Adjusting pickup height on a Strat

[everton_fc]

Hi - spoke to Tim about this on the phone in minor detail, but was wondering if anyone could provide the best methodical info about setting the pickup height on a strat (so I can print it off and go for it!!) - kinda new to that side of things, and just need to save a few quid by not taking it to a guitar shop,

Many thanks....  8)

[HJM]

I start with the neck and middle backed off the strings, bring the bridge up to the point that the strings can still vibrate when playing the last fret on all strings. At this point it sounds pants because of the drag the pickups are putting on the strings (magnets trying to stop the strings!) You may have no sustain and you may hear strange overtones (wolftones). Now start screwing the bridge pickup back into the body until the sustain comes back and wolftones go away. Next balance the string volume low E to high E, you'll find you need the top strings closer to the pickup as they have less mass to move in the pickups magnetic field.

Now for the other two, I just plug in and balance the levels between the three, using you correctly adjusted bridge as the reference point.

Hope that helps a bit!

Hayden