Fender Stratocaster Setup Part 8 of 9: Pickup Height

[ktmrider5292]

so the magnets are at different levels on each pickup. Can I adjust each magnet height individually?

[jeffersononetwo]

@ktmrider5292 ... on some pickups you can adjust them. Like on my guitar in this video, the Seymour Duncan neck pickup allows you to adjust each pole individually --- the stock Fender single coil pickups do not have individual adjustments ... just overall side adjustments.

[JonasSweden1]

That's one groovy shirt Phil! Lol ;-)

[KMAC6013]

just bought an american special hss. i broke my my first string on it and i was pretty lost but youre video just saved me a trip to the tech. you taught me how to setup my floyd rose on my jackson dinky a while back and now i can setup my new axe. cant thank u enough considering most music stores charge an arm and a leg for this knowledge. u rule man rock on!

[jeffersononetwo]

@KMAC6013 Awesome feedback man! That's what I'm talking about ... glad to hear it! Let me know if you think I can ever assist again - thanks for your comments ... rock on!

[Eldererr]

wait do i need to do this when i bought my new guitar or my new guitar is already setup?

[matt1284508]

Fender specs are and have always been insane.Fender instructs to reset intonation after adjusting pup height.That oughta tell ya something about magnet pull.If it doesn't ignorance is bliss.This guy and most of these videos are way off base.

[Copilot24]

hello. your videos are a life saver man.i have a question though. as you know, the stock strat pups aren't designed for heavier rock. i was looking at changing my stock bridge pup to a seymour duncan hot rails. would that help me play heavier music? thanks.

[jeffersononetwo]

@Copilot24 That would be an excellent choice! I love the SD pickups, and my Strat has three in there now -- two Hot Rails & a Little '59. To me, the single coils have a 'twangy' kind of sound - certainly not like a humbucker, but some people do prefer that 'Fender sound' ... Iron Maiden, for example, use Fender Stratocasters for the most part and use Seymour Duncan pickups. If you are not emotionally attached to the stock Fender look/sound, I wouldn't hesitate one second to change those out!

[Copilot24]

@jeffersononetwo alright. thankyou so much man, i appreciate it. also im in a band. check out some of my vids. thanks. lata

[thebreeze5150]

Great lessons bro. On pickup heights, are you measuring from each pole individually, (single coil) or from the body? thanks so much

[jeffersononetwo]

@thebreeze5150 Thanks man! I do check every pole-to-string distance, but there's only two screws for this adjustment so the high & low E would suffice. That depends on how particular you are at setting the action -- if just right, then they will all follow the radius of the neck. Thanks for the comment!

[grahamgfm]

Very good vid young man. Nice to see such atention to detail.

[jeffersononetwo]

@grahamgfm Thank you for your kind words!

[BoIivarDan]

Would you have any suggestions on pickup height on "Powered By Lace" pickups?

I've noticed that unlike standard Fender pups, I don't notice any weird sounds or strange harmonics even with the pickups nearly touching the strings. Although these are notoriously noiseless, is it a good idea to have them too close to the strings? I mean, I get great power and volume out of them, but would I be losing delicate harmonics without knowing it?

[jeffersononetwo]

@BoIivarDan Hey Bro ... great question! Just my opinion, but in general, guitars tend to have more tonal character when the pups go lower but at the expense of output volume -- you can get volume by raising them higher but at the expense of character (gets thin and grainy) - there is a balance ... I have not used Lace pickups but the 'rules of thumb' tend to work for most instnaces - only you can decide what is good 4 you - I recommend between 3/64in & 6/64in (4/64in is where I stay the most).

[BoIivarDan]

@jeffersononetwo

Perfect.. yes.. 'thin & grainy" is the perfect descriptor of how they sound when up close. Thank you so much for your time and help brother.

[jeffersononetwo]

@BoIivarDan No problem bro - thanks for watching -- rock on!

[TheChocorooms]

Personally, I just eyeball it. Doesn't really make a difference

[kweerb8]

wait im confused. the specs for action AND pickup height are both 4/64 on the thinner strings and 5/64 on the thicker strings?

[jeffersononetwo]

@kweerb8 ... for Action, set all saddles to 4/64in so that all strings will be the same height from the fretboard - this will make them follow the radius equally (measure from 17th fret - don't press down). On pickups, Fender recommends 5/64in on the thicker strings & 4/64in on the thinner (bottom of string to pickup - depress string at last fret). I like 4/64in on my humburkers, both sides.

[kweerb8]

@jeffersononetwo oh ok. thanks

[Dougal888]

Dude you give measurements 4/64th etc. What exactly are you measuring? Pickup height from the pick guard? Pickup distance from the strings? Or what?

[jeffersononetwo]

Single coil pickups have a "pole" for each string ... you measure from the bottom of the string (depressed) to the top of the pickup "pole". The magnetic piece in the pickup. 2:20 into the video ... camera angle wasn't good, but the distance is not to the pick guard - string to pickup distance is what we are measuring.

[Dougal888]

Thanks, most helpful info. So let me get this absolutely right, you depress the string at the highest fret and then measure the distance between the string and the pole piece. My strat has pickups with staggered pole pieces, I guess I measure between the string and the closest (highest) pole piece? Thank you so much for your very helpful posts.

[jeffersononetwo]

You got it, Doug :) From the bottom of the string ... since there are only two screws for adjustment on the pickups, actually you just have to check string #1 and string #6. All strings were adjusted to follow the neck curve in video #7 - now, the pickup ... two screws will move all staggered poles of the singles coils (or humbuckers) in a linear manner - standby, I will email you a procedure to help you more.

[Moodyz3]

Thanks man ! No need to be sorry :)..

Btw, the video is really helpful Trust Me ;)

[Moodyz3]

I just have a question . Whats 4/64 and 3/64?!! What kind of measurement is it ?!!

[jeffersononetwo]

4/64 = 1.5875mm

3/64 = 1.190625mm

I am in the United States ... we use the imperial system almost exclusively - sorry.

[reslan912]

hey geat vedio but plz can you help i have problem with my strat it's when i play distorion chord on A sting and D strig(7th fret on A and9th fret on D) the E string make sound not buzz little sound how i can solve it ? the other frets fine does now make anthing. thx

[Crashboy1024]

You are playing an E chord on the A string and the E string resonates. Try dampening the E string with a finger. Just touching it a little is enough.

[reslan912]

thanks for advice

[jeffersononetwo]

YW anytime ...

[deraileddash]

Great videos dude. This is really useful stuff.

[jeffersononetwo]

Thanks man ... I'm glad you found this vid useful. Hit me up if you have any questions ... Rock on!

[deraileddash]

Sure will, especially now I know you're a fellow JamPlayer! ;)

[Shelbones01]

k im still a lil confused its from the strings to the pole piece.. whats the pole piece lol

[jeffersononetwo]

Hey Shel - the 'pole piece' is the top of the metal magnetic pole in a single-coil pickup, for example. For Humbucking pickups the measurements would just be to the top of the pickup/rails itself.

[Shelbones01]

k thanks man.... i thought that before, it sounds a lot better now (Y)

[saedt]

Thanks a lot dude, your 9videos really helped me out, I just need to get all that equipment :\

[jeffersononetwo]

Glad to be of service! Thanks for watching ...

[CoqCommNews]

For those of us not numerically challenged: 4/64 = 1/16 WTF!

[TheSnickerdoodles]

but 4/64 or 1/16 what? that number means nothing to me

[deraileddash]

Of an inch. Check the earlier videos in the series.