How to Adjust Neck Pickup Height
The neck pickup on a guitar is the key to clean tones, as well as to warm, soulfully distorted lead sounds. The pickup captures the deeper, richer vibrations of the strings that are farther from the bridge, which makes it ideal for thick rhythm sounds. Just like any other pickup, however, the one in neck position must be adjusted for height to perfect its tone.You should have a clear idea of what sound you want from this pickup, as well as a group of tone settings that you frequently use with your amplifier.
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Things You'll Need
- Electric guitar and amplifier (with clean and distorted tones)
- Guitar cable
- Phillips-head screwdriver
Instructions
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1
Set the pickup roughly even with the mounting bracket by turning the screws in the middle of the pickup mount on either side.
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2
Play a few lines in each of the tones you have prepared. On the clean channel, your notes should be loud with good sustain, but they should not distort. Distortion should be rich, but should still have definition. If your notes are distorting on the clean channel, or are "muddy" with distortion, you should lower the pickup slightly. If they are too quiet, or if you have poor sustain on either channel, raise the pickup.
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3
Raise or lower the pickup according to the results of Step 2.
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4
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you have long, rich sustain with good note clarity, but without excess distortion.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Keep in mind that your tone will be affected by your amp's setup and the controls on your guitar. Be sure to test your amplifier's tone before working with your pickup.
If the lower strings are muddy or distorted but the higher strings are not sustaining, try lowering the bass side while slightly raising the high side.
