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Gibson Thunderbird Setup (pickup height)

#21
Bill Lawrence always said two nickels below the strings fretted on last fret. Then adjust the bridge pickup for even output using your ears. It's a pretty good rule of thumb to avoid magnetic damping of your notes.

Since those soapbars don't have angle adjustment, I would measure the nickels in the middle of the pickup: that's where the mags live and where the mag field is strongest.
 
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#22
96tbird said:
Bill Lawrence always said two nickels below the strings fretted on last fret. Then adjust the bridge pickup for even output using your ears. It's a pretty good rule of thumb to avoid magnetic damping of your notes.

Since those soapbars don't have angle adjustment, I would measure the nickels in the middle of the pickup: that's where the mags live and where the mag field is strongest.
Click to expand...

Thank you !

So I measure the height on the middle of the pickup ?
 
#23
Yes, measure at the middle, while fretting the last fret. But I misspoke. Two nickels on the bridge pickup then adjust the NECK using your ears. Sorry for the mixup.

The fretting part is to ensure you don't slap the pup with the string while playing. Once you set the neck pup for output, it will be much lower than the bridge. From there if the neck is still too high (strings smacking it) wind it down some and try again. Keep track of screw turns and adjust both the same amount. Then fine tune with your ears.

This is all very general rule of thumb but it works. But always trust your ears.
 
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#24
96tbird said:
Yes, measure at the middle, while fretting the last fret. But I misspoke. Two nickels on the bridge pickup then adjust the NECK using your ears. Sorry for the mixup.

The fretting part is to ensure you don't slap the pup with the string while playing. Once you set the neck pup for output, it will be much lower than the bridge. From there if the neck is still too high (strings smacking it) wind it down some and try again. Keep track of screw turns and adjust both the same amount. Then fine tune with your ears.

This is all very general rule of thumb but it works. But always trust your ears.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much 96tbird ! :)

And this angle on the pickups is normal ? This angle disturb me so much !
 
#25
Well you only have two screws there so you can't adjust angle like a jazz pickup. Your options are to put a wedge of foam under the pickup or reposition your screws at an angle. You can only tilt it as far as cavity walls allow.

Its a non issue, the magnetic field doesn't know it's tilted. The field is round.
 
#27
If the angle of the pickup v. the strings really bothers you, you might be able to put some foam or something under one side of it to level it off. I've done that with Gibson guitar pickups (which are often even worse), but I haven't tried it with T-bird pickups, so I can't swear it will work. But it's essentially free, easy, and 100% reversible, so you might as well take a stab at it. On the other hand, it will make setting your actual pickup height more complicated. In response to your question, the angled pickup will not affect the tone of the bass---at least, not in any way that raising or lowering the pickup wouldn't address.
 

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