Real Noob question, but need to know

[kmanick]

What effect does raising and lowering pick ups have tonally?
I'm wondering if I raise my pickups will they sound brighter or will they sound thicker?
I'm thinking about playing around with the pick up heights  on my 7
Nailbomb-bridge/ColdSweat-neck but don't know which way to move them.

[FELINEGUITARS]

i tend to believe that closer they have a bit more treble and sensitivity

The sensitivity is based on an inverse square law - so it falls off quickly as you back off the pickup
So - 2x the distance results in a quarter of the sensitivity

It is one of the original reasons players started taking the metal covers off humbuckers - to allow them to get closer to the strings.

then it became fashion (to be like Jeff Beck)

[WezV]

I tend to set the neck pickup as close as i can without it interferring with the vibration of the strings (i.e losing sustain and causing wolf tones or strange tuner readings from the extra magnetism).  Dropped down slightly on the bass side to acount for the volume difference between strings

then when the neck pickups is set the bridge will be brought closer to the strings untill the volume is about equal when flicking between the two.  

I feel thats more important than using pickup height to control tone.

Dont forget you also have the pole pieces you can raise and lower to tweak the sound a little

[CJ]

Dont forget you also have the pole pieces you can raise and lower to tweak the sound a little

how?

[WezV]

If there is one string that seems a bit duller or quiter than the others you can raise its  pole peice

Its very similar to how changing the pickups height affects the tone, like feline said - more treble and sensitivity.... But the polepieces let you do it for each string individually.  so first off set the pickup height - then do the polepieces individually

If you take the idea to the extreme you end up with something like the q-tuner pickups that have loads of polepieces to adjust for tonal shaping purposes

http://www.q-tuner.com/adjust.shtml

Great idea but since playing about with just 6 polepieces can take a lot of trial and error the q-tuner seems a little overkill

(PS - i woudlnt normally link to another pickup maker here but i figure q-tuner and BKP are distinct enough products for it to be ok.... somebody remove the link if its a problem)

[Philly Q]

If you take the idea to the extreme you end up with something like the q-tuner pickups that have loads of polepieces to adjust for tonal shaping purposes

They are weird looking things, but I've heard they're very good.  I think it would drive me crazy trying to fiddle with all those polepieces - imagine adjusting a 7-string!

http://www.q-tuner.com/gl7.shtml

[ailean]

I found my NB set sounded best when I raised them up as close as I could without effecting the strings (magnetism) or hitting the back of the bridge pickup. They seemed to gain more definition.

[Spider]

Maybe i'm being daft, but when I had my Painkiller bridge close to the strings, it was ridiculously bassey.

And now it's quite low to get rid of the bass, but it's pretty hard to get any harmonics comin out

[gwEm]

spider, sort of +1 on that. although low output pickups are definately sensitive to pickup height as well, it seems easier to get it spectacularly wrong with high gain ones.... at least thats my experience.

[kmanick]

spider, sort of +1 on that. although low output pickups are definately sensitive to pickup height as well, it seems easier to get it spectacularly wrong with high gain ones.... at least thats my experience.

Actually I experienced the same thing with my Nailbomb and Cold Sweat combo. I had to spend some time experimenting with them and finally found what seems to be an optimal height. I lowered them a little bit at a time and found a height where they really sound good now without losing
any "Punch".
When I had them up real close to the strings they seemed "hotter" but I lost some note clarity and my low B string was sounding a bit "boomy".
Now they sound a little less "hot" but the overall tone and clarity is much better.

[fps_dean]

i tend to believe that closer they have a bit more treble and sensitivity

The sensitivity is based on an inverse square law - so it falls off quickly as you back off the pickup
So - 2x the distance results in a quarter of the sensitivity

It is one of the original reasons players started taking the metal covers off humbuckers - to allow them to get closer to the strings.

then it became fashion (to be like Jeff Beck)

Basically that.

You don't want to have your pickups too low or you aren't getting the full tone out of them.  If you put them too high then you may experience string pull which you don't want either.

Usually you fret the guitar at the highest fret and put them between 1.5 and 2 mm from the strings.  I usually go with the 2, and if you know what the spacing should be roughly you can just eye it.