Distance of the pickups to the strings

[everton_fc]

Hi - excuse my ignorance on this one - I've left my set of Irish Tours as they were supplied on the scratchplate - they kind of seem staggard in the way the neck pickup is lower down than the bridge.

What will happen if I lower the bridge? hat's the best way to have the pickups set for a strat, if any..... Also, if I lower/higher anything will I have to alter any intonation or anything like that?

Just curious to know how it will benefit tone,

Thanks

[HJM]

Hi - excuse my ignorance on this one - I've left my set of Irish Tours as they were supplied on the scratchplate - they kind of seem staggard in the way the neck pickup is lower down than the bridge.

What will happen if I lower the bridge? hat's the best way to have the pickups set for a strat, if any..... Also, if I lower/higher anything will I have to alter any intonation or anything like that?

Just curious to know how it will benefit tone,

Thanks

Lower = less power but can give more sustain as the magnets don't drag the strings down as much. It's a balance!

Usually the neck is louder, bridge is quieter due to the fact that the strings vibration is wider at the neck, narrower at the bridge. But BKP wind to compensate, so you should be able to adjust the height to similar levels. Check the FAQ on the BKP main site :)

[Tim]

Start off by adjusting the bridge pickup as close to the strings for the best balance of tone and power-don't set too close or the magnetic poles will snare the strings and cause nasty overtones.Then set middle and finally the neck by ear for a good balance across the 3 coils.
HJM was correct: lower height settings=cleaner tone but less power.

[TwilightOdyssey]

I prefer to have my pups quite low ... less string pull, as mentioned above, but I feel you get more of the guitar's natural tone. There's usually plenty of volume and gain on tap from your amp.

It's really a matter of personal choice, so long as the pups are low enough not to interfere with your picking technique or fretting.

[sjwebb90]

As a general rule of thumb with regards PRS and a Charvel guitars , these are good starting heights for Humbucker and Single Coil BKP's.

PRS SingleCut Trem (Crawler Calibrated Humbuckers )
Bridge and Neck 3/32 on both Low E and Top E

Charvel 475 Special HSS (VHII and Irish Single Coils)
Humbucker Bridge 3/32 on both Low E and Top E
Single Coils Middle and Neck 5/32 both Low E and Top E.

Obviously then you need to use your ears to tweak to the sweet spot, but you shoudn't be far away.