Please explain to me Pickup adjustment...the poles..and

[Robert Burns]

fine tuning. I seem to have a bit of a dead "D" string on my CS Charvel.
Not terrible, but noticiably duller sounding? Should a Humbucker be
3/8" of an inch below the strings? For more sustain? Or should pups be
within an 1/8" of an inch most of the time? I notice on my PC-1 that
the middle single coil has the pots adjusted all over the place. Like a guy
actually took the time to fine tune each string in that pup?
Or should i just experiment with how high or low i set the Custom/Custom on my Charvel?

[mjl927]

Should a Humbucker be 3/8" of an inch below the strings? For more sustain? Or should pups be within an 1/8" of an inch most of the time?

There is no hard-fast rule on this. If you raise the pickups as close as possible to the strings, the output would of course be louder. You might diminish some sustain though because the pull of the pickups would hinder the string vibration. As my own rule of thumb, I hold down the strings at the last fret then raise the pickup up so it is close but not too close. Maybe around 3/8" like you said. After that, I adjust the height to balance the volume between the neck and bridge pickups. It usually means bringing them down some and bringing the neck a bit lower than the bridge. I like the neck to be slightly quieter than the bridge.

Once I have that set, I listen for the volumes of each string. If the bridge gives the strings a profile that matches the radius of the neck, the poles on the pickup should be adjusted to also match that profile. Then I fine tune the poles to try and even out the volumes of each string. Most of the time, you can hardly hear a difference and just leaving the poles where they are is good enough.

On a lot of single coil pickups, the poles are set at the factory to a default height which apparently has been determined to be optimal. I'm not sure if these are even adjustable because most don't look like a screw. You see that a lot on strats. I have no idea why that setting is best. That may be what you're seeing on your single coil. If you single coil is adjustable however, maybe you could just set them all flat and go from there with your own setting.

[Cleveland Metal]

If it sounds dead, I'll figure its more in the setup than in the pickup adjustment.

With my guitars, I tend to get a deadish sounding open G. Guess it's something I do when setting up the neck since it's in several guitars of mine. I heard that is a common ailment.

My D's always sound good.

[JACKSONFREAK]

The Stagger of the pole pieces on a single coil pickup. Was started by Leo Fender IIRC. He determined that each string has it's own inherant volume. So he edjusted the hight of the poles in the pickup to compensate for that. Making the overall sound of the guitar more even and balanced. I've done this same stagger to a couple of my high output hums i really cant tell the differance with the amount of distortion i use. Although articulation is a touch better from string to string during lead work. And i agree that a dead sounding string is either the string itself or the setup of the guitar and has nothing to do with the pup.
Gil

[Spivonious]

If it sounds dead, I'll figure its more in the setup than in the pickup adjustment.

With my guitars, I tend to get a deadish sounding open G. Guess it's something I do when setting up the neck since it's in several guitars of mine. I heard that is a common ailment.

My D's always sound good.

It might even just be a trick of the ears going from a wound string to a non-wound one.

[Cleveland Metal]

It might even just be a trick of the ears going from a wound string to a non-wound one.

I thought that at first sorta. But, it's pretty friggin dead, haha... some sort of buzz that I can't dial in. May just be the way the string comes off the clamp I'm thinkin. As they may have originally cut the nut clamp slot for "that" string to actually BE a wound type of string...

Not sure.

[JACKSONFREAK]

It could be a bad fret too. It may need a fret level. Which would suck on a CS Charvel to have to have done. But it happens. I've noticed it alot lately with Gibson.

[toejam]

The Stagger of the pole pieces on a single coil pickup. Was started by Leo Fender IIRC. He determined that each string has it's own inherant volume. So he edjusted the hight of the poles in the pickup to compensate for that. Making the overall sound of the guitar more even and balanced.

Yes, it was done to keep the strings in consistent volume, but they also follow the curve of the fingerboard radius. Since the Fender radius is rounder (typical 7.25" for vintage and 9.5" for modern, some models even have 12" ), you'll notice the low E and high E strings are lower, with the A and B strings are a little higher, and the G and D strings are the highest... same way with single coil pole pieces.

[kelly user]

Yes, it was done to keep the strings in consistent volume, but they also follow the curve of the fingerboard radius. Since the Fender radius is rounder (typical 7.25" for vintage and 9.5" for modern, some models even have 12" ), you'll notice the low E and high E strings are lower, with the A and B strings are a little higher, and the G and D strings are the highest... same way with single coil pole pieces.

is there a strat that has a 12 radius?

[max]

Yes, it was done to keep the strings in consistent volume, but they also follow the curve of the fingerboard radius. Since the Fender radius is rounder (typical 7.25" for vintage and 9.5" for modern, some models even have 12" ), you'll notice the low E and high E strings are lower, with the A and B strings are a little higher, and the G and D strings are the highest... same way with single coil pole pieces.

The b string is lower than the high e string. Also the staggering of most modern single coils (such as the DiMarzio HS2 in the PC-1) is less pronounced than the original vintage staggering for a 7,25 fretboard radius.

[max]

is there a strat that has a 12 radius?

The CS Strat Pro model has a 12'' radius. Im sure there are others as well.

[kelly user]

The CS Strat Pro model has a 12'' radius. Im sure there are others as well.

something that doesn't cost 5 grand..........

[toejam]

I believe the SRV signature model was 12" and so is the Eric Johnson model. There may be others, but I'm not sure offhand.

[Robert Burns]

Yes, it was done to keep the strings in consistent volume, but they also follow the curve of the fingerboard radius. Since the Fender radius is rounder (typical 7.25" for vintage and 9.5" for modern, some models even have 12" ), you'll notice the low E and high E strings are lower, with the A and B strings are a little higher, and the G and D strings are the highest... same way with single coil pole pieces.

*********** Yes, this describes what mine is like...the same basically.

[Robert Burns]

Once again you guys are a wealth of knowledge!! Much appreciated..
I cant believe what ive learned in the last 5 months around here.
Thanks guys!