Undoubtedly, the quality of a guitar’s tone is hugely important. But how do pickups affect your tone? And how high should your pickups be to get the best tone possible?
In this article, we’ll look at how guitar pickup height affects tone and give tips on getting the most out of your pickups.
Do pickup height and position affect the guitar tone? Yes. The distance between the pickups and the strings affects the guitar’s tone. Thus, it’s important to adjust the pickup height. A change in the string’s vibration pattern, pitch, and sustain and an increase in the pickup’s output occurs when the distance between them decreases.
What are pickups?
The pickups are sometimes called the electric guitar’s “heart.” This device, in the guitar’s body just below the strings, turns the vibrations of the instrument’s sound into electricity. Coils are used in pickups.
A pickup for an electric guitar is made of six magnets wrapped around an enameled wire and held in place by a black bobbin. A guitar has six strings. Thus six magnets pick up the sound. Some pickups don’t utilize magnets but instead use metal rods.
Guitar pickups come in all different shapes and sizes. If you’re building out a new guitar and looking for great pickups, check out these popular options below.
Fender Squier Stratocaster
Fender Squier Stratocaster
Does pickup height affect the guitar tone?
Pickup height greatly affects the guitar tone. When the pickup magnets are at the right height, they generate a powerful magnetic field that produces the guitar’s desired tone. Additionally, pickups may cause string detuning if they are set too high. When the pickup is turned down too much, the magnetic field’s potential is not maximized.
…when the pickup’s height is lowered, the tone will become warmer and fuller.
Thus, the tone of a guitar may be altered by adjusting the pickup’s height. The distance between a guitar’s pickups and strings greatly affects its sound. Closer proximity increases pickup output and modifies the string’s vibration pattern, pitch, and sustain.
What are the effects of a high pickup height setting
First, we’ll discuss the tonal implications of a high pickup height. If you raise the pickup as high as it will go without impeding string action, the result won’t be a very warm sound. There will also be a cut in sustainability. The high pickup height is mostly due to the way passive pickups are made.
To get the right voltages, they need strong magnets. The strings may experience a tugging force from the magnets.
If your guitar has a harsh sound, no sustain, or a bad tone, you might want to try adjusting the height of the pickups to a lower setting before spending money on expensive repairs.
For a guitar to accurately reproduce its sound, it needs to be able to vibrate. If a pickup is too close to the strings, its magnetic field may change how it vibrates. The vibrational cycle of a string is closest to the pickup when the magnet pulls it a bit closer than its normal distance.
There may be strange changes to the sound caused by the interaction of the two magnets in a pickup with the strings. Because the vibration pattern and, by extension, the output wave is always in flux, the resulting noise is sometimes described as wobbling or warbling.
What are the effects of a low pickup height setting
If your guitar has a harsh sound, no sustain, or a bad tone, you might want to try adjusting the height of the pickups to a lower setting before spending money on expensive repairs. It’s important that when the pickup’s height is lowered, the tone will become warmer and fuller.
Also, the pickup’s magnetic pull will weaken, letting the strings vibrate more freely and produce more of their natural harmonic tones.
There is an ideal playing height where the tone is at its best, and the pickup volume doesn’t change much. Even at this volume level, some musicians may find the bass tones too heavy or overbearing, or they may prefer a more transparent sound, such as a clean jazz sound.
Reducing the pickup’s height further has the effect of reducing the pickup’s bass response. If you turn it down too much, the sound quality will suffer when the strings reach the outer limits of the magnetic field.
Changing the pickup’s height is a simple and cheap way to experiment with a guitar’s tones.
While you might get a warmer sound, It is important to keep expectations grounded in reality. Changing the pickup’s height is a simple and cheap way to experiment with a guitar’s tones. Still, you can’t expect a scorching, high-output humbucker pickup to behave like a low-output pickup made for a jazz guitar.
If you want even more tips and insights, watch this video called “Pickup height. Does it affect your tone?” from the Jon is just TOO LouD!! YouTube channel.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Do you still have questions? Below are some of the most commonly asked questions about how guitar pickups affects guitar tone.
What are humbuckers?
A humbucking pickup, also called a humbucker or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup with two wire coils that cancel out the noise that single-coil pickups pick up. Not only are humbucking coils used in electric guitar pickups, but they can also be found in dynamic microphones to stop electromagnetic hum. The other primary kind of guitar pickup is the single-coil pickup.
What happens if pickup is too high?
Your pickups may pick up less sound if they are mounted too high. Pickups are like magnets, so if you set them too high, the string will be pulled down and vibrate less.
What happens if I lower my pickups?
The guitar’s volume will be reduced, and its sound will be mellowed, warmer and smoother.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to alter your tone or improve the overall volume of your guitar, it’s important to choose the right pickup height. Guitar pickup height affects tone. They also affect the overall volume of the guitar, as well as the timbre—the unique sound of each individual string.
So, how high do you have your pickup? And did I cover everything you wanted to know? Let me know in the comments section below (I read and reply to every comment). If you found this article helpful, check out my full blog for more tips and tricks on music production. Thanks for reading, and never stop making music.
Key takeaways
This article covered pickups, why pickup height matters, and whether it affects guitar tone. Here are some key takeaways:
- When the pickup magnets are at the right height, they generate a powerful magnetic field that produces the guitar’s desired tone.
- The tone of a guitar may be altered by adjusting the pickup’s height.
- Extra tips:
- The Strat’s pickups are set up similarly to humbuckers. Adjusting the two screws on each side of the pickup may change the pickup’s height.
- The output of your bridge pickup (located low on the fretboard) will be greater than your neck pickup if you pluck or strum closer to the bridge.
- The only tool you’ll need to fine-tune your pickups is a screwdriver.
- The optimal starting point involves positioning the bridge pickup so that its top is 1/16 inch away from the strings when the string is fretted at the highest fret and the neck pickup so that its top is 3/32 inch away from the strings.
- Understanding the inner workings of pickups is crucial for getting the best sound.
- Your guitar’s treble response and overall output will improve as your pickups get closer to the strings.
- Since the magnetic field around the pickup exerts a magnetic pull on the string, the signal clarity will degrade as the string goes into the field.
