How to set the height of your guitar pickups for optimal tone

[@DMDvideo10]

Honestly this is simpler than most make it out to be. You adjust and you listen. When you like what you hear, you're good...

[@aaronalcala4706]

right, there really no need for correct adjustments, just do what sounds good😂

[@paulchristian5375]

Ayyy I set mine high cause I like the springy twang sound

[@Xxmeca421xX]

I'm always adjusting mine. I can't find perfect

[@eagleeggs3862]

This is how I do it

[@heyjarrod]

Yes, but for a lot of guitar players, we enjoy learning the science behind the art. Just makes one that much better/more knowledgeable, creative, and saved a lot of time and money learning from others mistakes. Like someone wrote below, or above here now, we are always tinkering, a lifelong activity. Just getting that screenshot of some of SRV‘s adjustments, and what I gathered from this guy, I had a blast tinkering on my new Strat last night. And I’m looking forward to this winter break to really dialing in a couple of these newer fenders. 🤘🏻🇺🇸🎸

[@mrblablablabla]

Funny, when you said it sounded muddy, I expected you to lower the bass side, but making it higher actually made it sound clearer. Good tips! Cheers

[@RByrne]

That was the opposite of what I've been doing, too. I just swapped out my pickguard and didn't really consider pickup heights. Then I plugged it in, and it sounded terrible. Got it set nice now, though!

[@dscott501]

No need for a ruler if you have a set of drill bits. Pick the size you want and stick it to the magnet. Adjust it til it touches the string. I discovered this kinda by accident. It works!

[@jwguitar]

I think it was very good that he pointed out that pickup height preferences are a personal thing. People get way to wrapped up In measurements when in reality you need to let your ear tell you when the pickup is the “correct” height.

[@craigpimlott204]

Same with string heights ..I like a higher string height than fender spec on strats .I find fenders height way too low for me.

[@prestige35able]

Ive never use any tools, except a tuner. I do everything by sound and feel.

[@jo.burgos]

My humbuckers sit lowest than the single coils on my SSH Strat, since the HB's are naturally louder. So sinking them more balances the volume so it doesnt surprise u when you switch pickups live. And my singles sits low than this demo to begin with. Its all in your preferences.

[@wonderkind08]

That explains my horrible tone during my garage bad days. I had the pickups as high as I could get them on my flying V, because it made more volume, but I could never figure out why my sustain was nonexistent, so I compensated that with a compression pedal, dialed up to max. That of course caused all kinds of weird issues with noise and unwanted overtones, so I had to have a noise gate, which of course was dialed up as high a threshold as I could get and still have something come out the speakers. Then of course I had to have all the modulation effects that everyone else was using like delay, flanger, and phaser before at the front of my signal, so you can imagine the mess that came out in the end with the gain turned up full. It's a wonder anyone could tell the difference between different songs. It's also why I kept my day job. At least my tone is good these days, lol.

[@troll1441]

Actually, due to the way a Fender style single coil pickup is constructed, if the pole pieces, which are the magnets in this style of pickup, are too close to the strings the magnetic field can adversely affect intonation. So going by ear you might think, "hey this sounds great" and then get frustrated when you notice later on a string sounds off on part of the fretboard and you can't seem to get the saddle in a spot where the intonation is right. Lower those suckers, and like magic, you can now intonate your string again.

[@jaycollins9244]

You are spot on here.

[@mortensen1961]

This was an expensive video for me. I liked the sound of his Fernandes so much, I went out and bought one . . .

[@auralfury]

they are decent guitars for sure

[@mikejamieson4252]

They’re great with a pickup upgrade!!!!! JV guitars 👍👍 🎸

[@rogermoore1233]

I had a white one back in the day, awesome guitar !

[@normc8169]

I own a '90 Fernandes Strat and upgraded pups with Custom 69. Great guitars

[@cardbored_]

Really? It sounded ok at best.

[@DavidSmith-ne1zp]

How many of us in our youth bought replacement pickups, thinking the ones in the guitar sounded like crap? Never occurred to me then that maybe they just needed to be adjusted to find the sweet spot. I even returned boutique pickups I didn’t like, saying the “sound was no better!” Now I’m obsessive about dialing in the perfect tone. I also use my volume and tone controls like never before to fine tune things further with different amp settings. It’s very subjective from the comments I’ve read here. Thanks StewMac.

[@carlc2597]

Well said David, I agree completely!

[@Rickkelley365]

David Smith you are so right. Confession: I played for 20 years before I knew how important pickup adjustment was to my tone. I picked up a $50 Squier bullet recently on a used guitar site. It was the first adjustment I made. Even this little cheap thing sounds pretty good simply because I dialed in the pickups. Crazy

[@mulekickhandmadeguitars8465]

Thanks to your video on setting pickup height, this really has come in handy in getting the best sound from the electric cigar box guitars I build. It's a seeming small detail that can easily get overlooked by those of us who build CBG's, but pays off in huge dividends. Thanks again!

[@major-Mihailo-Madzarevic]

*Come on man... These pickups have been set insanely high ...*

[@fajaradi1223]

I wanna reach higher

[@George.Andrews.]

There is only one hight for pickups, and that's where you're having the most fun.

[@Johnnynbk]

like canoes on a lake.

[@Twinhit]

Are you suggesting that the host needs to see a head doctor? Are you mad?

[@major-Mihailo-Madzarevic]

@@Twinhit Perhaps I am mad, but how on earth, you came to that conclusion ?

[@Allenbass7]

Thank you! This helped me so much! I thought they were fine, and was trying to use eq to shape my sound - but I did a fresh tune up on both my Jaguar and Les Paul and then ran them DI thru an interface, to a pair of studio headphones, and followed this procedure. Ended up putting the very hot pickups in both WAY lower than I ever would have otherwise and wow do they sound good and clean! My Les Paul I never turned up past half volume, and never used both pickups at the same time and now it just sounds good all over (to me).

[@zakkwyldesdmf13]

My advice is to measure your starting point. Then you won't be afraid to try out different heights. When calibrating two/three pickups to each other I listen to their characteristics. Neither of the pickups should be dominant when being switched together.

[@grangerousdesigns4678]

I like my single coils low end 5/32 and the high end 3/32. It makes a strat much more articulate.I can always kick on my overdrive if I need more sound.

[@2204JCM]

Yeah, 3/64 is too close. Fuzz city

[@xperia9x727]

Thanks. This tutorial woke me up on how I never gave a second thought to the height of my pups. Now I'm gonna take the chance to have a look and tweak around 👏 👏

[@Rickkelley365]

xperia9x My dad has been a touring musician for 30+ years. I started playing around 1993. I started purposefully adjusting pickup height in 2019. And only then because I had a neck pup fall into the cavity and I had to pull everything apart and reset it. And I was like, “I don’t know where this thing is supposed to sit.” Here I sat, with 25 years of playing, my father gigging all my life, plus the interwebs, and I never once gave a thought to where my pickups sat in relation to the strings. Better late than never I guess 🤷🏻‍♂️😂😂

[@ramencurry6672]

It’s possible that the factory specs are fine. I have adjusted my pickups on some of my guitars but I’ve also left some to the factory specs

[@orthicon9]

Using a clean setting on the amp might have helped us hear the difference.

[@srdjangavran979]

Right...!!!

[@EdwoodCA]

Agreed re: doing it on a clean setting. But, I heard him say at 3:25 you should *"...have your amp setup the way you would normally have it"* . Perhaps, he should not have done this tutorial to his personal tastes/needs for his personal guitar, and more for teaching, by using a clean amp, clean setup. [Then, do his personal setup off camera, afterward.]

[@trevorpeters4358]

Id want it muddy..

[@BleedBlackSDMF98]

@@socialmeaslesinpartnership1252 you’re a hater bro😂

[@MikaelLewisify]

What a bunch of arseholes. Dudes giving you very useful info for free and you’re all bitching about it. Wah, wah, wah.

[@AffiBlues]

Thanks for sharing a fine tutorial. However it would be interesting to have a clean tone section too.

[@SeanKerns]

Great vid. There are as many different preferences for height and how to set it as there are Strat players. I favor the bridge pickup as well, but my methodology has always been to put everything at about 1/8" to start (eyeballed). Then I dial the bridge pickup till I like it, though as a recording engineer, I usually lower what I don't like rather than raise to get more of what I do like. Once I've got the bridge pickup where I like it, I get the tonal balance of the neck pickup as I like it, then compare the volume of the neck and bridge, and then usually lower the neck pickup equally on both sides to even out volume with the bridge pickup. Lastly, I adjust the middle pickup. I never use it by itself, so I usually just adjust it so positions 2 and 4 on the 5-way sound as quacky as I like. Keeping this pickup lower, and lowering rather than raising generally, helps keep me from getting things too close and causing weird magnetic overtones.

[@Ibanezadept]

At first I was very puzzled because I was looking up on youtube how to achieve the 'right' height for the pickups not expecting to find all different kind of heights amongst other musicians. Finally I decided to stick to your measurements due to the fact you'r referring to Fender specs. That did it for me. Thx for sharing !

[@nickash5]

Whatever works. Depends on string gauge and desired effect. The lace sensors allow a setup closer to the strings at the neck.

[@jkallday1]

I used to have a tuning device called a Strobopick by Planet Wave that projected strobed led light on the string and if you had the pickups too close you can visually see the stratiitis on the on the strings. The frequency would wobble back and forth (this was with alnico 2). I found that putting pickups lower than what you're showing gives a purer tone, if that's what you're looking for.

[@joeltunnah]

How would he even know, he's got so much distortion on the guitar?

[@ppreuscho]

I keep my strat pickups very low for more sustain and even tone and using booster to bring it up, works well ;)

[@91sandman19]

I did, but i think you loss a little of body.

[@Manu-xk1ub]

@@91sandman19 put them a little higher

[@TheBoomtown4]

@@Manu-xk1ub haha

[@drock55551]

Same. They're more dynamic when they're lower. Mine are almost flush with my pickguard. And I play with fairly high action, about 1/8" at the 12th fret.

[@unabonger777]

"They all have different pickup heights because they have different styles... and you're no different!" I thought about this for a while.

[@gorcrow]

I came for the tech tutorial, stayed for the philosophizing

[@cardbored_]

So if you’re a country boy, your pickup’s height is always much taller than a non country boy. Usually have bigger tires too.

[@hellypalli]

So what you thinking about nowwwwww?

[@unabonger777]

@@cardbored_ closer to god

[@manmansgotmans]

I just play a telecaster jammed on the bridge pickup. It came well set up out of the box, I'm pretty sure I've tweaked everything else but the height of that pickup. Just make sure it all sounds good to you!

[@moskitoh2651]

If you put the PU to close: Stratitis, to far away: get thin, in between: there is enough space to adjust volume. Farther away typically means more dynamics and sustain. With a little lower thus softer and thinner mid PU, positions 2 and 4 get better, in my opinion. I start with the mid PU but coming from low, until it is not to thin. Next is the neck, which needs to be hearable louder. Than I test the mid/neck to get the balance right. Last is the bridge, same level as neck. Always try soloing across all strings and strumming with patterns typical for this position.

[@Adveniotu]

This is great.

[@MrSlimfinger]

What’s “stratisis” supposed to mean?

[@moskitoh2651]

@@MrSlimfinger Stratitis is a wrong sound, which you most commonly get from strats. It happens when the magnet field influences how the strings are moving. This causes dissonant overtones. There is many example videos about this.

[@MrSlimfinger]

@@moskitoh2651 very interesting, thanks for the explanation. I’ll have to look that up!

[@moskitoh2651]

@@MrSlimfinger Welcome! PU height is a very important topic for a good sound. Hope you get that fixed nicely.

[@Tonetwisters]

Gracious. Everybody has their preferences, and what's right for you, is right! As a Stratocaster player of 57 years, I dunk the neck PUP nearly down to the pickguard; set the middle a bit higher, and the bridge higher still, keeping it away from the playing hand. The biggest problem, is that consarned raised third polepiece, hovering underneath an unwound 3rd string. Cannot for the life of me figure out why Fender keeps making a wound polepiece in an unwound world ...

[@kingbrutusxxvi]

It's funny how Fender specs them so high. I watched a post by Dan Patlansky a few years back and he lowers his Strat pickups as low as they'll go (his were almost level with the pickguard). I did it with my Texas Specials and, while they're no longer as hot, the sustain and tone both increased.

[@paulzaras3819]

Great tutorial. Thanks for stressing the personal dynamics rather than making it a cookie cutter lesson based on Fender specs.

[@y.42]

This is such a great tutorial! Good audio, good video, good explanation!

[@bobareeniobobareenio2935]

Thanks very much. I have a very old Vox spitfire. It’s been sitting in the gig bag for at least 30 years. I recently decided to get back into it and noticed that the bridge pickup (on the treble side) is all the way down ! Even below the body of the guitar! Now, I have a good idea how to adjust it . THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!

[@Toimi]

When i played strat i had them waaay lower than that. With the treble side slightly raised. We all play so differently lmao.

[@quigley4440]

I use my Allen keys - one is marked 3/32 and is perfect for setting the gap - slide it between the pickup and string - viola.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Use wood. Not steel--it's magnetic.

[@Steinstra-vj7wl]

Damned stewmac; measure also in metric !!

[@taquito2606]

Just convert it or learn a bit of imperial, it's honestly great for certain situations. Coming from a no-bullshit Canadian

[@taquito2606]

Orpheas Malliamanis In all honesty, it's probably because their tools are measured in imperial. I see it all the time with woodworking

[@ethanbarclay6292]

imperial and metric have their own benefits

[@denniscraven8438]

Amen. Just give me a number. I switched over 3 yrs ago. Never looked back!

[@gereonH]

@@redbeardedberserker I guess the "argh" and facepalm sound of 193 Countries using the metric system is louder than the laughing of the imperial countries of Burma, Liberia and... what was it... oh, wait... the US of A...

[@pcollenyt3683]

He has a single ply pickguard, which is thinner than a 3 ply and makes the pickups look adjusted higher. But it is the distance between the bottom of the E and e strings and the top of their pickup pole pieces that count.

[@smackyfrog6046]

I'm glad I'm not the only one looking at this and feeling like those pickups are higher than I would ever go for.

[@martynsparkes7118]

Yeah thats right...best advice ive ever gotten is the Dan Platansky method,as found on youtube,lower them right down and you will find the giutar actually plays better,now aint that funny,then you just tweak your amp/pedals to make up for any volume loss...which will be minimal because the strings can now ring more because the pickup magnets are not interfering with them.

[@DisturbedVette]

Since I’m very confused I just set it to be as high output as possible without playing issues, then balanced it between the pickup that was outputting the least so I didn’t have one pickup louder than the other. The higher the output the less gain I need to use and therefore, less hum/noise. I did not balance the output of the low strings with the high strings, low strings are louder than high ones, I figured this was fine because I’ll need less gain to chug, and the high strings still come through with chords and leads. I’m a more dynamic player anyway, so it fits. Also I like the sound of somewhat muddy chords. I don’t how anyone else does this, I wish there were more guidelines lol.

[@kgfenderbender]

6:10 EHHHH

[@yboy898]

Damn you beat me to it 😂 Funny af *Eihh*

[@raysaade]

@@yboy898 Hahahahahaha dead

[@ArmchairRamb0]

Thanks, this will help immensely with a project I'm doing, replacing pickups for the first time.

[@Michael-hp2pe]

0:49 Hair went from passionate Erick to cool Erick

[@comerpalon4419]

The best tuto to set up guitar pickups ! THANKS

[@forsaken-exile9083]

With vintage stagger pole pieces, I find flipping the PU around keeps the "A" string from being over bearing on chords, and aids in the clarity of the high strings. Note that I have my PUs set lower into the pickguard. Strings sustain better this way too!

[@58BURST]

You can actually tap the poles down deeper or up higher individually. I've known players who would make staggered poles flat all across.

[@Big_Theft_Auto]

@@58BURST do you know why do they flatten the poles?

[@58BURST]

@@Big_Theft_Auto it's really all personal preference, to what the ear likes. 🎸

[@Big_Theft_Auto]

@@58BURST ok thanks🤠

[@normc8169]

Tks for those specs. I also own a Fernandes like yours and God I love it more than almost every Strats I've tried.

[@marktwain368]

Thanks for sharing; I hope this is as simple as you make it look. Power to the players!

[@boggsty]

After adjusting the pickups to the high E string, check the pickup height at the low E again. It will have risen, too, because the pivot is further away at the adjustment screw!

[@clgmafnas]

I find that lowering my pickups gives me more dynamics between amp and guitar. Sounds more expressive...

[@john564holloway]

Good tip! I understand that farther away from the pups you may have less volume but more sustain since the magnets are farther from the strings.

[@aserta]

Same except mid, i keep it half way. Prolly related to where i swing my pick tho.

[@antilitarded4142]

same here......I can get far more quality and distinct overtones with the pickups far lower than factory specs

[@john564holloway]

I've taken close looks at guitarist's pups whether humbuckers or SC & probably 90% have them really low, barely above the pickguard or frames of the humbuckers. Their sound still is awsum.

[@kommi1974]

Couldn't disagree more. The further away the pups are, the more muddy and undefined they become, taking away ALL of the characteristics which make those particular pups special.

[@jimcamp2423]

Revisiting this video, I have a method to get to Fender specs for Standard Single coil (5/64 Bass, 4/64 Treble) & Humbuckers (4/64 for both bass & Treble) for Fender guitars. Since 5/64 & 4/64 inch are their manual specs for Bass & Treble sides, a popsicle stick is 1/16 inch thickness (measure to make sure any popsicle sticks are that thickness that you may use), that's the same as 2/32 & 4/64 inch measures. These are the dimensions of the popsicle stick(s) that I use, true measurements with a standard tape measure, 4-1/2" Long x 1/16" Thick. Laying the guitar flat on it's back, one can use 2 of the 3 pickup poles at a time, starting with the neck & middle pickups, lay the popsicle stick flat on the 2 poles, then raise or lower while fretting the last fret so that there is no gap on each side. The repeat that process for the neck & bridge pickups for Bass & Treble. With the guitar pickup heights at Fender specs, it is now ready to tweak in the playing position for more or less pickup height gap as fretted on the last fret.

[@jovesheerwater]

Erudite!

[@GerardHammond]

Excellent! I really appreciate these videos. Thank you!

[@stewmac]

Thanks for watching!

[@DonaldLea-v8k]

Jimi was very particular about his guitar setups, though he did experiment a lot, thank goodness!

[@HelpingHandAlias]

Oh man. It depends all on your ears. Just play with the pickup height and give it a listen.

[@anatoly_trifonov]

Yes, it's a matter of taste. I prefer the pickups on the Strat at a distance of at least 5 mm from the strings.

[@Beatdown-Enjoyer-Slam-Lover-02]

Thanks for the vid , it really helped me , before my guitar tone was doing some sort of "glitches" by not going in a straight line ... anyways .. after tho it really sounds great by strumming soft or hard . In both ways it sounds good and the "glitches" are no more :) Apreciate the help !

[@je1279]

Great tips. I have an early 2000's Fernandes AFR-55 in my collection. Very underrated Japaneese guitars in my opinion.

[@jpl9148]

It would be great if you guys put the measurements in millimeters on the screen

[@MrVirgilVox]

Yeah for the rest (95%) of worlds population.

[@raymondortizrivera4368]

Use your calculator on your phone or computer it should have the difference in measurements

[@MrVirgilVox]

Raymond ORTIZ RIVERA oh rly?!

[@Throckmorton_the_great]

@@MrVirgilVox Why the sarcasm? Hes not wrong?

[@stevee7774]

It would be even better if you metric loving pansies would quit crying about it and just Google the damn conversion already but I guess that would take the satisfaction of bitching about something so trivial away from you so carry on with your crying. 😢

[@usernamemykel]

I queried Fender for their recommended heights for my Indonesian-made Squire Bullet, and provided it's serial number. They suggested 7/64-8/64" for the bass strings and 5/64-6/64" for the treble.

[@jonahguitarguy]

I like my bridge slightly louder then the other pups (it's my secret weapon) but a lower setting overall for a fatter sound.

[@hughcdavies]

Yep, that works for me as well.

[@GuyNarnarian]

I thought that he adjusted it higher to make the bridge louder. All of his pickups look way too high for my strat, which I assume my tech setup to be close to regular Fender specs. I watched someone recently who likes to lower them almost flush to the body. Said its less loud, (obviously you can just turn up the amp) and gets rid of unwanted harmonics, giving it an airy feel and tone. Whatever that means.

[@jonahguitarguy]

@@GuyNarnarian, yep higher = louder. Lower adds warmth. To low makes mud. All generalizations. If you are having trouble with intonation it’s good to lower the pups and try again.

[@GuyNarnarian]

@@jonahguitarguy Not a problem with intonation. My bridge pup is super bright, I might try to lower that but if the drop in volume is too much it may not work. I dunno I saw some guy who basically had his pups flush with the strat and it sounded phenomenal but he was playing a vintage strat, he is a professional, and he tunes down to Eb. I would need a new setup to do all that, and fatter strings, 10s or 11s minimum. People who talk about these old guitar heros and their 13s don't realize some of them would tune to D, forget about Eb. You can bend a set of 13s to holy hell if you are tuned down to D.

[@JohnBrown-z2u]

@@GuyNarnarian Most of those old players used 9s and 10s. Some used 8s. We can thanks Stevie Ray Vaughn for people wanting to put rebar on their guitars.

[@LJSterks]

I’ve spent the past week messing with extremes at both ends of the height spectrum and have found I like the stats lower. Pretty much flush with the tops of the set screws at the neck, very slightly above that at middle and slightly higher yet at bridge a little tilt for even volume string to string. Warm but dynamic and harmonic. My teles like the single nickel at the high e. Two nickels on the low E,spacing,neck and bridge. I Usually back them off another 1/4-1/2 turn after that.

[@rockstarjazzcat]

I’ve come to realize that one needs to test strat pickup height with high gain settings, on the low strings, in the upper register of the guitar to really dial in playable settings. The recommended settings played lower gain belie the warble one would hear otherwise. Hope this helps someone save some time.

[@rockngpa5094]

Thank you a lot , have pickups in the mail coming my way soon and it’s my 1st time replacing pickups on my Strat , I’ve got my fingers cross 🤞🤞it’ll be fine...

[@DaveWestGuitar]

I just raise them till they make wolftones, then drop them down to the point where the wolftones disappear.

[@cardbored_]

I just raise them until they make wolftones and then leave them because Wolves deserve tones too.

[@mindcontrol67]

I'll raise mine if I want to play werewolves of london.

[@danielflintknapping]

Learned some good stuff from this video!

[@mdionisio1954]

Mi experiencia me ha llevado a hacer el ajuste de la altura de los pickup no con medida sino a lo que mi oído me dice. Debe existir una altura tal de la pickup en las strings 6, 5 y 4 hasta que el sonido esté claro (no stratitis) y las strings 1, 2 y 3 si puede estar más alta la pickup hasta que el sonido esté claro y brillante

[@metalhead1390]

I love that copper pick guard

[@sclogse1]

Doing this with distortion on seems strange to me..

[@KD-mi9gp]

I was changing, and measuring heights, and chasing sound forever, Now I have my pickups all the way down that the pickup covers are flush flat with the pick guard now, and it’s giving off serious tone and harmonics that it never did before. - 2008 American Olympic Strat w/factory pickups.

[@flukyreview9128]

If you raise the pickups too close to the strings wouldn’t the magnetic pull mess up the intonation?

[@absoluteai41]

That doesn't sound right. Intonation is adjusted via the screws at the end of the bridge.

[@flukyreview9128]

@@absoluteai41 you sound like a stupid snowflake millennial.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@absoluteai41 Magnets pull on the strings causing them to go sharp as you fret notes.

[@absoluteai41]

@@RideAcrossTheRiver Interesting. I'm no luthier but I will keep this in mind when setting up to do pickup height before bridge saddle adjustment.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@absoluteai41 Guitar strings are steel and nickel and flexible, so pickups that are too close will yank the strings closer. Modern pickups should have 1/8" between bottom of string and polepiece on bass side; 3/32" on treble. You can get away with a little higher at the bridge.

[@russellives6069]

Factory specs are a good starting point and adjust from there for your own style and preference. Personally, I don't want even sound between positions. I lower the bridge for a softer rhythm sound, rasie the middle for lead or a perceived boost in postitions 2 and 4, and set the neck (where I spend most of my time) somewhere inbetween. Unconventional, but it works for me. Like he said, dial in your own guitar for your own sound...

[@cjscala87]

The great thing about adjusting your pickups is that you literally turn a screw and can change your sound. It’s the easiest part of guitar setup because you can do all the adjusting by ear. Trust you ears! Btw is anyone else confused by this guy raising the pickups to reduce muddiness? I thought lowering it reduces low end ?

[@strat1660]

yes i was looking for this comment and I agree..raising makes it more muddy

[@jimcamp2423]

I like the pick ups set higher and closer to the strings. The signal seems more powerful & stronger going into the amp. Seems to sound like I'm getting more dynamically from the Bass, Middle & Treble EQ on the amp. The Echo/Reverb length & depth is what it is for the amp. The amp I have is an open back amp and it doesn't seem to have the bass that a closed cabinet puts out. With the warmer tone from a higher pickup, that bass is more present. I also have a closed back amp and that really has a deeper thump at max settings. But that's what the EQ knobs on the amp & tone knobs on the guitar are for. The volume also has more effect with EQ & tone settings with a stronger signal. Too far away for the pickups, the bridge only pickup setting sounds too nasally treble on that open back amp. Now it sounds more powerful and stronger with the bridge only pickup setting. The rest of the pickup combinations are not too strong or too weak as well. It definitely is a preference. My Bullet SSS HT is never going to have the tone of my Epiphone LP, but with warmer tone than the Bullet strat had, it's as close as it's ever been now. I don't want it to sound the same, but it was too weak before.

[@miamiuke]

First luthier I see that can actually play! Not only your G and D but go up and down the neck. Great

[@bassfishingwiththeantichri2921]

miamiblues - For Leo not to have played, I thought he had to have been very lucky to come up with his comfortable designs. But perhaps by having to rely on the feedback (pun) of the players, this lead him to it by accommodating to wide variety of players instead of just his own personal preference. Not that it has anything to do with this comment, it's just interesting.

[@KennethCrickmore-sl8jl]

when I rebuilt my "Starcaster" 'Strat' electric guitar By: Fender (said it on the head stock from factory) on oredr to do an extreme upgrade/mod to the guitar and finally finished it to my design and expectations I mean really extreme mods and wiring scheme.. I started the setup with adjusting the action as low ans I was comfortable with the the intonation and finally pick up height for the best sounds I could reasonably get.with a custom hand made extended Brushed stainless steel Pick Guard loaded with 3 quad rail/coil Humbuckers and wired it Like a '50's Les Paul with coil splits through the 3 500P audio taper P/P vomume pots and the 2 regular style and the bridge P/P pot also these are 500k audio taper pots all adorned with Tele style Chrome knobs and a chrome switch tip on the Fender 5-way blade stule selector switch.. the P/P volule pots for coil splitting and the P/P in the bridge tome pot for activation of the bridge annd neck P/U regardless of any other control positions.... I used ,047 orange drop caps fot tone. I get real Strat tones out of all this custom wiring that took quite a while to get all situated and soldering all the connections to make it all play well together in there and it sounds a lot better than I expected it to .. I grounded all through the cases to the Stainless steel pick guard as it just worked out that way so ground wiring is minimal as I can get away with,, using that small gage from a salvaged computer VGA cable... I know that the 'traditional size wires are really way to big for the minimal voltage/power that pick-ups make anyway so why use wire bigger than you really need .. that part baffles me. but they used what was available to them at that time. .such as the wire with that cloth insulation in comon use in housing construction back then.. the TV and stereo derived electronics such as the pots and caps regardless of construction that they didn't care about as long as it suited their purposes. sources make the number of these very basic Tele's to be between 3 to 5 examples I don't know the real number... but they were cheap pine altogether and really did play well. as was proven by a visit to the museum where ther live now and played by a You Tube guitar content creator.. lol and they did sound good for what they were made of and how really they were reallly just really old guitas that were never made for sale anyway... like all of the parts they used than the wood was readily available at reasonable low prices.. likie I said 'They used what they could get at a low price as they could... some fo the 'Prototype Fender Telecasters were made of Pine bodies and necks without a truss rod in the neck.. remember that these were prototypes and not really for sale and ai it is with Prototypes they are just proof of concept to begin with and who cares how or even if they work well but for the fact that this is the main idea of what they could become.. so make it cheap and try to make it work somewhat to get the idea and go from ther to make it at as good enough to sell for a decent profit... and they got it all as cheaply as the could to increase the profit margins as well as they could.. the same with all the traditional guitar makers from the '50's and beyond make it as cost effectively as you can to make good proffit too... when the makers should know this as far as the actual power out of the Pick up is in Millivolts so the very small stranded wire i got from that VGA cable was really all i needed in the first place.. handling said small wire was a little tricky to say the least but when I learned how to handle it things went better. and with a small metal pick and a small flat blade screwdriver to guide the wire into place where it was to be soldered I saved a lot of space in the control cavity but looks a real mess and got a fully functional circuit that makes all the right ois4es... lol ... just imagine the variety of tomes you might get from this extensive wiring design/circuit.. in such a guitar.. did I forget the paint scheme that reflects the new name derived from the original mane.. remember that it started out as a "Starcaster" yada yada... now it has been transformed into the "Stellarcaster " to reflect the new name and make it OH So Cool looking , I Painted in a space theme stars and planets over a black and dark blue background for the spacy paint scheme using spray cans some silver micro glitter accented with a light dusting of the dark blue spray paint and custom airbrushed detailing with a semi gloss finish to get a very cool looking beautiful guitar that sounds just as great as it looks.. and even better than expected... Wanna Play???

[@MGC-1977]

Those pickups sound fantastic! 👍🏻

[@hockley91]

Thank you very much for taking the time to record this video. Very informative and helpful.

[@annamosity6280]

Thank you for The Cramps sticker ~ I always do it by ear (who cares what F recommends?)

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Exactly they still make pickups with staggered pole pieces so what do they know.. :P

[@andrewince8824]

I run mine high on the bridge (Hotrail pickup) low in the middle and medium-high at the neck. With the way I've wired the pickups it allows the middle to blend and supplement the bridge but for the neck and bridge to give my tone the full Monty. It's wired to allow neck and bridge to be used together (aiming for a kinda Tele tone).

[@qwerty6789x]

People complaint on others "personal preference" it shows how lack of playing style they have. and how average they are

[@whatstrangetimeswerein3087]

Agreed, im only just getting into electric guitars now, coming from mostly acoustic so i think all the tones sound putrid haha, nah tbh though, just the doscovery in itself is amazing adventure + through everyone showing their preferences im one video closer to working out exactly how i want mine, so its pretty awesome. Also the drive for tone is so deeply personal, that i understand why some comments are misconstrued as negative. I write it off as passion most of the time.

[@AutisticMan78]

Also people getting the hump over a KZbin text could be seen in the same way right ?, or do you always talk like a tool

[@DS-yg4qs]

No, it shows that you have never played strat. G string with that pole piece is producing ugly overrtones even on clean. Nice style.

[@scully5860]

In his setup video, Joe Walsh mentions adjusting the height of the bottom of the pickup (first string end) and top of the pickup (6th string end) independently, if necessary, to make sure the volume is consistent between the first and 6th strings.

[@john564holloway]

Erick, you didn't mention whether testing this with clean tone or dirt. I noticed your axe has some distortion. At 3:25, you stated to have your amp set up as you would normally. Just wondering if it mattered. It seems I can tell what my strings are doing better with a clean tone...Great video! Love these tone tips!

[@geetarwanabe]

Obviously not, this is subjective. If you typically play clean the adjust to how you like your clean sound. You could obviously check to see if the distortion is effected but just adjust for your taste.

[@chadt5584]

Clean is best, but if he plays with this sound most of the time, it should be fine. The problem with setting the height with much gain is that the natural compression of distortion can make the volumes seem more even than they really are. Then they may be out of balance when switched to a cleaner sound.

[@john564holloway]

@@chadt5584 Nice point, Chad T! Agreed!

[@DrPepperZZZ]

In the end it seems like you just put them up as high as possible without having the magnets pull on the string too much... maybe. It would be interesting to see how running a set up like yours and lowering the pickups and running the amp hotter to make up any volume loss (might help that perceived low end flub too?) will affect sustain and warbles in your tuning stability.

[@Slovy_]

I usually keep my pickups pretty flush with the pick guard. Neck pickup raise the treble side a little and flat in the middle and the opposite on the bridge as the neck. It seems to make give it a little more clearer sound and make them sound a little more like a vintage low output pickup

[@ASSman864]

Slovy * i have my middle pickup almost flush with pickguard, the treble side is higher than the bass side. bridge a bit higher, but bass side higher than treble side, neck the highest of all but still lower than all of the pickups on this video, with a less dramatic slant than the others, having only a tad extra height on the bass side. not as dramatic as the bridge or middle slant. i chose to slant the middle pickup the otherway because its the lowest and i usually turn the tone knob for it around 4-6, being lower helps give it that classic quacky strat sound on the inbeteeen positions

[@che2335]

My pick hand improved so much when i got rid of my strat and its volume knob early on as a beginner

[@johnroberts838]

Excellent Video, Beautiful Fernandez! Huge difference between P/up heights. We need a Stew Mac in Australia, please! 👍👍👍. Melbourne, Australia.

[@aledantas2k10]

Nah Sydney cuz. You have way too many good shops there! :)

[@brianmason9803]

I am really curious as to why you set up the pickups with distortion on. It destroys the tone balance so you can't really hear what is going on. Surely it would make sense to set them up natural and then final check with the pedals on. I can only think that you guys never get off the distortion.

[@jonnyinch8158]

"3/32nds to 5/64ths" HOW CONFUSING IS THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM!

[@antonstefanov2146]

You're damn right Jonny INCH!

[@Sargon_of_Cincinnati]

Not hard... 3/32nds = 6/64ths. He raised the pickup 1/64th to 5/64th.

[@mowillings6752]

@@Sargon_of_Cincinnati But metric is better anyway. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@drbooks]

As an American, Imperial is what I’ve grown up with. But it’s so antiquated! We’d all be better off metric!

[@taotuhao5969]

As an American, I could not agree with you more, the Imperial system is seriously outdated and it needs to be abolished. Frankly metric, not only makes better sense, it's much easier to understand which is why practically every tool and mechanical item that I own uses metric. It's so much easier to visualise 8mm versus 5/16 or 22 mm instead of 7/8

[@shawnbryant60]

Excellent info, alot of players/beginners don't know this! Thanks, an we'll be see'n ya again! Tahuya Shawn.

[@mr.bonesbbq3288]

Many thanks, very clear tutorial, an I found it very helpful! I jus been doin mine by ear fer like 45 years, but mebbe gittin out my machinist's ruler will facilitate reproducibility, an save me some time, when I tear down one of my axes...

[@Ndlanding]

And maybe it won't. Stick to what you know (if you like it)!

[@cranstjs]

Being mostly a HB player and buying a strat years ago, first time I saw what it should be factory. And I do understand you are trying to get it how you "like" it to sound with OD on. However, for me, I want to hear the loudness balance clean an then with some OD since I play it both ways.

[@ezbowers]

This guy could tell me anything and id believe him

[@waitin4winter]

I tried to find examples of what a wolf tone sounded like on KZbin and found nothing. Then here I stumble across your example at 2:56

[@3rdPlaya0709]

What ever he just slapped out at 5:18 was plain nasty!!! Wicked lick

[@countblue]

I set my pickup heights after the tone and the balance of the three pickups. I dont like the tone of pickups set to high. Having them recessed more gives me a more clear tone and you can balance that little loss of volume on the amp easily.

[@halbertking2683]

"My ham fisted style of playing." I love it.

[@stevee7774]

Yeah, that one cracked me up. It sounded like some kind of self-deprecating humor but his “ham fisted style of playing” sure sounds better than whatever I’ve got going on!

[@Knosferatu]

edgy

[@theroyalaustralian]

I appreciate this heads up, I'll put this to good use when adjusting my DiMazio pick ups when I get them

[@barrywuthrich8530]

With the pups that high, your clean sound is fuzzy. Each to his own. Sounded like you were playing through a distortion pedal.

[@stevee7774]

Definitely some added crunch there.

[@RobertSaxy]

He did mention to have your amp setup the way you like playing, he apparently likes some grit

[@Ndlanding]

@@stevee7774 Fuzz, morelike. EDIT I wasn't going to say this, but I have to be honest; his guitar sounded like shite. Sorry.

[@claudevieaul1465]

Funny to see the Fender specs: pickups are a fair bit higher than you normally see when you pick one of a rack. Which is why most singlecoil guitars sound very thin and often quite harsh. I always first adjust all pickups (singlecoil and humbucker) to a height where they barely affect the string's sustain, and then take it down a smidge: maximum girth in my tone and plenty options with volume and tone control... Then balance them out by ear.

[@shredgd5]

You should always use a clean tone to set the pickups height. Overdrive adds compression so you lose the opportunity to hear the volume unbalance of the high vs low strings and of the neck vs middle vs bridge pickup.

[@stewmac6719]

We feel it depends on the individual player and their preferred set up. Erick doesn't play with a very clean tone so it makes sense to make these adjustments using a sound representative of his live rig.

[@smittywarbenyagermangensen4860]

i agree with this comment,. i was very confused at his use of a distorted channel for this... for the purposes of tutorial i would have not done it this way even if it was my personal play style

[@alan717]

Hey if he likes it then that is good enough for him, it is a very subjective thing. I personally would have gone for the cleanest sound I could get (no electronics/distortion) but that is my subjectivity. Very nice presentation, I like it

[@matthewcombs9059]

Man that is the warmest strat I've ever heard.... almost sound like humbuckers.

[@jimcamp2423]

Eddie Van Halen used only a bridge, Gibson pickup as wired and functional on his Frankenstrat. He didn't even like the way his Strat sounded, preferring it to sound like a Gibson.

[@HarryGuit]

Jim Camp which makes no sense. If you want that Gibson humbucker sound, get you a Gibson.

[@richardclark.]

HarryGuit unless you want the feel of a not Gibson. But I guess you are right. Evh didn't know much about guitars.

[@houseofpills]

@@HarryGuit Gibson necks and string slink are not for everyone....

[@stevee7774]

richard clark - Lol.

[@ront8270]

Thanks for the added information ..that was well explained...thank you.......now this is leading me to another question ?? What would accurately measure the difference between staggered poles and flat poles ....would a common string tuner measure pitchyness (could all the strings be in tune but pitchy)......between the level poles and staggered poles ..or what accurate measuring instrument could be used.....

[@rafaelzengo5534]

Those pickups look insanely high to me

[@john564holloway]

I noticed that, too.

[@MyRealName]

As long as they don't interfere with the strings, it's fine. Also, the guitar seems to have rather high action, so if the player likes it that way, he adjusts his pickups accordingly. I think it makas sense..

[@Thesk8guy]

That's how I've set mine, it plays just fine.

[@excidedous]

Why would you give a fuck how high they look if they sound like you want them?

[@Skoorbdooh]

Fender has never given a height for the bass side of 3/32nds with anything other than Lace Sensors and SCN's - both of which have extremely low gauss. I guarantee you at those heights sustain and intonation is suffering.

[@gregalon]

1:02 It shows Jeff Beck and SRV's setups and some of the pickups are set to be touching the strings?? That can't be right. Or maybe I need to raise my pickups a lot. Hmm.