How to set the height of your guitar pickups for optimal tone

Why DONT companies just tell you “hey! These are the measurements we decided to use when we decided that this pickup is great!” ????

Sets pickup height with a distortion pedal on... smh

Please could you convert those 5/64 AND 3/64 INCH clearances -etc --into MM ? (easier. for metric countries ) UK etc ?

Excellent info, alot of players/beginners don't know this! Thanks, an we'll be see'n ya again! Tahuya Shawn.

Thank you so much!

Ummm... hmm. If a pickup is "a little muddy on the low end," you DO NOT raise it -- it's already too close. Back it away. True on singles, especially true on humbuckers.
And if a pickup is too muddy or muffled, do not replace it with a hotter pickup -- go cooler. Most players (IMO) would be happier with hotter singles (to reduce the "ice-pickey" tendencies) and cooler buckers.

why do you hold the string down when you're measuring the distance to the pickup?

When you're using 64ths and 32nds, I think it might be time to switch to the metric system 😅

It seems to be very simple: If it sounds right, it is right. The only thing to consider: You may not ad clarity via any amp, but you may amplify bass.

I always thought tha neck pickup should be super low so that way it more Clear tone

Come on man... These pickups have been set insanely high ...

Is stratitis/wolftones unique to strat style pickups? I have a g&l legacy and I’ve found I like the sound best when the height is maxed out but the guitar starts sounding awful as you move higher on the neck. Would other style pickups (p90, goldfoil, paf) not have this issue?

Its good advice. Itd be clearer with a cleaner tone.

All these weird fractions of an inch; I'm thinking metric measurements would be easier.

How to edit each mic height???

Thanks brother...

Imperial/fraction measurements are just a headwreck. Go Metric whenever possible. It makes the world a better place.

When can we see a great video on Telecaster's & Les Paul's pickup height specs???

Tks for those specs. I also own a Fernandes like yours and God I love it more than almost every Strats I've tried.

F%^k you with your american units! No one can understand it! Ale the world uses metric!

Awesome wisdom ❤ Thank you Masters.

Im wondering what pickups are you using? They sound pretty awesome 👏🏼

honestly i just put my pick ups all the way down

Being mostly a HB player and buying a strat years ago, first time I saw what it should be factory. And I do understand you are trying to get it how you "like" it to sound with OD on. However, for me, I want to hear the loudness balance clean an then with some OD since I play it both ways.

Thanks man , brilliant playing!!!!

You should definitely use a clean sound when adjusting pickup heights.

I can not find the right tunning at 12 fret with this set up

He's trying to get better tone on the low E string, adjusts the pickup then jams on the high strings.. "that's better".. But I came here to learn how to adjust humbuckers.

Just use the standard setting for the instrument and play for a while so that you can become familiar with the tone nuances.

Very helpful. Thanks!

dayum! i need the mm hight :( anyone has them?

hello StewMac!! A wonderful video right here. I actually had a problems with my guitar though, for each string, there are certain frets (which means not all the fret) had buzzing and only make a little sound... For example, my D-string sound great at all of the fret except the 3rd and the 5th fret which is bad... what should I do or adjust to make sure that they wont buzz anymore? THANK YOUU!!

I have a guitar with crap composite magnets in the single coils. Super strong, I basically have to lower them really low to keep my 46 size 6th string from warbling. So ya just adjust as it works best for you, and whatever your guitar is made of.

Great tips thanks :-)

Man , American measument system system is so annoying, y are you going to say right about and eighth of inch when we have an measuring system that can literally give you specific decimals

I like to put a line 6 on the most ridiculous distortion setting then play a note way up high and you can hear the magnets pulling the string out of tune, kind of a wavering sound like when you’re tuning 1 string to another, you hear the wavering go away when they are in tune. When the pickups are too high you hear it wavering, then just lower until the wavering goes away. Do both sides and then also the pole pieces if you have too. Then just tell the customer to turn their amp up as that’s what they’re for. Especially important for people using lots of gain. What does everyone think about this method?

Thank you a lot , have pickups in the mail coming my way soon and it’s my 1st time replacing pickups on my Strat ,
I’ve got my fingers cross 🤞🤞it’ll be fine...

why ? why americans and their stupid inches ??

Waaaaaaay tooooo high

Question for a everyone . Have you noticed when you raise the pickups to Fender specks . The tuning on electroic tuner is way more senitive the closer you get to string . What you says Babe ?

Thanks to your video on setting pickup height, this really has come in handy in getting the best sound from the electric cigar box guitars I build. It's a seeming small detail that can easily get overlooked by those of us who build CBG's, but pays off in huge dividends. Thanks again!

Best thing I ever did for my Strat was replace the stock pickups with a matched set of Wilkinson low-gauss, high-output, dual-rail humbuckers. Low gauss means I can get the pickups close to the strings to drive the front end of my amp. The pickups are balanced for output in each position, noise is greatly reduced, and string to string balance is a lot better. Great move all around. Anybody want a set of Strat pickups, cheap?

Funny, when you said it sounded muddy, I expected you to lower the bass side, but making it higher actually made it sound clearer. Good tips! Cheers

Thank you! I learned a lot.

Awesome guitar dude. Would love a Fernandes

My problem with the strat is I want to hear more of the fundamental tones (lower string) because the guitar resonance is so treble. I don't lower the side of the pickup under the bass strings for this reason.. I switched to a jazzmaster because it has more lows (I may switch to a tele as well). Because I need to hear my chords in full while writing songs. You may fill a good spot in a band with your treble and high mids sound, but for a good songwriting experience you need another guitar or the pickups adjusted to give more of the low mids and bass tones.

Unfortunately this guy doze not no nothing about Hight .the lower the better.give more waves . having them close to the string destroy all the real Fender Strat pickups.if U want volume then use your amp

“The goal…is to get even volume between the neck, middle and bridge pickup…” No. it is NOT. The goal is to get even, consistent volume across the strings…so that no one string is louder or deader than any other…