Middle Pickup on a Ace Frehley Budokan or other type of guitar

[Fried Fish]

For those who own a three pickup LP like my Ace Frehley Budokan model, what is the best way for you to avoid hitting the top of the middle pickup with your pick? I am careful when playing, but I will eventually have scratches and other marks over time.

 

Someone told me that I should lower the height of the middle pickup, but wouldn't this also lower the overall output of that pickup, right? I do have it at the recommended factory height setting. If it's not the top of the DiMarzio pickup that I am hitting, then its going to be side of the plastic pickup ring especially with downstroke picking. I'm used to playing a traditional 2 pickup guitar without anything inbetween.

 

Any suggestions?

[capmaster]

Hello FF and welcome here.

 

There are three ways on principal: avoiding three-pickup guitars, living with it, or finding ways to avoid it. I assume you tend to do the latter.

 

Several decades of playing three-pickup guitars taught me it's best to play more disciplined and precisely. Using small and heavy picks is of help since they forcibly call for accurate handling. Hitting anything but strings with a pick will always deteriorate performance, so it is best to strictly exclude it.

 

It will also allow for better control on two-pickup guitars. Furthermore, I couldn't imagine picking just where the pickups leave some space. Selecting picking positions for tone is crucial in my opinion. In my early years I sometimes hit pickups om two-pickup guitars, too, but it got better with practicing and experience.

 

As a first step lowering the pickups will help, not just the middle one, all of them. You will feel when the time has come for adjusting them higher again. All the pickups on all of my guitars are set for tonal reasons only. My only troubles are the pickup selector switches on Fender Strats and Teles, and the mini switches on Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs when playing funky alternating strokes - they still call for more discipline of mine...

[Jimi Mac]

I think Cap's got it covered pretty good...

 

I might also add that having it on-the-brain might be making it more noticeable to you too...

 

I don't think it's as big of an issue as we anal-retentive/OCD suffering players tend to make it out to be for ourselves...

 

If you can put it out of your head some I think you'll find you don't do nearly as badly with it as you think you do, especially when it's something that you've fixated upon, like we all do from time-to-time...