ES-339 Pickup Height

[Sproggie]

What height have you got your pups at. I've had mine set as Gibson recommend but it sounds a bit thick and muddy to me. I've lowered them but I can't decide on the sweet spot.

[badbluesplayer]

What height have you got your pups at. I've had mine set as Gibson recommend but it sounds a bit thick and muddy to me. I've lowered them but I can't decide on the sweet spot.

 

To me the 339 sounds good when the pickups are a little lower than the standard recommendations.

[Raptor]

It's very hard to suggest a setting because what sounds good to me, you might not like. As you lower the pickups you lose some volume. If you raise the pickups too high the magnetic field will take hold of the strings and you will lose sustain. Remember of course that the bass strings are thicker than the treble so what might sound good for the treble can rob sustain from the bass side. What sounds good on the bass side might not be good enough on the treble side. So do not forget that you can angle the pickup by raising the treble side more than the bass, and also do not forget about the pole piece screws too. With the pole piece screws you can fine tune to the tone you want hopefully.

I would suggest that you lower both pickups a good deal to start with. Then, which ever pickup you use the most, slowly raise the bass side until you get close to the tone that you want on those strings. Then raise the treble side of the pickup until you get close to your desired tone on those. Then try the guitar playing all the strings to determine how close you are to what you want. Once you get the whole pickup close, you can go through the individual strings again and raise or lower the pole pieces until you find the sweet spot you are seeking. Then you can repeat the procedure for the other pickup leaving the first pickup set where it is. Now remember if you cannot get a string dialed in on the second pickup, you might have to readjust the polepiece on the other pickup. What I mean is, if you have the first pickup set the way you want on say the 6th string, but on the second pickup you feel you are losing sustain, then try lowering the 6th string polepiece on the other pickup to see if it improves. Of course you might lose some of what you like on the first pickup. It is always a trade off. Also remember that the pickups do not have to be set up the same way at all. It is not unsual to see the neck/rhythmn pickup set fairly neutral, or closer on the bass side, but the bridge/lead pickup raised closer on the treble side since that is primarily the side for solos.

I also suggest that you have a piece of paper and a pen or pencil handy. That way you can keep track of how much you adjust each screw in case you need to backtrack. Hope that helps some without confusing you.

Let us know how you make out with it.

Cheers

[Sproggie]

Thanks for that. I'll try it later today and let you know. I'm playing a lot of Freddie King and looking for a nice tone to go with it.

 

BTW I was in Halifax earlier this year and then on to Baddeck. Nice part of the world but too cold for me B)

[KDRR]

What height have you got your pups at. I've had mine set as Gibson recommend but it sounds a bit thick and muddy to me. I've lowered them but I can't decide on the sweet spot.

 

 

Yes ,mine were to thick and muddy also. I lower them with some settings a friend of mine uses. I`ll get the measurements and get back to you. You need a feeler gauge. BTW , Lowering the pickups to the new setting made a big difference. I have Seth Lover pickups in my 339 so I can split the coils but I think it will work for you too. Keith

[Sproggie]

Thanks Keith. I've got a set of Bare Knuckle PG Blues pickups that I've thought about fitting to my 339 but I want to fully explore the stock pickups first. What was it like working in the body? There's not a lot of room in there.

 

Chris

[KDRR]

Thanks Keith. I've got a set of Bare Knuckle PG Blues pickups that I've thought about fitting to my 339 but I want to fully explore the stock pickups first. What was it like working in the body? There's not a lot of room in there.

 

Chris

 

 

Chris , 1/16 from the 22nd fret to the top of both pickups on both E strings with a Feeler Gauge. Hope this helps , it sure did for me with my 339. Keith

[Sproggie]

I found the spot

I've been adjusting the bridge pickup and getting nowhere. Yesterday I did a complete setup from scratch and the action is now a lot lower. Fretting at the 22nd fret the bridge pickup is really nice at a height of around 1/16 inch. I found this difficult to measure so I set the pickup high and trapped a cd between the strings and the pickup. I then lowered the pickup until the cd dropped out. I can't see how the overall string height should affect me setting up the pickup height as I'm always adjusting to the bottom of the strings but it seems to. I also raised the pole piece for the top E string a little as it sounded a bit thin.