63 ES-335 Memphis Bass Response.

[soundjunkie]

I won't bore anyone with the story behind this, so I'll keep it short.

 

First off I love Gibson guitars and playing a LP Custom since '76 when I bought it. That guitar is gone, now have this monster 335. My problem is in the EAD strings which are dull and mushy on neck position. On the bridge, they are much clearer and brighter. So, I've deducted it isn't strings and or frets or "dead spots" on the fretboard. Should I raise or lower the neck pickup bass side? I'm not looking for a volume increase unless it results in more clarity and focus. This guitar came with perfect setup straight from Memphis other than maybe a pickup adjust. Anyone know the optimum height for neck and bridge pups, Burstbucker 1 and 2?

 

Thanks!

[SteveFord]

I think you're going to have to experiment which is easy enough.

 

Just keep track of the number of turns on the screw(s). It sounds too high from your description.

 

 

 

[soundjunkie]

I think you're going to have to experiment which is easy enough.

 

Just keep track of the number of turns on the screw(s). It sounds too high from your description.

 

The neck pickup looks about a 1/4" from the strings. I figured it was too low? The bridge pickup is much closer to the strings. I realize that the string energy is higher at the neck so that pickup should be lower, but 1/4" seems excessive.

[SteveFord]

Mine is only around 3mm with the low E string depressed.

 

Get out your screw driver and spend 5 minutes fooling around until you get the sound you want.

 

 

 

[soundjunkie]

I thought someone would give me a factory spec. Oh well, out comes the screwdriver.

[capmaster]

There are specs but any spec would have to refer to the string action of the particular guitar. I think it is a good idea to start from about 3 mm or 1/8" for either neck and bridge pickup, for both with E1st respectively E6th depressed at 22nd fret. Thereafter you might tweak this basic setting for tone and level.

[soundjunkie]

Thankyou! LOVE my '63 335 Memphis! Never had a 335, but this one has the perfect neck carve for me and the Burstbucker pickups sound amazing on this guitar. If I had the money, I would get a burst version too. I'll be tweaking the pickups this afternoon.

[badbluesplayer]

I'd start like Capmaster said, with the neck pickup about 1/8" from the strings when you depress the strings at the highest fret. You might want to adjust the pole pieces so that the screws under the a and d strings are a little higher than the plain ones. That will help you get a more even volume between the plain strings and the wound strings.

[soundjunkie]

:( Story thickens. I went to adjust this weekend and discovered the neck pickup suffers from the "Gibson Magic Neck Pickup Angle", meaning that when I adjust it to 3mm to the poles the back of the pickup almost touches the strings. This is a $3900 guitar and I don't feel like filing down the pickup ring to level, but see no alternative other than to bend the tabs on the humbucker which is not a good option either. I've ordered a couple Stew Mac picklup rings to file and keep the original in case I ever sell. Any other ideas for getting more clarity out of the bass strings? I never had a 335, so I'm a 335 newb. From most of the demos I've heard the bass strings lack sustain are a little thumpy and muddy.

 

I might take it to a luther to see if the nut and saddles are filed correctly. That might be choking the bass strings and not permitting them to ring out. The weird thing is that the bridge pickup is pefect and bass strings nice and tight and bright. That's why I think it's the neck pickup height.

[senojnad]

I never heard of the "Gibson Magic Pickup Angle".

 

However -- here some pretty good general guidelines for improving pickup tone quality:

 

 

• Raising or lowering the body of the pickup. In nearly everycase, raising the body of the pickup will increase overall output, bassresponse, and give you punchier dynamics and ‘attack’. Lowering it will havethe opposite effect.
• Raising or lowering the pole pieces. In nearly all cases,raising the pole pieces will give you a brighter tone, better string definition(depending on how you set them), and slightly higher output. Lowering them willhave the opposite effect.

 

PROBLEM: weak-sounding pickups, with poor bass response. SOLUTION: raisethe whole body of the pickup closer to the strings. Raising the whole body ofthe pickup will give you more ‘punch’ and output.

 

 

PROBLEM: dull-sounding pickups, with no sparkle and poor stringdefinition. SOLUTION:raise the pole pieces and adjust to balance the output of each string. Raisingthe pole pieces will give you a brighter tone, and enable you to emphasiseindividual strings as needed.

 

 

PROBLEM: pickups are very loud and/or too muddy. SOLUTION: lowerthe whole body of the pickup. Lowering the whole body of the pickup will lowerthe output and ‘clean up’ the dynamic response.

 

 

PROBLEM: harsh-sounding pickups, with unpleasant overtones on somestrings. SOLUTION:lower the pole pieces. Lowering the pole pieces will ‘mellow’ the tone of thepickup, and reduce magnetic interference with the strings which can create‘wolf-tones’, ‘stratitis’, or other strange overtones.

 

 

 

 

[Ken Rayba]

If I remember correctly, the Gibson Factory Specs for the pick ups are 3/32" on the neck pick up and 1/16" on the bridge pick up. Measuring the distance from the bottom of the 6th and 1st string on the last fret.