Adjusting Pickup Height

By Brian Calvert-Project Guitar (additions by Dragon)

Before adjusting, make sure your guitar is strung correctly and tuned to the proper pitch. In this particular post, measurements are used as a guideline and not a solid fact, so you may want to change or adjust these measurements for your own personal playing comfort.

Because of the large number of electric guitar pickups available on the market and also because of the different playing styles, this particular adjustment should be made to your particular piece of equipment and adjusted to your own personal playing style. It is important to understand that the magnetic fields generated by the pole pieces on an overdriven pick up (such as a DiMarzio X2N or a particular model of Stonehenge) are far greater in strength than a Standard pickup, therefore you may notice quite a space difference between the pickups and strings when this adjustment is over.

Before plugging your guitar in and firing up your amp, start out by making the easiest of adjustments. Fret your strings one at a time on the last fret and look to make sure the pole pieces of the pickups are about 3/16" to 1/4" of an inch away from the bottom of each string. I usually start out by slipping a quarter between the strings and pole pieces. The thickness of a quarter is usually about the right starting point. If your a power player that constantly attacks the strings with plenty of force you may want the pickup a little further away. This will help avoid those bad moments when your playing and constantly banging into the pickups with your strings or guitar pick.

You will also notice at this point that you can adjust one side of the pickup higher than the other which comes in handy since the magnetic field around the High string will effect that string differently than the field generated under the Low string.

Now that you have given yourself a base to work from, plug in and power up just like you normally would play with your Volume and Tone knobs adjusted on the guitar about half way but your amp settings where you normally would have them. It is important to do all adjustments in the position you would normally play in. Focus your attention to the sound and tone coming out of your speaker or amp cabinet.

Now, strike a note and turn the height adjustment screws (usually clockwise) raising the pickup closer to the strings and listen to the change in sound (of course you might have to strike the note several times while doing this but you get the idea, just be consistent in the manner or force in which you strike the string and the location in which you strike it). The closer the pickup pole piece's are to the strings, the different the tone will be. If you get to close with the pickup, you will notice what is commonly called a 'wolf tone' which is a muddy or a very overdriven, howling type of sound.

If that occurs unscrew the pickup screws until you find the 'sweet spot'. Once you have found it, set down your screw driver and play for a little while before switching over to the next pickup (just to be sure this is the sound and tone you want from this position) if you have more than one on your axe. Then, repeat the process. If your guitar is only equipped with one pickup, experiment with what sounds best for your playing style and particular axe. Once you are finished making these adjustments, grin and enjoy the new found tone!