Quote:
Originally Posted by suraci  1) Does anyone have ideas/ experience/ knowledge about original pickups distance from strings?
2) Is there a single ideal distance?
3) Doesn't how hard one plays affect the best distance?
4) I thought that too close was no better than too far? |
I added numbers.
1) Yes. I think pickup to string distance is one of the most important and THE MOST OVERLOOKED specs on a bass. Changing the distance can have profound effects on the sound, and people often credit these changes in tone to other things such as:
a) I switched bodies and my bass is much louder and sounds better now. Pickup to string distances were never measured.
b) I stripped the poly and refinished it in nitro and now it sounds so much better. Pickup to string distances were never measured.
c) The dog peed on my bass so I took all the stuff off and cleaned it, now it sounds different...was it the dog pee? Don't know, IME Collie pee gives a warmer tone than Pit Bull pee. Once again, pickup to string distance was never measured.
The point is, take some time and adjust it until it suits you as much as possible. Then measure the distance and write it down for future reference.
2) No, not for all pickups on all basses; but there probably is a certain distance you'll prefer on a given bass.
3) Yes. If you play hard you might need a little more distance.
4) No. Too close will produce a distorted signal. Too far, while having less volume often has nice tone.
