Pickup height

The way I do it: Raise the top of the poles about 0.25 of an inch away from the bottom of the strings (unpluged). Then plug in and start looking for the sweet spot. I start with the neck pup but thats just me.
Have a great weekend-

ive been told that two quarters (25 cent coins) is a good height to start with.
too far away and your sound will suffer.
too close and the magnets will affect string vibration.

ok!, quarters I understand...heh, my neck pu is almost 4 quarters away and my bridge is about 2, this is on an Epi SG, does that sound ok?

Scott

How is your action on the neck? If the strings are not too far off the neck, then you should probably raise that neck pick-up. It will help the sound of that PUP.

I was thinking the distance on the neck PUP was a little far, I was thinking about putting a classic 57 in the neck and a 57+ in the bridge but I want to see what the Epi PUPs sound like at diff adjustments before I do that, cause If I get them sounding decent I can spend the money on some texas specials for my strat copy:)

Scott

Scott:

Just my opinion, but the Gibson 57s are much better pickups than the Epi stock pickups. But, they aren't cheap. It will cost you around $200 for the set, plus the cost of a tech to install them (maybe another $40 - 50). But, it will improve the sound dramatically.

and there is the rub, do I put $200 worth of PUPs in a $150 guitar?

Scott

If you look at the guitar you have as a slab of wood. You got some stuff that came with the wood. What would you like to replace to get a good sound? Okay, say you spent $150 on the slab of wood. You got a neck (that is a bolt on?, so it is replaceable), two humbuckers, some electronics, and a set of 3x3 tuners. You can replace a lot or all of that stuff. It depends on what you know about guitars what should be replaced. What amp are you using the guitar thru? and what style of music? What do you want to sound like?

I'm using an Epi Valve Special, the sound I'm looking for is classic rock/ac/dc type stuff, nothing heavier than that, I love blues also but I have a strat copy for that.

The tuners stay in tune very well as long as I give the strings a good stretch when I install them so I see no reason to change them atm, stitchs and knobs all work well no trouble there.

The only effects I use is a Overdrive pedal.

Scott

So, you need something a little hotter and cleaner in a pickup. See if there is anything here http://store.guitarfetish.com/humbuckers.html that suits your needs and they are much cheaper.

I think I saw a Gibson spec for 3/16" for the neck pickup, 1/8" for the bridge. That's what I've long used for P-90s and humbuckers, anyway, and I like it that way.