Adjusted pickup height. Life changed.

[veebass]

I don't disagree with the generalisation about getting the pickups high up and that's generally the principle I start from.
One exception I found was my Asat. Beautiful neck, sets up beautifully with a low action but when playing around fret 7 to 10 kept choking a little. I noticed that the strings were just lightly clipping frets further up the neck around fret 15- 17. No heal rise or high frets. So with the help of the Australian G & L distributor, I identified the problem. The magnets in the pickups were pulling the strings down, so I lowered the pickups as far as they would go. Problem gone. Had to go that low to stop the problem. Still plenty of signal from those pickups. The distributor reckons they have seen it before with them.

 

[Matthew_84]

On my MIA P Bass a few years back, I was struggling to get a GHS Precision Flats G string that wasn't twangy. I tried every guage they had and nothing helped. It turned out the pickup was too CLOSE to the string. Lowering the pickup helped in this instance.

 

[Lo-E]

I don't disagree with the generalisation about getting the pickups high up and that's generally the principle I start from.
One exception I found was my Asat. Beautiful neck, sets up beautifully with a low action but when playing around fret 7 to 10 kept choking a little. I noticed that the strings were just lightly clipping frets further up the neck around fret 15- 17. No heal rise or high frets. So with the help of the Australian G & L distributor, I identified the problem. The magnets in the pickups were pulling the strings down, so I lowered the pickups as far as they would go. Problem gone. Had to go that low to stop the problem. Still plenty of signal from those pickups. The distributor reckons they have seen it before with them.

Not uncommon with the G&L MFD pickups. Those are very strong magnets. They are sunk as deep as they will go on all three of my L-2000s and I actually wish I could get them a bit lower.
I tend to like the p'ups backed off a bit on most of my basses, but there are some pickups that just sound great really close to the strings.

 

[12bass]

Something to consider is that a pickup's magnetic field decreases according to an inverse square or inverse cube law. This can impact string-to-string balance for pickups which are not perfectly matched with fingerboard radius. Due to this mismatch in radius, I've found that a lot of pickups are louder on the outside strings and quieter on the inner strings. Reducing pickup height mitigates this effect somewhat. Also, I've found that having the pickups too close sounds somewhat "brash" while backing off tends to "soften" the sound somewhat. When I still used EMGs, I found that lowering pickup height helped tame their inherent harshness.

 

[Robroy]

I have a six string jazz that I got from Rondo’s scratch and dent for cheap. For some reason the B string was significantly louder than all the others, from either pickup. But it got me to do some interesting experimenting. I adjusted the neck pickup flat, and adjusted the bridge pickup so it is as close as possible to the C string and as far as reasonable from the B string.

The effect was that changing pickups dramatically changed tone. Worked really well.

 

[iiipopes]

And when you get way down the road, still check them about once a year to make sure that whatever is holding the pickups up, whether springs, rubber tubing around the screws, or foam rubber back, has not hardened or compressed and allowed the pickups to drift out of adjustment.

 

[Kevan Campbell]

Wow, does this ever make a difference! Been playing for 17 years and never adjusted my pickup height until today after reading this thread. Who do I owe a beer for sharing this favor?

 

[TripleDouble]

Experimenting with pickup height and then even saddle height can very often save you a couple hundred dollars in new pickups, or even cure issues thought ot be related to a bass. I had a Music Man once with the "weak G" thing, and a combination of a heavier gauge G string and the pickups and saddles adjusted just a bit more aggressively to the treble side cured this 99%. But I've also had a few instruments where the pickups sounded bad no matter how high or low they were, it was usually an issue of thin or harsh tone on cheapos.

 

[vmabus]

I wonder how much the old 'louder always sounds better' mindtrick has a role in this though ...

Louder IS better!
If you experiment, you'll find differences in tonal balance, as well as attack and sustain, dependent on pickup height.
All you need is a screwdriver.

 

[vmabus]

Second, when you have strong magnets, you will often end up with warbling out of tune notes when the pickups are close to the strings.

I had an old EB-3 with the huge mudbucker; the strings would actually stick to the pole if I wasn't careful.

 

[Tom Howland]

Pickup height and nut setup. Are two thing that will change your bass for the better.

 

[DavC]

it's just another setup adjustment that we have that alters the tone of our stringed instruments more to our personal preference ... like many adjustments , going to extremes gets into that ' right or wrong' territory .... pups way to close will cause some weird things with magnetic pull on the strings which kills sustain .... and too far away is just weak and useless ...

their is a sweet spot for each pup , string type , ear , technique , etc, etc , ... tweak slowly and try to listen with an open mind and ears ..!!

 

[static0verdrive]

To do it right you'll want one of Invalid Link Removed (or similar), and check out page 23 of [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for some good distances to start with. I don't like going much closer than these values personally because with lighter gauges of strings like I use you start getting into wobbly oscillation territory, especially with p'ups with stronger magnets.

Make sure you've completed all other steps of a basic setup first!

 

[ofajen]

I generally have the opposite preference; that is, at least as much pickup distance as recommended by the manufacturer. I have found this to be my preference with humbucker, Strat-style single coil and P-90 guitar pickups and with all my bass pickups: J, P, MM and the special humbuckers on my Ripper. I generally agree with the SBMM setup guide which says that their experience is that more pickup distance makes for a more dynamic tone. If I want compressed and distorted, I have amps and toys to do that. YMMV.

Otto

 

[singlemalt]

Changing to a different make and model of strings, it's time to revisit pickup height as part of dialing the set up in.

I use an old teac tape deck with vu meters to check the balance across the strings.

Per Dingwall's suggestion, the treble end of the pickup is 3/32 below the G or C string, when the string is fretted on the highest (24th) fret. That's what I start with, and adjust from there. Bass end starts at 3/8". A little either way at either end can make a big difference.

All this has to suit your right hand technique too. If you are a heavy player, smacking the strings on the pup is going to sound terrible.

All the little hex wrenches for set up live right on my desk where I stand to practice. I'm always tweeking with with it until I get it dialed.

 

[sonicnuance]

I agree with the OP. Two things I always tinker with before giving up on an instrument are string selection and setup (including pickup height). I find both have a HUGE impact on the character of an instrument.

 

[sotua]

For the skinny-string guys (guitar players), some folks prefer to move the pickups farther away from the strings and crank the amp up more, to get a different "feel" from the amp. Or they may go with lower-output pickups for a similar intention.

Myself, I like the pickups pretty close to the strings.

Yep, I've had to adjust some hot pickups farther away from my strings on my guitar, as they were breaking up too fast. Some people dig that, but I wanted the guitar to have a good clean and add more gain on the chain when distortion was needed.

On my bass, I haven't tinkered with it for a long time. Perhaps it's time to see...

 

[MVE]

Too close and you can actually get a magnetic dragging on the string that makes an out of tune worbble sound.
You can also have the string hitting the pick-up when digging in, and that never sounds good out of the amp.

I think there is a "sweet-spot" for every instrument and set-up that has as much to do with string tension as anything else.

Too close and the pick-up can be too hot and not dynamic enough; too low and the pickup can sound anemic and life-less.

Here is a great video from the stew-mac site:
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[jacolyte]

just wait until you discover polepieces.

 

[jamro217]

You are trying to generalize based on your limited experience with one bass. There are many factors that you are not accounting for. Firstly, players with more aggressive techniques will often have problems with the strings clanking on the pole pieces or covers, if the pickups are too close to the strings. Second, when you have strong magnets, you will often end up with warbling out of tune notes when the pickups are close to the strings.

Wolf tones.