pickup question

it might cause some volume imbalance between the strings depending on how far off they are. You should be able to raise or lower each half of the P pickup individually using the adjustment screws. Normally, the advice people give is to have your pickups as high as reasonably possible without interfering with the string vibration or your playing technique. simple fix

 

It isn't uncommon for one PU to be a little hotter than the other on a P bass. If so, you may have a dynamic difference between the E,A and the D,G. Sometimes, it takes one being at a different height than the other to achieve the right balance.

 

Not necessarily. You generally want them as high as possible without the strings ever hitting the pickups when you play. Also, on occassion the pickups can be too close to the strings causing the magnetic field of the pickup(s) to interfere with the vibration of the string(s) causing the note(s) to sound strange, similar to a chorus effect.

Basically the pickup height is to be adjusted to each individual player's taste by using the pickup height adjustment screws at the ends of each pickup.

 

It may already be as low as it can go. Also, sometimes when the adjusting screws aren't perfectly perpendicular to the body they can bind against the pickup making it difficult to change the height either up or down. In that case I just ream out the hole a little with the appropriate sized drill bit worked between my fingers - not a drill motor.