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Guitarists always want the most output possible from their equipment, while wanting it to sound clear and unadulterated without any technical noise or interference, such as the overall humming or buzzing sound that some pickups produce.

Because of this, they inquire about the ideal pickup height, whether or not higher pickups can produce buzzes, hums, noises and many other things. This is it! 

Generally, high pickup can cause a buzz. Therefore, the starting point for the bridge pickup should be at least 1/16″ (1.5 mm) from the high E and 5/64″ (2 mm) from the low E for typical, full-size humbuckers. The other 4 strings have no recommended distances.

Going forward, I’ll be giving you a detailed explanation of the above and responding to related questions you and other guitarists have had on this subject.

Also Read:

Can High Pickups Cause Buzz, Humming Or Noise?

High pickups can create buzz and humming noise

Higher pickups may cause buzz and make the strings hum. It’s likely that the pickups on your electric guitar are set up too close to the strings if you have one. Your guitar strings are made of metal, and electric guitar pickups are magnets. 

The pickups literally pull on the strings, so if they are set too closely, they may pull so hard that the vibrating strings rub against the frets, producing a buzz.

So, pickups are capable of causing a string to buzz. If you have got some fret buzz that seems to defy any other explanation, try lowering your pickups and see what happens.

Your pickups should be adjusted so that the individual pole pieces are no closer to the string than 2mm to 3mm. While maintaining tension on the string at the 22nd or 24th fret, you measure this distance (depending on how many frets you have).

Moreso, the sort of pickups you use is one of the most common causes of the humming and noise.

Almost all single-coil pickups produce a hum or buzz of some description. And this is exactly what they do, whether it’s a standard single-coil like the ones on Stratocasters or a P-90-equipped guitar. And when you activate the distortion and increase the gain knob, it only becomes worse.

The cause of this problem is that pickups essentially serve as an antenna, and electrical interference of some form is constantly present.

Humbuckers, on the other hand, don’t have this problem because they are made so that one coil balances out the hum from the other one.

How Does Pickup Height Affect Sound?

Height of the guitar pickup can affect sound

Due to the distance between the pickups and the guitar strings, the height of the guitar pickups has an impact on sound.

The pickup output and the pattern, pitch, and sustain of the string change as the distance between them decreases. All of these elements ultimately have an impact on the guitar’s sound.

A freely vibrating instrument is required for accurate natural guitar sound reproduction. The magnet in a pickup that is placed too close to the strings will cause the strings to break free from their normal cycle of vibrating.

The magnet will draw the string a little bit closer than it would normally be when its vibrational cycle is closest to the pickup.

On the other hand, the magnet will stop the string from reaching the natural state when it reaches the cycle’s farthest position.

The sound can be strangely affected when the two effects of the pickup’s magnets on the strings are combined. Due to the shifting of the vibration pattern and subsequent output wave, a wobbling or warbling sound is a frequent outcome. 

This is why it is recommended to consider decreasing the pickup height whenever a guitar sounds too harsh, with poor sustain and generally awful tone, before investing any time or money in changing the parts or the guitar.

If the pickup is too high, when the height is decreased, the tone should warm up and become richer or fuller.

This is because the magnetic attraction of the pickup will no longer have as much of an impact on the strings, allowing them to freely vibrate in their regular cycles and harmonics.

There is an ideal height where the tone will be enhanced without dramatically lowering pickup output (volume).

However, many players still find this setting to be too high because they prefer a lighter tone, such as a clean jazz tone, or because they feel the bass tones are too thick or overbearing.

If the pickup is lowered farther, the bass tones will get softer. The result will be a substantial decline in output. If you set the pitch too low, the tone will become thin and feeble as the strings depart from the magnetic field’s center.

Last but not least, always keep your expectations in check. Adjusting pickup height is a quick and inexpensive approach to experiment with a guitar’s sound. 

Does Pickup Height Affect Sustain?

Pickup height does affect sustain

A pickup height influences the guitar’s output level as well as sustain and how the output level corresponds to the first transient of a pluck or strum.

Strings and magnetic pickups interact within a magnetic field to operate together. As a result, how much output signal is produced ultimately depends on their distance from one another.

The pickup’s signal will be louder and more powerful the closer they are to one another. The magnets will provide an extremely strong magnetic attraction to the strings, almost changing their movement, if you place them too close to the strings.

Due to the magnetic interactions between the strings and pickups, the sustain and pitch will also decline along with the clarity.

Also Read: How Does Guitar Body Affect Tone: Thickness, Wood & Size

What Is the Best Pickup Height?

A reasonable pickup height for a bridge pickup on full-size, conventional humbuckers is at least 1/16″ (1.6 mm) from the high E and 3/32” (2.4mm) from the low E.

The other 4 strings have no suggested distances. Their pole pieces should be acoustically adjusted in proportion to the volume set for the first and sixth strings (if necessary).

The neck pickup can be adjusted by ear for a satisfactory balance once the bridge pickup has been set to a useful distance.

The following are the shortest advised distances from the top of the magnet to the bottom of the string at the highest fret (often the 21st or 22nd):

Neck and middle pickups:

  1. low E 1/8” (3.2mm)
  2. high E 3/32” (2.4mm)

Bridge pickup:

  1. low E 3/32” (2.4mm)
  2. high E 1/16” (1.6mm)

In some cases, placing the neck pickup lower than the bridge pickup will result in a better balanced tone, but other string-related issues must also be taken into consideration.

Generally as a rule-of-thumb, the following is advised;

  1. Humbuckers shouldn’t be set closer than 4/64. (1.6mm)
  2. Set Fender-style pickups no closer than 6/64 apart (2.4mm)
  3. Set J-Bass no closer than 5/64 and P-Bass no closer than 6/64 (2.4mm).
  4. Other pickups will likely be close to these numbers, though it’s important to note that hotter pickups can have extremely strong magnets and frequently need to be much lower.

These are guidelines, of course. Despite the idea that pickups should have a consistent height given some manufacturer specifications, there is no absolute norm.

You might want to adjust your pickups higher which may be right for your instrument and pickups.

How To Know If Your Guitar Pickups Are Too High?

A fast technique to determine if your guitar pickups are too high is this: Hold down the highest fret of the low E string.

Now, take a side view of your pickups. Do they have contact with the string, or are they close? If so, they are high. Attempt lowering them.

An additional technique is playing the Low E string at a high fret (like 10th – 15th fret). There could be a “warbling” sound. Your magnet battling your string is the source of that noise. Hence, informing you that it is high.

You could also choose to measure to be sure. Follow the steps below:

  1. Begin by pressing the Low E String (Bass Side) at the highest fret and hold it while you measure.
  2. Measure the distance from the bottom of the string to the top of the Low E Pole.
  3. Do the same thing on the High E String (Treble Side).

In conclusion, it’s critical to set the pickup’s height correctly so that the magnets can produce a powerful magnetic field that gives your guitar the tone you adore.

Setting your pickups too high will make your strings go out of tune.. Additionally, when the pickup is set too low, the Magnetic Field is not optimized.

How To Adjust Pickup Height

Typically, a pickup’s height can be adjusted by turning the appropriately named “height screws” that rest on either side of it.

Turning the screws clockwise will lower the pickup towards the body, while turning them counter-clockwise will bring the pickup closer to the strings.

On both sides, the height can be changed equally. A slope could also be made by making more turns on one side. You can then adjust the tonal balance to your preferred level.

To do this in a step by step manner;

  1. Choose the pickup location where you will be spending the majority of your time first. Play for a while, while paying close attention to how the lows and highs are balanced and how hard the pickup is hitting the amp.
  2. Second: To attain the desired signal intensity, raise or lower both sides of your pickup simultaneously using the instructions above.
  3. Third: adjust the pickup on each side separately (if it’s possible) until you hear the ideal blending of your higher and lower strings.
  4. Fourth: Carry out the procedure once again for each guitar pickup. Always refer back to the output level of the first pickup you changed during this stage. By doing this, it will be possible to minimize abrupt output changes when toggling between switch positions.

It’s advised to adjust your pickup height after a lengthy playing session. Because pickups frequently move after playing and become pushed down, the signal is lost as a result.

It’s not unusual to hear guitar enthusiasts declare that their strings or pickups need to be replaced because they have low output when, in reality, they merely need to increase the pickup a little.

FAQs

Q: Can Pickups Be Too Close to Strings?

Pickups shouldn’t be too close to the strings. The closer the pickup is to the strings, the stronger the signal supplied to the amp. This implies that bringing a pickup up close to the strings also pushes the magnetic field up close. 

If the magnetic field is strong enough, it can produce string buzz, lessen sustain, and modify string vibration to the point that the guitar sounds out of tune.

In fact, adjusting your pickups too close to the strings might seriously damage the tone of your instrument.

Q: How Far Should Active Pickups Be From Strings?

I advise placing active pickups just slightly closer than passive pickups since you can still have some headroom and won’t experience the compression that active pickups may cause.

Active pickups function somewhat differently than passive pickups like Lace Sensors and EMGs. They have weaker magnets or magnetic fields with various shapes.

They may be set quite closely without much difficulty and don’t pull on the strings in the same manner as conventional pickups.

However, when fretting the last fret, we advise starting with a 3mm distance from the strings and then making modest modifications to your preference. The output will change depending on whether the pickup is raised or lowered.

Ifandi S.

About Ifandi S.

Ifandi started Strumming Bars to answer all the questions of a guitarist. As a self-learned guitarist, he remembered how frustrating it was to not find answers to his many questions in the journey. With Strumming Bars, that's no longer the case!

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