Whats the relationship between pickup height, vs. volume, vs tone

[prokfrog]

OK. I can almost swear that as i lower the pickup on the bass side to even out the volume, it seems the tone gets deeper which gives the illusion of louder. Maybe it's just my ears, the room, eq, etc. but it got me to wonder how height may or may not affect overall tone, and not just volume. thoughts?

[punkanidea]

higher the pup means closer the magnet to the string. well closer the magnet means more magnetic flux run through the string. well it gives more induced voltage that creates bigger low and louder sound.

CMIIW

[jazzmcs]

I've experimented quite a bit with pickup height. With the pickups close to the string you are driving the preamp/amp harder which can give a bit more growl and general aggressiveness to your sound. Also, it increases articulation which is good for some, like me, but not good for others. This increase in articulation and sometimes growl, depending on your rig, can sound as if there is less bass. So when you dropped your pickups it removed some articulation (snappiness, string noise, etc.) and the bass overall sounded more "bassy". You'll see that raising your action will have a similiar result, although fingerboard to string clearance affects the sound too. So to sum it up there is definitely a change in tone as you adjust your pickup height. Lower them for a smoother tone with more perceived bass and bring them up close to the strings for a more aggressive and artuculate tone. You'l know you are too close to the strings if when slapping the low end thumps onto the neck pickup or if digging in playing fingerstyle distorts the preamp/amp no matter how low you set the gain. Personally I like the articulation of having the pickups fairly close but combined with a medium action so I can dig in and get a thick full tone. Sort of a way to get the best of both worlds.

Hope that helps
Mike

[spideyjg]

Damn the "factory specs". Get out a screwdriver and adjust until it sounds right for you. Raise them as high as possible, without the strings hitting when you dig in, and then drop as far as possible. Listen and decide.

If 2 pickups are on your bass raise one and drop the other.

I found that a bit of a quirky adjustment rocks for me on my L-2000's

Jim

[prokfrog]

Thanks folks! great comments from all. I definately need to not worrry so much about the specs, rather than what works best for MY bass, and MY ears. Thanks!