apply this fantastic way of playing, I realized that my setup won't really allow it.

So I went about making some slight changes in my G&L L2000 to help accommodate this new way of playing.

Problems right away. I thought I'd raise the pickups to help me play with a lighter touch, stop me digging in as much and all that. The closer I brought the pickups to the strings the more horrible my bass sounded. I'm assuming this is to do with the magnetic field effecting how the string vibrates. Thing is, I really need something under my right hand fingers, so I can only see two solutions:

1. New pickups. Something with a flat surface similar in build to the ones Gary Willis uses. However, I'd like them to sound similar to the 2 G&L Magnetic Field humbucking pickups that I have.

2. Some kind of ramp that goes OVER the pickups. This would probably effect the sound and be pretty messy, but I'm willing to try anything.

Any other ways around this that I'm just not seeing?

Thanks in advance,

Franko

I use a similar technique, where I pluck directly over the bridge PU and the pickup face serves as a sort of poor-man's ramp.

I'm just lazy and so just live with the tone problem myself (I still get an acceptable tone by using a light touch and the right strings), but you're quite right that the sound gets terrible the closer the PU gets to the string (my L2000 and 2500 both get really nasty when you hike the PU up). It's not a fault of the MFD's, it's pretty much true of every pickup that's got a relatively hot design (even the humbucker in my carvin starts to sound ratty if I get it too far up).

The idea of a ramp over the top of the pickup is the best option. If it's some non-conducting material it won't affect the sound at all (I used tape on my Carvin for a little while I was setting it up, until I switched out strings and discovered I could bring the PU back up to where it was).

A thin piece of wood worked over on the top with a radius block and then somehow routed out underneath to sit firmly on the PU face would be what I'd try. Be patient tho, as ramps are harder to make than you'd thing...

LS

[Franko Relaxo]

Yea it looks like my only option is the ramp. It was looking good when I started lowering the poles but they only go so far down and I need the pickup really really close to the strings.


This is dam frustrating. I was getting into a good
rhythm praticing his technique. This may put me on hold. I'll try and find a temp solution