P.A.F. Pickup Height Adjustment Video

[jwalker]

How to adjust P.A.F. pickup height is the most common customer question I get. The method I use in the video below does not require a capo and lets the the player tailor the response of the pickups to their guitar and rig. I'm guessing most here use some variation of this method but I thought I would post how I like to do it.

I hope you enjoy the video.

 

[El Gringo]

Thank you Jon , Just outstanding and packed with so much information and details . I forgot to tell you about the SLE-101 Plus pickups (wax potted ) that you made for me for my R8 ,when I switch from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup and back to the neck pickup it is so smooth and none of that boominess or the neck pickup over powering the bridge pickup and it is so noticeable because I have never had any humbuckers that were so well matched and so smooth switching back and forth from the neck to the bridge pickup .Major compliments Jon ! I just love the covers so much with the dimples and how they are more rounded or curved on the edges versus the straight like an arrow covers of other pickups , just like all the vintage PAF's. The tone is just so good and such good sustain it seems like it goes on forever .One interesting detail is the tech set the pickups up just a hair above the rings with the neck a hair higher than the bridge and it is so perfect and with plenty of output and treble where I have plenty of highs and then some going thru my Marshall 2555X . So Thank You very much Good Sir !!!

 

[Xpensive Wino]

You can adjust them? :wah




























la

 

[LtKojak]

As someone that's maintained a moonlightning guitar tech activity for over fifteen years, of all the things said and done in the video, the single most important statement that can't be stressed enough is the following: "a quarter turn of the height screw can make a difference", to which I'll add "a 1/4 turn of the screw can make or break the p'up's correct setup". The ever elusive "sweet spot" is REAL, and it shouldn't be overlooked as "myth" or "urban legend". It is very real, and it changes with every p'up, due to different winds, and magnets. My tried-and-true starting point for PAF-ish style HBs with an A3n/A2b mag set is 2.4mm for the bridge p'up and 4.3mm for the neck p'up. IME, the "sweet spot" is never farther away than a whole turn of the height screw.

Also, he talks about the pole screws' setting kinda secondary importance, as seems that the demograhic of most of Throbak customers/fans would judge the p'ups in single note OD soloing, the evidence might prove him right in saying so, but, nonetheless to most pro players, playing mostly clean and doing a lot of chordwork and/or arpeggio comping, the evenness of output between strings is of paramount importance, so I'll show a picture of how a NECK p'up's stagger should look like, being the 6th string on the left, after of being set up for evenness by ear. The consequent "pattern" could be used as starting point, fine-tuning it to the actual string set gauge and neck radius.



The bridge p'up, being in a very stable zone where the string almost doesn't move, the stagger doesn't need to be so accentuated, so as a starting point it should be set flat but the 4th string, which should be set higher than the rest for about 1.5 turns.

HTH,

 

[jbzoso2002]

:3zone:3zone:3zone:3zone

 

[Classicplayer]

As someone that's maintained a moonlightning guitar tech activity for over fifteen years, of all the things said and done in the video, the single most important statement that can't be stressed enough is the following: "a quarter turn of the height screw can make a difference", to which I'll add "a 1/4 turn of the screw can make or break the p'up's correct setup". The ever elusive "sweet spot" is REAL, and it shouldn't be overlooked as "myth" or "urban legend". It is very real, and it changes with every p'up, due to different winds, and magnets. My tried-and-true starting point for PAF-ish style HBs with an A3n/A2b mag set is 2.4mm for the bridge p'up and 4.3mm for the neck p'up. IME, the "sweet spot" is never farther away than a whole turn of the height screw.

Also, he talks about the pole screws' setting kinda secondary importance, as seems that the demograhic of most of Throbak customers/fans would judge the p'ups in single note OD soloing, the evidence might prove him right in saying so, but, nonetheless to the mostly pro players playing mostly clean and do a lot of chordwork and/or arpeggio comping, the evenness of output between strings is of paramount importance, so I'll show a picture of how a NECK p'up's stagger should look like, being the 6th string on the left, after of being set up for evenness by ear. The consequent "pattern" could be used as starting point, fine-tuning it to the actual string set gauge and neck radius.



The bridge p'up, being in a very stable zone where the string almost doesn't move, the stagger doesn't need to be so accentuated, so as a starting point it should be set flat but the 4th string, which should be set higher than the rest for about 1.5 turns.

HTH,

Very wise advice and advice I used this morning in re-tweaking the Seth’s in my Classic. I don't have a metric or machinist's rule, but I know I set them close to the Lieutenant's fav. distance, and the sound through my practice amp is now more even with string to string balance......this without touching pole pieces, mind you.

Next, I will plug into my Orange tube amp and see what the result is there. It was sounding good before, but there was also the occasional “spike” in the highs happening. I was considering getting a compressor and see whether that could be set to eliminate the spikiness, but I will hold off on that just now.


Classicplayer

 

[Tubes 'n Wood]

Great info, thank you!

 

[jwalker]

As someone that's maintained a moonlightning guitar tech activity for over fifteen years, of all the things said and done in the video, the single most important statement that can't be stressed enough is the following: "a quarter turn of the height screw can make a difference", to which I'll add "a 1/4 turn of the screw can make or break the p'up's correct setup". The ever elusive "sweet spot" is REAL, and it shouldn't be overlooked as "myth" or "urban legend". It is very real, and it changes with every p'up, due to different winds, and magnets. My tried-and-true starting point for PAF-ish style HBs with an A3n/A2b mag set is 2.4mm for the bridge p'up and 4.3mm for the neck p'up. IME, the "sweet spot" is never farther away than a whole turn of the height screw.

Also, he talks about the pole screws' setting kinda secondary importance, as seems that the demograhic of most of Throbak customers/fans would judge the p'ups in single note OD soloing, the evidence might prove him right in saying so, but, nonetheless to most pro players, playing mostly clean and doing a lot of chordwork and/or arpeggio comping, the evenness of output between strings is of paramount importance, so I'll show a picture of how a NECK p'up's stagger should look like, being the 6th string on the left, after of being set up for evenness by ear. The consequent "pattern" could be used as starting point, fine-tuning it to the actual string set gauge and neck radius.

The bridge p'up, being in a very stable zone where the string almost doesn't move, the stagger doesn't need to be so accentuated, so as a starting point it should be set flat but the 4th string, which should be set higher than the rest for about 1.5 turns.

HTH,

Great point. When I do pole screw adjustments on the neck pickup these are the screws that usually go up. Whether or not they go up and how much I think has a lot to do with the grade of alnico in the pickup.

 

[marshall1987]

Jon: Does the string gauge make a significant difference in the ideal pickup height adjustment? For example, how much of a difference does it make when going from a set of .010s to a set of .009s? Should you raise the pickups with the lighter gauge strings?

Thanks.

 

[jwalker]

Jon: Does the string gauge make a significant difference in the ideal pickup height adjustment? For example, how much of a difference does it make when going from a set of .010s to a set of .009s? Should you raise the pickups with the lighter gauge strings?

Thanks.

I would experiment a little with pickup height when switching to a different guage but I would measure before you start changing the height.

 

[JimFog]

Jon,

Thanks for that. Good stuff.

Just a minor niggle.........not just with you, but with "common wisdom" on this.

It's kind of accepted as fact that, as you say, lowering a pickup = more clarity. But, in my experience, that's not always strictly true. In fact, at a certain point, I feel you begin to LOSE clarity if the pickup is too low, especially the neck. For me, it's really about finding that perfect sweet spot, and not only in terms of output. In fact, my only output consideration is that the bridge be a bit hotter than the neck. (just my personal preference, as I feel it makes for the best, most chimey middle position that way).

The reason I like to say this is........I really struggled setting my neck pickups, originally, because I just assumed that lower ALWAYS = clearer., until I realized it wasn't necessarily always true, and I needed to trust me ear.

YMMV

 

[musekatcher]

"a quarter turn of the height screw can make a difference", to which I'll add "a 1/4 turn of the screw can make or break the p'up's correct setup".

The bridge p'up, being in a very stable zone where the string almost doesn't move, the stagger doesn't need to be so accentuated, so as a starting point it should be set flat but the 4th string, which should be set higher than the rest for about 1.5 turns.

HTH,

Finally read your last sentence, to understand you were talking about the pole screws. Even though he didn't adjust the poles in this video, I could hear the difference in the pup hieght adjustments, and we know video and audio masks lots of differences we hear in person, so I'm looking fwd to doing some adjustments with much smaller increments on a couple of my guitars.

 

[Classicplayer]

The video was a big help in my search for that sweet spot withY own Les Pauls.
my #1 has a set of Seth Lovers, which I spent lots of time dialing in. I do prefer
the neck pup to be clear and sweet when played clean and I like to have slightly
more loud than the bridge pup. It's a help to my middle tone that way. I prefer the bottom
3 stings to have a full sound (not dull) and the top 3 to be ‘Tele-like. If I need the middle to
be thinner, I just lower the neck volume and raise the bridge a touch more for brighter tone.

I've also found the the pickup height adjustment screws and springs react differently from
guitar to guitar so it's a good idea to make micro turns to those screws when raising or
lowering pickups and eyeball what's taking place during adjustments. It also helps tom
play chords up and down the neck not only listening while adjusting a pickup by itself, but to how the chords sound when in the middle position.

This way I can determine if the 6th. and the 1st. string blend well into the chords played
or does either string seem to dominate the chord. Where I play Jazz chords in certain types of music, I sometimes aim to get my neck pup 6th. string a touch louder when using the neck. It helps give the “impression” that a listener might be hearing a bass player in the mix when actually there is no bass.

I don't raise the pole screw on the neck; just the height adjustment screw to effect this.



Classicplayer

 

[LtKojak]

Great point. When I do pole screw adjustments on the neck pickup these are the screws that usually go up. Whether or not they go up and how much I think has a lot to do with the grade of alnico in the pickup.

IME, it's directly dependent on the individual string mass and actual neck radius. I've personally experienced this phenomenom when I changed from "normal" string gauges to D'Addarios BT (balanced tension) sets, where I had to raise the D string pole and lower the G string pole to compensate.

 

[Jeff West]

Thanks for the video! For early vintage 335 owners, I'm curious about what if anything y'all do about the neck pu dipping toward the neck stock, as it tends to do on these, and also how that affects your height settings. That is, the top of the neck pu is not really that parallel to the strings on some of these.

On my '61, I've played around in the past with setting it parallel, and I know folks who rotate the front ring 180 degrees for this. Once I used a q-tip to prop it parallel (the cover is off), and I could pull it out while playing to let it resume it's normal slight dive toward the neck, and do an istant A:B. In the end, I like it just as is stock , "semi-parallel", and in fact I've wondered if that adds a little bit to what I often think of as the neck pu tone on a vintage 335? So, just curious about any other experiences related to this.

 

[jwalker]

For a ES-335 neck pickup I usually just go with the fact that the neck pickup is not parallel with the strings. I have tried flipping the ring around and it still does not sit properly. Sometimes I’ll bend the height adjustment screws to rock the pickup closer to alignment but you can only go so far with that.

 

[marshall1987]

Thanks for the video! For early vintage 335 owners, I'm curious about what if anything y'all do about the neck pu dipping toward the neck stock, as it tends to do on these, and also how that affects your height settings. That is, the top of the neck pu is not really that parallel to the strings on some of these.

On my '61, I've played around in the past with setting it parallel, and I know folks who rotate the front ring 180 degrees for this. Once I used a q-tip to prop it parallel (the cover is off), and I could pull it out while playing to let it resume it's normal slight dive toward the neck, and do an istant A:B. In the end, I like it just as is stock , "semi-parallel", and in fact I've wondered if that adds a little bit to what I often think of as the neck pu tone on a vintage 335? So, just curious about any other experiences related to this.

I was all set to get a 335 but the neck pickup pitch down was an issue I just didn't care for. And I didn't care to purchase one of the Memphis built 335s because of QA/QC reasons.

So I got a nice blond Collings I35-LC (their version of a 335) and haven't looked back. The neck pickup on an I-35 LC is nearly parallel with the strings.

And I really like the Collings 15 inch lower bout width too. Very comfortable to play. The bonus is many of the Collings guitars come stock with ThroBak pickups! :salude

 

[Mars Hall]

The ever elusive "sweet spot" is REAL, and it shouldn't be overlooked as "myth" or "urban legend".

Please describe, the best you can, what is the "sweet spot"? What should I be listening for?

 

[Classicplayer]

For me, the sweet spot is where the pickup sounds perfect to my ears by itself, and on a Les Paul, when the two pickups are switched to both on. “Perfect” is in the ears of the beholder. To me, each string should have the same amount of volume as the other strings when each pickup is played by itself.

Lt. Kojack has it right about it taking only a 1/4 turn of pup height screw to get it perfect or put it out of the sweet spot. I've spent way too much time tweaking height screws to get my Seths correct, but when I got to that perfect placement, I knew it right away.

I experimented then a bit to see how much of a screwdriver turn it would take to put the pup out of the”zone”. As the Lt. wrote, not much at all.

Don't be concerned if you struggle as I did. Just pay attention to that tone you prefer to hear in your “mind's ear” and keep it as your goal, and in time you'll come recognize it when it happens. In my case I was very close when I was playing with a clean tone on my amp, but when I put some gain into it and reached a crunchy Rock tone, is when I suddenly figured it out. YMMV.



Classicplayer

 

[JLee]

Please describe, the best you can, what is the "sweet spot"? What should I be listening for?

I find there is a spot where the pickup has the perfect balance of clarity, note attack and singing sustain. I always try and find this spot on the neck pickup, then just balance the bridge for output. I usually look for the spot where the note attack on the low and high E strings are clearest and loudest and where the note rings with minimal warble and doesn't die off too prematurely. It's usually a pretty small window and a 1/4 turn of the pickup can throw it off.