Pickups are an integral component of bass guitar tone. However, when set too low they can throw off tune strings and cause them to go out of tune with each other.
Ideal pick-up placement should be as close to the strings without creating fret buzz; however, this is often difficult due to how each musician approaches their instrument differently.
Bridge Pickup
The bridge pickup is an extremely powerful pickup that typically produces louder and brighter tones than its neck counterpart. This effect is caused by string vibration physics; when one string vibrates closer to its center it vibrates thicker, making the tone fatter while strings farther from center vibrate thinner resulting in lighter tones. Furthermore, being closest to strings, bridge pickups tend to produce louder tone while providing increased attack and brighter playing experience than neck models.
The bridge pickup of a bass guitar often favors high frequency sounds, or treble, which gives its characteristic brightness. This feature can be particularly effective for lead parts and providing your music with an authoritative punchy and bright sound suitable for jazz music genres.
As is true with neck pickups, bridge pickup height affects how strongly its magnet pulls on strings and thus tonality. To create the best magnetic field effect and tone enhancement, place it as close as possible without touching them – this will provide maximum output with minimal magnetic interference from strings or bridge.
However, if the pickup is too high, it won’t work well with the strings to create an effective signal, leading to the strings becoming out of tune or producing a distorted tone – another reason to adjust its height before playing. To get maximum enjoyment out of playing your guitar or bass guitar it is vital that the correct height adjustment be done prior to every session.
As a general guideline, when fretting the highest string with your fretting hand, aim for positioning of your bridge pickup with its top 1/16 inch from its end point. This will give your bass guitar an optimal setup.
Some bassists find their bridge pickup too high and wish to reduce its height, as this will allow the strings to move more freely during their natural cycles and produce a richer, fuller tone. It should be noted, however, that doing this may also lower overall output – it is therefore wise to weigh all possible outcomes carefully prior to making this adjustment.
Neck Pickup
The neck pickup produces a rounder tone than its bridge counterpart, yet its sound is less full or warm due to string vibrations being absorbed more readily by the guitar body and picked up less frequently by its pickup. It is perfect for fingerpicking rhythm playing but can also create powerful lead tones or distortion bass chords without losing clarity or becoming murky sounding. Classic rock, blues and other genres all benefit from using this pickup style including jazz country and funk music genres.
No exact answer exists when it comes to finding the ideal bass guitar pickup height; this depends on both your personal tastes and genre of music you perform. As a starting point, place the bridge pickup at a height of 3/32” from strings, while 1/8″ will do for neck pickups – you can then adjust them as necessary until achieving your desired sound.
Neck and bridge pickups share similar structures, featuring cylindrical pole pieces or magnets wrapped with copper wire coils. However, their calibration differs, with bridge pickups typically offering greater turns of copper wire than neck pickups to compensate for lower string vibration at this position.
Pickup positions on a bass guitar have a substantial effect on its sound, as each setting can create its own distinct tone. To learn their potential applications for your musical style, the best way to discover what they offer is through experimentation; perhaps experimentation will reveal which settings work better for you (for instance neck pickup may work better with power chord solos while bridge pickup may provide the better tone for metal riffs or palm mutes) gradually opening up an array of tones you can create with your instrument.
Treble Pickup
For optimal treble pickup performance, positioning should be closer to the strings so they can pick up higher frequencies more effectively and create a clearer tone. This is especially crucial when using fingersplitching techniques or distortion/overdrive effects on these strings; in addition, an increased pickup height will add brightness and clarity to your tone.
Reducing the output of both bass and treble pickups by lowering their pickup height will cause their magnetic pull on strings to weaken and hence their output to decrease, but only do so if absolutely necessary. If your guitar has harsh sounding notes or poor sustain with no good tone then try lowering the pickup height first before investing in costly repairs or parts replacement.
Start out right when adjusting your pickups by following the manufacturer’s factory recommendations. This will provide an ideal starting point and ensure both pickups are set to an equal height; depending on which pickups you have, bass strings may require more mass to impede their magnetic field than treble strings, necessitating higher settings than usual for bass pickups.
Once your pickups have been set to the recommended specs, test them by playing each open string before strumming up and down the neck. Play scales and chords, listening out for harshness or wobbling due to pickups that may be set too high or low.
To properly set your pickups, it’s advisable to keep track of the measurements used so you can refer back to them later on. Use pocket rulers, machinist’s rules or even calipers – whatever suits your preference best is up to you; just be consistent throughout all measurements so that later you can compare results between units of measurement.
Once you’ve taken initial measurements on both ends, repeat this process for the treble side to establish a reference number. Next, experiment with different pickup heights until finding your perfect tone!
Adjusting Pickup Height
Adjusting the height of bridge and neck pickups is an effective and simple way to quickly address unwanted tones or optimize bass guitar pickups, and create the sound you’ve always imagined for your bass guitar. Achieve great sounding guitar requires harmony among its components such as strings and pickups; an ideal playing height for a pickup is where magnets interact with string vibrations without altering them or impeding natural string movement.
At the factory, your pickups will be set to a standard height that aims to optimize performance and tone. While these settings may serve as a reference point for future adjustments, before making any alterations to their height it is wise to play around with the guitar to see how its different combinations of tone and volume controls affect its overall sound before making changes to it.
Adjusting pickups requires depressing one string at the last fret closest to your guitar’s pickups and using either a pocket ruler or machinist’s rule, measuring from its bottom end to the top pole piece of each pickup pole piece. Repeat this process with all strings, taking note of measurements taken.
Make use of the measurements taken as reference points as a starting point to lower the pickups by gradually tightening screws, and remeasuring string-to-pickup distance. Be mindful of making small incremental adjustments until hearing any change to sound; some changes may take a few minutes for their effects to become evident.
Once your pickups have been adjusted to a lower position, take some time to experiment with how they respond by touching strings with pick and chords or by directly touching the strings using your fingertips. It is likely that their new tone could sound too low with a muted or dampened tone that may warble due to interactions between their magnetic pickups and steel strings.
If this occurs, raise the pickups by slowly turning a screw or spring until you achieve an acceptable output level for both sides of the guitar. Alternatively, fine-tune each side individually (if available) until finding an ideal balance between your higher and lower strings.