Musicman pickup

[Chili]

hey, when i first got my musicman, about a year ago, i turned the screws on the pickup without realising it raised and lowered the pickup, well i realised eventually lol. but i got worried incase it could brake something, so i tryed to put it back to the way it was, and then i pretty much forgot about it until now, does it effect anything in anyway raising or lowering the pickup, like, could you just lower the pick up, instead of raising the strings, coz i think the strings might be to close the pickup, and when i slap, i get a clicking sound, kinda like when you press the string agains the pickup magnet, it makes a tutting noise, can anyone who has experiance with a MM Stingray let me know about this plz?

[stabbicus]

Raising and lowing the pickups increases and decreases the output of your instrument respectively. You should be able to adjust the pickups so they are closer to the strings for the higher register (G string), and lower for the lower register (E string). However, if you get the pickup too close to the strings, when you pluck a note, the pickup will actually pull the string out of tune. I'm not much of a slapper though so I can't really comment on that.

[Chili]

so really, instead of having the pick up level, i should have it lower underneath the E string and higher under the G string, so it should be on a slant.....

[stabbicus]

Correct. Don't get them too close to the strings though. Adjust them so you have even string to string balance. Also, you might look into setting up your instrument. Don't take this the wrong way, but you seem a little new to this kind of stuff. You're in the right forum. Do a search for string height, saddle height, action, and intonation.

[Chili]

thx for your help , ill deffinitly look into those

[Chili]

i just measured the hight of the E and G string above the pickup, and its 5mm distance between the pick and the G, and around 6mm between the pick and E. Is there a distance you would bring either of them? like i know 2mm is way to close, for the E string, but how close could it be to the G?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

There are no exacts really.

Because all of us will have slightly different playing styles etc.

When you are playing, do all the strings sound balanced? (ie, all about the same output without any being louder that the others), if so, then id just leave it. Tho i think you might have it a bit to close, i think my pickup is a at least a good cm away from the strings

[Chili]

1cm, is that from the E string to the top of the pick up, i've lowered the pickup, but do you think i should highten the strings? i've also adjusted the truss rod, and now my action is about 3 and a half mm, and i'm still getting a faint tutting sound, but i dont have an allen key, thats the only problem, but ill find one somewhere.

[stabbicus]

Do you have a way to record what you're calling the 'tutting' sound? Raising the strings might help with the sound, that is if what you're hearing is fret buzz. Does the sound happen at specific spots on the neck (like frets 1-5, 5-12, etc.,) or is it all over the neck? How are you playing? Fingerstyle? I know you mentioned that you play slap.

[Chili]

heres the tutting sound i'm on about, i suppose its kind of more of a snap, but its worst on the E string, and on most notes on the E string, and its only when i slap, doesnt happen when using fingerstyle.

http://rapidshare.com/files/73117375...sound.wav.html

i've checked up on how a stingray is set in the factory. Heres what i found:

'Virtually all the adjustments to string height can be made with the truss rod. Turn clockwise to raise the finger board, counter clockwise to lower. The ideal string height for our basses is 3/32" or 2.4mm between the bottom of the string to the top of the fret on both the E and G strings at the 12th fret. The G string can be slightly lower due to the fact that it is the smallest string. This affects the bow of the neck.

The factory specifications for the pickup height is 6/32" or 4.76mm from the top of the plastic between the pickup covers to the bottom of the G string. The angle of the pickup is set fairly level, so the larger strings are naturally a bit closer. If you haven't already adjusted the pickup or changed to a very heavy gauge string set, you shouldn't have to do any adjustments on the pickup.

On the new 2-pickup basses, the measurements are virtually the same on the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is further away, about 8/32" or 6.35mm from the string to the pickup'



2.4mm seems abit low for string height, i got it to just over 3mm just from using the truss rod, but the wheel started to get tight turning it clockwise, although it was stiff anyway becouse i havnt turned it much since i've got it, is there a limit to how uch you can turn it, and once it starts to get stiff, is that a sign to stop?

[stabbicus]

You should only turn it a QUARTER TURN each time. Then you let it sit for an hour before you make any more adjustments. I didn't mention trussrod adjusting in my post earlier because I didn't want you to mess up your bass trying to make adjustments. I assume you already went here:

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125382

and then possibly (hopefully) went here after reading about trussrod adjustments?

http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass...tupmanual.html

Anyways, thanks for recording that for me. The sound you're describing isn't necessarily bad. Let me ask, where are you slapping the bass? (on the fretboard, above the pickups, by the bridge?) Maybe try lowering the pickup on the E string side?

Nice tasteful slapping by the way.

**edit** Fill out your profile, man.

[Chili]

oh, only a quarter turn your say lol, well thx for letting me know before i really screwed up the kneck, i've read through the page link you gave me and adjusted the rod the way it says, its actually starting to feel alot better, i've adjusted it twice in the past 3 hours, and i'm waiting another hour, and one more quarter turn should be enough i think. i've also lowered the pickup underneath the E slightly, so hopefully i wont have to highten any strings, and hopefully the little annoying (to me) tutting sound will be gone lol.

i slap between the pickup and the bottom of the kneck, just feels most comphtable there.

thx . I forgot all about my profile, i'll fill it in sometime when i have the time.

thx for all your help btw

[stabbicus]

Hey, it's no problem. Personally, I have not done any trussrod adjustments before, in fear that I will mess something up on my Warwick. Everything else is cake.

[Jonyak]

you can't mess it up unless you break the rod.

you can screw it up so bad, then just loosen it and start over again.

the worst thing that will happen is you won't be able to get it right and then you take it to a tech and get him or her to set it up properly for you.

[Chili]

i just saw remo's topic about his Musicman 5 string, and i saw that his magnets in his pickup were all flat, while some of the magnets on my pickup stick up more than others, does this make any differance to anything, does it matter?

[stabbicus]

Those increase and decrease volume. They would help with the string to string volume balance.

[Chili]

oh ok,The magnets beneath the E and G strings are flat, and the magnets underneath the A and D strings are sticking out abit more. i was just curious about this becouse remo's were all flat. thx agen.

i tryed the thing that site told me abo0ut adjusting the truss rod and checking the string tension, but i'm still not sure how slack its meant to be, the stings are easier to bend now becouse i've slackened them about with the truss rod, but anyway, i've pretty much got rid of the tutting sound, i lowred the picku a little bit more on both ends, and when i get an allen key (tommorow) i'll highten the strings abit, and it should be all sorted.

[stabbicus]

Glad to know I could help you out!