Gibson Humbucking Pickup Pickup Adjustment

[tootone76]

By the end of your video you had the Bridge distance at 1/8th of an Inch, and the Neck at 7/32nd of an inch.

That means the neck pickup is 3/32 further away from the strings, or, to word it differently - the neck pickup is nearly twice as far from the strings as the bridge. Is this right?

[TheZHBolinger]

Sup Billy ?? Hey, I have a 2010 LP Custom. Love it. Pickups are reeeaaally hot. Almost a touch too hot. Very overall high end sound. If I lower them a touch Would that decrease some of the high end or just effect volume ?? Thanks!

[300guitars]

@TheZHBolinger I don't think the high end will change too much. Try lowering them and see what happens. Remember your starting point. I have a new guitar Set Up Guide ebook out that explains all this on my website. Let me know how it works out. -Billy

[nepnyy]

es175s suck!

[PENTADACTYLON]

1/8" = 3.17 mm. Exact convertion value.

[CletusColtrane]

1/8 = 4/32

For the bridge pickup you said 7/32 which is 1 more 32nd than 1/8, doesn't make sense



[RoninAuron]

So how would I get the brightest sound from the pickups

[300guitars]

@RoninAuron Well...the pickup is only going to be as bright as it is by design. However setting them a little lower may help a bit. -Billy

[ToolFan68]

Thanks SO MUCH for these videos!!! I can't thank you enough Billy!!

[300guitars]

@ToolFan68 No problem..!! Happy to help if I can..!! -Billy

[pecowart]

@300guitars Good vid and tutorial..a little advice about the volume of your voice,it drops when you turn to the guitar,if you could put a mic over by the guitar also,we can hear you a lil bit more evenly..good job tho !

[300guitars]

@Aussiestringking Ha..!! Well....there are sites that have instant conversions right online. Sorry for forgetting about the rest of the world on the metric system....my bad..!! -Billy

[JOHNNYG99X]

hi thanks, how about a 335 with 57 classics ? I like blues & jazz tones

[insidedrivers]

@JOHNNYG99X Use the same measurements...then you may want to tweak them a bit to your liking. -Billy

[tubsucks]

Aren't you supposed to fret the string at the last fret while taking that measurement?

[300guitars]

@tubsucks You could do it that way too but the measurements would be different. Either way is fine but I've been doing it this way over the years. -Billy

[tubsucks]

@300guitars ah ha.. i c, makes sence

[Stevespeeze]

@tubsucks

Yes,, you should always do that,, ive been doing it that way for almost 20 years.

[alvares1000]

ive got a dean dof and razorback they used to be heaven for pinch harmonics till i finally let my friend use them about a week ago now theres nothing plus it sounds horrible what would be the height on the pickups in which are humbuckers to get that great metal tone and screaming pinch harmonics back. also would a neck adjustment help on this to could you tell me how to set that up i would normally have a G.T do this but nearest music store is about 60 mi though i should learn the work

[AAChristmas]

Great video, great tips. I put Duncan Antiquities in my SG and the need some tweaking and you're video is a big help. Thanks!

[jmnthe3rd]

7/32 is not 1/8 + 1/32.

[darkrai1555]

Hey, every time I play guitar, there's this fap, fap, fap kind of noise as the pick hits the strings. Does this have to with pickup adjustment? If it is, then how do I adjust my humbuckers on an Epiphone Les Paul Special II, to get rid of the noise. I don't angle the pick, I play it vertically. Is THAT a problem? I also have a purple Tortex­­® 1.14mm pick. (Since people have been telling me that I need a stronger pick, since thin ones bend, and make more noise when I strum)

[300guitars]

@darkrai1555 Your strings may be hitting the pickups and making this noise. I would try set the pickups about 3/16" away from the strings (open unfretted strings)....you can experiment with the height to reduce this noise. There are screws on either side of the pickups that are on the pickup rings. Turn clockwise to raise the pickups, counter clockwise to lower them. Let me know if this helps.. -Billy

[mymelda]

@300guitars hello..i've guitar that have two humbucker and 1 single coil at the middle..what height every of that pick up that should be adjust?

[300guitars]

@mymelda I would start with the pickups about 2mm from the strings. Do not fret any frets just leave the strings open. Then adjust each pickup so the output volume is as balanced as you can get it. You may have to experiment a little. Let me know how it goes. -Billy

[MXSGNR]

What is the standard height of gibson pickups between the strings but in Cm.

please .. !"!! i suck speaking english ;) hope you can help me .. thanks dude!

[300guitars]

@MXSGNR I would start out with the pickups about 1/8" from the strings and adjust them from there. You may want to raise the bridge pickup a little and lower the neck pickup a bit. See how it goes and let me know what you think. -Billy

[PaganEgyptian]

@MXSGNR ⅛" = 4mm.  I use the factory Alnico Humbuckers on my Les Paul, but i found that 4mm is s great mid point, it sets your gains almost at the middle for a Modeling amp.

[ady0211]

Thanks for the help!!!!

[300guitars]

@ady0211 You got it!!!!! Feel free to ask me anything.....any time!! -Billy

[ady0211]

Is there anyway you can take the metal covers off your pickup?

[300guitars]

@ady0211 Yes....you can take the covers off but you have to be very careful. There are two solder joints holding the cover on and if the pickup was potted in a wax bath then you will have to heat the pickup to "break" the wax seal. You also have to be careful when sliding the cover off not to break the windings on the bobbins. It may be less trouble to just buy pickups without covers. -Billy

[fffffcccckkkk]

how can i angle my pickups, not from e to e but from bridge to neck. i used to have a flying v and they were angled that way, now i bought a used sg and the guy i bought it from had paper inserted to angle them that way, is there a way to do this without the paper, maybe remove the pickups and put something underneath to force the angle?

[300guitars]

Good question! I would not recommend putting anything under the pickup for a few reasons one being that any type of "stuff" that goes under the pickup may dampen it and you may lose a little bit of air to the sound. You can try to get angled pickup rings that have an angle on the bottom that sort of tilt the pickup in the direction you want it to go. Or you can try angling the bottom of the rings you already have. Let me know if this helps! -Billy

[TheChickenOrTheEgg14]

@300guitars could you please help with a problem i'm having on a new Epiphone Les Paul Custom that i bought a few months ago? i'm not gonna lie, for whatever reason i screwed around with the individual screws on my neck pickup, so when i choose my rhythm setting i get almost no sound. what exactly is the process for re-adjusting these single screws so that my pickups actually work? this is frustrating business for someone who doesnt know exactly what to do. hope you can help, and thanks.

[kaiserwilhelm]

@TheChickenOrTheEgg14 I bet it's input jack is screwed up. Epiphones have a lot of electronics problems.

[TheChickenOrTheEgg14]

@kaiserwilhelm i actually just figured out what was wrong the other day...what happened was the intonation screws on the pickup were already unbalanced from the factory, and myself being new to humbucker pickups, tried to fix them and put them even more out of whack. but i've got it figured out now and havent had any other problems with the electronics...i'll probably upgrade them when they do as you say and crap out. thanks for the input! (pun intended)

[allen764]

Hi ...thanks for your video and thanks for answering a question if you are able.

Is there a pick up setting recommended for a Les Paul if you want to get an optimal crunch/break up/ plexi tone? Im not into heavy metal and like a classic beefy LP roar. Ill be experimenting but wondered if you had a recommendation

[300guitars]

I would start with the pickups about 3/16" away from the strings. Measure this with the strings unfretted from the top of the pickup to the bottom of the string. You may want to move a little closer on the bridge pickup but I would not get too much closer than 1/8" on either pickup. See how it sounds. It is a matter of personal taste.... -Billy

[belogio]

so by simply twisting the screws on the sides it raises and lowers the pickups?

[300guitars]

Yes. It is as simple as that to adjust the height of the pickups. Please let me know if you have any further questions. I am happy to answer them for you! -Billy

[stirfrycomedy]

Man I was hoping to hear some sounds... But cool vid.

[dimetime2]

it is a epiphone zakk wylde custom and it has passive emg-Hz pups and when i put my hand on the bridge it pretty much takes out all the buzz

[300guitars]

Without seeing the guitar I'd say that the neck pickup has a grounding issue. Maybe the cover is not grounded or something in the volume/tone controls is not grounded. Check to see if they are grounded like the bridge pickup and controls. Do you have a local tech you can take it too?

[dimetime2]

i was wondering if you might know why my neck pick up buzzes when i turn my guitar up but my bridge pup doesnt

[300guitars]

What kind of guitar is it? Let's start there or email me all the details. Happy to help! -Billy

[Ibanezguy123456789]

@dimetime2 Same here. I'm just gonna replace the neck pickup.

[magicichigo]

hey amm i completly took of the screw and i cant put it back....I NEED HELP....can u please tell me

[Hoopermazing]

Ha ha! I just bought my first jazz-box, I'm about to replace the strings with flat-wounds... and this video is exactly what I was looking for.

Five stars!

[300guitars]

Awesome! Glad I could help!!!

[godgirlsguitars]

I wanna know how to make each string have the same volume. I got some strings louder than others.

[300guitars]

After you have adjusted the humbuckers you can then adjust each individual polepiece to compensate for any uneven output. Just use a flathead screwdriver and raise the polepiece closer to the weaker sounding string.

[godgirlsguitars]

Oh okay thanks, that's really helpful. I was confused when i read about it changes your tone and you can really mess up the tone of your guitar. I dont wanna change the tone just the volume of certain strings. :)

[rickeygottheblues]

if you dont hold the strings down to the fretboard when you do this you have about a 32 clearence