I say trust your ears. If you like the sound of your guitar then leave it as is. If you are thinking of swapping pickups I suggest to play with the screws as you might get what you were looking for. Worse case scenario is that you just put the screws back where they were and you can make a choice from there. I've had pickups that basically "woke up" from factory setting with just a few minutes of playing with the screw. To my ear the pickup gets clearer, less muddy. I get a bit more twang and jangle so that suits me fine. I learned this from the screws of Filtertron pickups being pretty high off of the body of the pickups. Again, trust your ears.😉👍✨
This is quite confusing because when I recently bought a new guitar with humbuckers, especially plain G was very loud compared to wound D when all polepieces were at same height, and I could get it very much to balance by adjusting those screws. 🤓 P.S. I checked what I in fact did, and I just turned G string polepieces 2 mm down.
Adjusting pickup height will determine overall gross frequency response and output, and then adjusting individual screws adjusts the balance in output between strings to compensate for the different thicknesses of the core wire. I'm always amazed at musicians who reject a pickup without adjusting the pickup in the guitar.
So a couple of thoughts. 1. Just because Seth Lover didn't add the screws because he felt they were important doesn't mean they aren't. Happy accidents happen all the time. 2. You say that the field gets weaker because it's pulling the scrw up out of the bobbin, but that's just one type of humbucker. On some DiMarzios for example, the screws extend well past the bottom of the bobbin, so when you adjust them the length still in the bobbin is the same. 3. As someone pointed out above, field strength does not weaken linearly in space, so a weaker field closer to the string may still produce a stronger signal. Personally, I either don't adjust them, or I adjust them slightly to follow the radius of the strings and fretboard, but I can hear the difference when I do.
The way the probe tip was positioned . . . Those readings absolutely made sense . . . However, I like to see the readings from a static probe position . . . let say 5mm . . . to emulate the string distance from bobbin . . . from the two screw heights . . . I suspect that these will read differently . . .
Dylan Talks Nonsense? The higher reading on the lower screw is due to the probe being closer to the bar magnet compared to the higher screw. And the conclusion that raising the screw height doesn't work contradicts why they were added to P90s (remarks at 3:30 and 6:04) in the first place. If the measurements were at the same height above the pickup as MSirirat describes, we might actually have valid data. I know from experience that screw height makes a difference, but I also know that overall pickup height makes a bigger difference - maybe if the measurements were done properly we would be able understand why adjusting screw height seems less effective than we might expect, which is I think what Dylan is actually trying to demonstrate.
You can measure this any way you want but I can deffinitely hear a higher volume from the strings I screw the poles closer to. Usually end up with two three pole stairs from the low E to the D that's the closest to the string and the G, who is the furthest to the high E. I do this completely by ear. In soapbars I set them at the same string distance (fretting the string in the last fret, 2.5mm from the low E and 2mm, then testing overall volume ballance between pickups and making minor adjustments and lastly setting each pickup's poles to match the string ballance). You can 100% tell the closer you have the pole to the string it sounds louder. I guess it could change if the screw is way outside the bobbin which should not be necessary at all to balance them out.
you might be able to hear an EQ change depending on how far away the screws are from the bobbin, again not noticeable if you are just balancing the string volume whithin the pickup having the G string all the way screwed in.
lastly, for dog ear P90s you can definitely tell if you're trying to balance the lower sounding bridge pickup in some Casinos, for example, and you just raise the pole pieces it thins the pickup greatly and exactly what you are explaining happens, well, kind of, you do get a thinner sound but you get more volume. But, if you balance the output between neck and bridge with a shim and then just use the pole pieces to mildly balance each string's volume it works great and you can't practically tell the way the mildly closer pole string sounds thinner than the others in context.
Exactly, because you actually play the guitar instead messing with meters that have nothing to do with sound. The true test is a db meter. You will see a massive difference in volume with a db meter.
@@Cody-my1yy absolutely, also he measures touching the pole instead of at string distance. I do agree that EQ changes (the pickup gets thinner) if you raise the poles and lower the bobbin to match volume before and after. I also agree that people mess with things they don't understand. I myself used to slightly copy the radius of the fretboard without considering that wound strings need to be closer than plain ones, specially the D string as it's the one furthest away and the G (if it's plain) string sounds a lot louder. Leo Fender knew this and staggered the pole pieces but for a wound G...
@@jmledesma88 exactly, Setting the screw Higher may be make weaker magnetic field, however that screw is closer to the string, making the net output or db in that string higher. The all the way around lowering the screw. I think Gibson was right asking to Seth lover to put screws in the Paf pick ups. Other wise what a boring pickups 😅😂
For a proper experiment, measure the magnetic field at string level on a mounted pick-up with slug up or down. The string will provide a stable reference distance from the magnet in the pick-up.
Interesting video and well done. I think for more information, you can test all the pickup screws down with the meter test probe approximately at string height distance..... and then retest the same pickup with all the screws adjusted up (again with the test probe at about string height distance from the pickup). I would be curious to see what type results you get. Thanks for doing the video. Interesting stuff...Gave you a sub. Phil
What is your opinion on the direction of the screw slot on the adjustable PU? I had a Certified Gibson Luthier, who I went to one time, tell me the slot heads had to be parallel to the direction as the strings. Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.....
Dylan, shouldn't it make sense to install screws of different lengths in each slot, that would have the affect of compensating for differences in common string outputs?
Well, Gibson in their "golden era" radiused the screws with the fingerboard. But you're talking less than a MM of height difference between the E strings and the D/G strings. So you're aren't losing the gauss that you would doing an extreme example as you showed. The fact is, that if you put a cover over the pickup, even as flat as you can get the bobbin inside the cover, people turn the screws a few MM's to poke out of the cover. So I guess "the holy grail PAF's" that everybody goes after had "weak" screw coils by application and design and that's the sound. That said, that could be the defining difference between a covered and non-covered pickup.
They were designed so well that theyre still used today and nobody has been able to improve them, even active pickups, some like em but most want the standard humbucker. Has it been 75 years now? Thats really something, there may never be an improvement to the original design. People keep trying but not yet anyway
Bass side lowered with poles raised, treble side raised with flush poles. Makes for a thicker sound on the high strings and a bit more articulation on the low strings. Just my preference.
This actually explains pretty well why I like having them slightly raised. I find my burstbucker 2/3 combo to be a bit muddy and a bit hot on the output. Raising the polepieces up a few turns, lowering the pickup slightly, gives me a bit less output, a little more clarity, while still being VERY different from my tele and strat.
Yep, did this on the neck pickup on my Paul. Stopped it being boomy and muddy. Dropped the overall height then raised the pole pieces a smidge. Much better.
I have an HSS strat with the humbucker adjusted this way. I think it sounds better split as well Nothing seems to fix how it sounds combined with the middle pup though. Eventually I’ll rewire it to combine with the neck instead and hope that it sounds better
That's very interesting Dylan that the gauss reduces as the pole is screwed out! Normally when I adjust humbuckers, I have them a little lower on the bass side, then start adjusting the pole pieces from there. But to tell the truth, it's pretty hard to tell the difference in output. I just adjust them until all strings sound even'ish.
I've experimented a lot with Pickup Body height, and Screw height on Humbuckers with Screw Pole Pieces. Both make a difference. I adjust the body height to get the basic sound I want, and then adjust the screws to get the balance between strings I want. It's critical to use your ears, and not be swayed by your eyes. I've had a couple Pickups where certain Screw Pole Pieces made the particular strings they were under unmanageably hot. No amount or raising or lowering the pole pieces alone or in combination with the other pole pieces or with the body height or changing string gauges would allow me to get a balanced volume across all of them. I also tried some different types of screws/materials in the offending locations, and learned a lot from doing that, but matching threads per inch and pitch was not easy. I looked up the screw types, and determined they were called "Filister Screws," before I decided to Mod the problematic Pole Pieces, just in case I needed to replace them. I got out the Dremel, and started grinding off a little of the bottom of the screws where the threads are, putting them back into the Pickup to test if it was making them adjustable into a range that I could get a balanced volume. I worked slowly and carefully. After a several tries, I achieved a workable volume balance within the range of adjusting those screws up and down. I ended up removing about 1-1.5 mm from the bottom of the screws. I wouldn't suggest anyone do this who doesn't have a good idea what they're doing. I had never read about anyone doing such a Mod, but it seemed to me like it could work, and if it didn't it was reversible for a small expense. Luckily, everything worked out, and that made two of my favorite Pickups work the way I wanted. YMMV
D, another helpful and great video, thanks. question... why do you bother with using screws at all ? i was a little surprised you did not give us the gause measurement of the slug coil. thanks, steve
No. By and large. You can have over wound super hot pickups with flat magnet pole pieces (on both single coil and HB) but you will lose dynamics and treble contect, but it'll act as a "natural" limiter or compressor of some sorts, and easily distort whatever you plug into, almost. But it sure gives you an even output.
I have not ever adjusted the pole screws on any pickup. I do have a P90 guitar, but it is mounted into the body and has an adjustable height for the whole pickup. I have never found any need to adjust the pole screws.
I have ephiphone riviera with p90’s and I always had the issue with the 6th spring being too loud, took to my guitar guy, and he adjusted the screws on the pick up’s and the magic happened, now plays like a champ, and is perfectly balance
So then why are all the pole pieces on my fender ultra at different heights? Mind you they are non adjustable slugs. Is that just cause single coil pickups are different than a humbucker?
I guess the question is, does the screw’s closer proximity to the string make up for the loss in Gauss? Also, how does this apply to pickups with just one row of pole pieces, and no fixed slug coil, such as those dog-ear P-90s? I had a bass years ago with a DiMarzio P-Bass pickup, featuring individual screw pieces in a row, and raising one of them up individually definitely made a string louder.
Reverse mounted pickups seem to make a difference to pinch harmonics. I find they happen a lot easier with a reverse mounted neck pickup than a correctly mounted one. Unless I've just suddenly learned how to do them correctly...
Maybe it's just me, but I definitely hear a difference when adjusting the screws on a humbucker. I start with the high E polepiece screwed iin and evel with the top of the pickup at 3/32 away from the string. The low E is done the same, but 4/32 away from the bottom of the strings. The remaining strings are adjusted to match the radius or until I'm happy.
Thank you so much for this, Dylan. I unfortunately read on forums about this when I was trying to get the mud out of my P90 neck pickup in my LP special. Dropping the pickup down and raising the pole pieces was supposed to make the treble stronger and drop the mud out a little. It didn't do anything for me or at least nothing positive that I could hear. I got so frustrated with it that I just returned the screws to their normal height and dealt with it the mud until another solution came along.. At least now I know that it was bullshit all along and will never ever play that game again, LOL . Once again, you share great knowledge with those of us who really need and want it!
Isn’t that the point? You can adjust your bass side so it’s not as muddy or screwing in your treble side if the tone is a bit too harsh? That’s what I’ve always done (the inverse adjustment). Especially if adjusting my pickup height didn’t do the trick. Then again my ears over the years have gone to hell so it just doesn’t matter as much anymore!
I never touched mine but I told a buddy of mine that you could adjust the balance by pulling a screw up higher if that string was weak "in the mix" which he did.. now understanding I should have told him to raise the ones that were strong and leave the weak one alone, I feel obliged to tell him that I was an idiot. Anyway he seemed very pleased with what he did so I might as well not burst his bubble. It's all perception anyway.
Yup, I liked just for that. But also the demonstration that the mag strength gets lower when you raise a pole piece was surprising and interesting. So double like there I guess. ;)
I get what you are saying. But I'm not 100% convinced that the Gauss meter reading translates directly to impact. For example, even if the field is weaker at the top of the screw, it is also true that this weaker field is closer to the string. And I think electromagnetic fields tend to weaken in proportion to the cube of the distance. To me, the only way to really assess impact is to measure the signal the PU produces with the screws at different heights, in a controlled test where you can reliably reproduce the "string pluck" (I envisage some sort of "mechanical plucker"). Or measure the frequency spectrum of plucking all 6 strings and see how the spectrum changes after PU screw adjustments.
Words have power. Careful what you say. If a guy on the internet tells you, "this is a fact, this is science", a lot of people are going to believe it. I agree with the comments below. Use your ear, experiment. That is what guitars are for. That is why so many guitarist monkey with their guitars. To get their own sound. Everyone's ear is different. We are not meters. We are human. Plus, most of us probably has Tinitus or some hearing loss, which skew's everything anyway! 😁🤣😂🙃
The screws DO adjust the string balance, just like they do on a p-90. They are not there just for marketing. Most of Fender’s original pickups had staggered pole pieces to compensate for the differences in output from one string to another. When Lover designed the wide range humbucker for Fender, he again included height adjustment screws. When Seth Lover specified his ideal humbucker for Seymour Duncan, he once again included height adjustment screws. While it was his opinion that Gibson only wanted the screws for marketing, I would assume they wanted them for the same reason they had them on the p-90: to adjust string balance. Seth Lover did not play guitar, so he probably didn’t understand the importance of this feature immediately, being more concerned with the hum canceling aspect.
I agree. They weren't part Of SL's original spec but that doesn't mean they weren't found to be useful by loads of players and almost no pickup manufacturer doesn't spec them.
The staggered poles on old strats show that Leo was mostly trying to follow the fretboard radius except for the "B" string which must have been louder than the others because it's slug is the lowest. I'd say it's ok to lower the screw for the B string a little or raise the others slightly and see how that affects the string-to-string balance. Everything in moderation! As for myself, I seldom adjust the screws for individual strings.
@@andybedford7889 Thanks for your reply. I might agree that Leo was trying to match the neck radius but for the appearance of some photos in books that I own. There are pics showing that players like Chuck Berry, Django Reinhardt and others had their pole screws adjusted a lot like the Fender Strat magnet stagger. (Yes, Django played a Rio brand electric archtop in his later years.) And if you take a good look at the so-called Charlie Christian pickup the blade has a sizable notch machined into it under the B String. When I was a teenager I thought that some players used to file that notch into the blade to tone down their too-hot second string. I didn’t know at the time that filing the blade would probably heat it up and ruin the magnetic strength. Back when Charlie, Django and Chuck were in their prime most electric guitar strings were made with steel cores and nickel windings. Nickel has some magnetic properties, but not nearly on the order of steel, which is used much more often these days. I believe that this is the reason why the magnet slugs on Stratocaster pickups are taller under the G, D, A, and Low E strings. The vintage stagger has been used by Fender and other pickup makers as a selling point for a long time, but it doesn’t make sense tonally or musically nowadays when most players are using an unwound third and wound strings that are about 92% steel with a nickel plating that comprises only about 8% of the wrap material. I mean, really, why put the tallest magnet under the loudest string? In the nickel string era (during which I first learned to set up and play guitars and basses) the plain strings were usually louder than the wound ones. But nowadays take a look at the composition of a typical set of.010-.046 “nickel wound” strings. The term nickel wound is misleading unless you purchase what they call “pure nickel wound.” If you do a little geometry, keeping in mind that a guitar string is basically a cylinder, and allowing for the air spaces between the windings, the typical nickel plated wound low E string contains FIFTEEN TIMES the steel as the high e, with a correspondingly greater influence on the disturbance of the pickup’s magnetic field. This is most easily observed when playing a humbucker-loaded guitar straight into an amp with nothing else in the signal chain. Some people hardly notice this, but it drives a few of us batcrap crazy. That’s why I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed and Gibson’s sales force convinced the company to keep the adjustable pole screws. Ideally, they should have put them into both coils so the player could balance the output of the new lighter strings that were just coming into use, often with a plain third that was way louder than the wound D. When you raise the pole under your weak high e to balance it with the G string you are cheated out of the full humbucking tone and you get more of a single coil sound from the first string. It was a giant improvement for a lot of players when pickup designers like Bill Lawrence and Larry DiMarzio started putting adjustable screws in each coil. This gave savvy players even more control over the balance and tone of their strings. Shortly afterwards, Carvin came out with their excellent M-22 Humbucking Pickups, which had 22 adjustable screws, eleven set in each coil. This was another huge improvement, and it gave birth to what I consider the finest humbucking pickup of all time, the Carvin M-22SD. This was a very impressive pickup and tonally an improvement over the DiMarzio and Lawrence designs. It was about as loud as the SDHP, but tonally superior in that it had thicker magnets of Alnico 5 instead of the ceramics used by DiMarzio and the sort of oddball Alnico 8s used by Lawrence. With the Carvin M-22SD you could achieve the optimal balance and tone, and the double rows of eleven pole screws ensured that there was no falloff in volume when bending strings. I put these pickups in many of my custom builds and I have just one pair left, brand-new and unpotted, that I’m saving for a very special project. Nowadays it seems that most players have so much tone-sucking crap connected between their guitar and their amp that they don’t notice much difference when they adjust their pickups. I know guys and gals that have never even touched the height screws, let alone the individual pole screws. If they’re satisfied, that’s fine by me, but I’ve been after a specific tone for about fifty years. Back in the late 1970s I figured out how to make my Ibanez Deluxe 59’er Model sound great through a Pignose that was run into a Peavey hundred-watt head and a special cabinet that I built myself. That cab was loaded with a fifteen-inch full-range guitar speaker that I bought from Carvin. The Peavey head was just basically a slave amp-all of the tone came from the Pignose and the guitar. The sound I was chasing was the sound of Duane Allman’s Les Paul on ABB at Fillmore East and Eat a Peach. I got pretty damn close to it back in about 1978, and though I blew up the Pignose and sold the Peavey rig I can still get the sound I want from an Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy and a Marshall Valvestate combo. If you like the sound of Duane Allman’s guitar on the albums I mentioned, take a look at my long comment given about two weeks ago on this video. It requires modern-not Fifties-wiring and very specific adjustments to the pole screws, pickup heights, and the slant of the pickups from the treble to bass sides. And if you try it, start with the strings off the guitar in case you lower the bass side of your neck pickup too far and it drops into the guitar body. (If that happens it’s not the end of the world. If you lose the height spring it’s probably sticking to the bottom of your pickup.)
Hey Dylan. So when I was like 14 I had a really cheap epiphone Les Paul Jr, that had a humbucker instead of a P90. In my infinite wisdom as a 14 year old who just started learning how to play powerchords, I thought I could make my humbucker sound like a single coil by taking the screws out of the pickup. What was I actually doing to the signal by doing this?
For single coil pickups, US Fenders use staggered height slugs, while G&L & MIM Fender use radiused-height slugs. I don't know if it's psychological, but I prefer the radiused-height slugs. Therefore, for humbuckers, I adjust the screws to match the radius of the strings, while keeping the screwheads as close to the bobbins as possible. And I like to move my pickups really far away from the strings, like deep into the body.
Hi Dylan! I'm curious, please, can you explain how does this apply to the G&L MFD pickups? Maybe because they're single coils and don't other coil with slugs as "parameters" to get equal can they affect the sound somehow? I'm tryin to understando how does this adjustment translate in strenght and eq. Thank you very much! Cheers!
But why is the single coil pickups, pole pieces staggered then? I say it all depends. G&L "Magnetic Fields" pickups has adjusting screws INSIDE the pole pieces, which are the actual magnets. On a humbucker the magnet bar resides at the bottom of the pickup, so adjustment screws are a little overkill and just for shows. Because the other coil of the humbucker pickup has just flat "poles" with no screws. The screws, which has NO physical connection with the magnet bar in the bottom when raised up. It depends HOW the pickup (single coil or humbucker) is designed from the ground up. I have heard just as much difference on some pickups by adjusting the screws, as I have not heard any difference at all. The pole pieces in any (ok, most) single coil pickups are ACTUALLY the magnets and makes a significant difference from a pickup with a magnet bar att the far bottom. On G&L pickups they have these screws INSIDE the magnetic pole pieces which very much makes a difference. And yes, if set too close, it will cause MSP (Magnetic String Pull) on certain strings which has the least tension, like plain G-string or low E-string. It is not a clear cut or set in stone rule of thumb. Mind you that the actual screws can be magnetic or non magnetic too. Pure nickel? Slim chance! Aluminium? No way. Stainless Steel or solid Iron? Yes, big time. There is a diff, albeit subtle. On some pickups so subtle that it is neglible. You're right in that raising the whole pickup makes a much larger difference, but I am the one who thinks it should and MUST be tamed for each string individually. You can slant the pickup in either way raising it on the treble side and lower it on the bass side until hell freezes over, but it won't ever beat individual pole pieces height for a) each string b) radius neck. So, when do we see pickups with RADIUSED form? It's just the pole pieces that are radiused or staggered, so there must be something to it. With pickups with RAILS on there's very little to do. The plain G-string still jumps out like a sore thumb in volume in relation to the others. You can curb it all with limiters and compressors, but then you lose the (all) dynamics. If there's a pickup with rails where you can adjust individual height... please let me know... :-) Plus the magnets are always the rails, not in the rails, THE rails. There's too much difference going on between the wound strings and plain strings on guitar (on electric bass less so, but still) so individual adjustment is a must. I am even a stickler for that the pole pieces should reside DIRECTLY under each string and not go slightly beside it, as they do on neck pickups because they have not calculated the decreasing string space that is happening from the bridge towards the nut. And on the posh boutique pickup Q-tuners theres night and day difference when adjusting the 3 (!) pole pieces screws. All in all, I say only: It depends.
My old Les Pauls came with all screws on both pickups aligned horizontally from the factory. Both my post-2019 ones came with the screws randomly turned. I wonder why Gibson did that. I have a hard time imagining Gibson USA is intently adjusting the pole pieces.
Connect the guitar to the PC interface. Put a VU meter in the DAW. Adjust till its close enough. It usually follows the single coil staggering. (G string down. D string up. E string up a tiny bit. E and A can be controlled by lowering the bass side.
I have two guitars and one bass I can adjust the pickups on without making serious alterations to the guitars. The other is a Wolfgang Special. I'll trust Eddie's judgment on that one (for now). Seymour Duncan's website suggests 3.2~mm away from strings for pickups. I don't touch the screws on the pickups. There aren't even screws on the pickups on my Ibanez guitar (the guitar I've learned most of what I know on over the last 20 years) or my bass. That 3.2mm height what mine two guitars with pickguard rings are set to. My Wolfgang is factory standard (though I want to find a way to get the neck higher without a pick guard ring). I'm going to be looking at my bass tonight. In short: I don't mess with pickup screws. Only pickup height.
Didn't Ray Butts invent the Filtertron at the same time as Gibson's humbucking pickup? Seems like his pickup has adjustable polepieces on both coils. Why is that? I have never been one to adjust my polepieces on Gibson type humbuckers because it didn't make any dramatic difference in sound though I do adjust them on my 70's Fender Wide Range Humbuckers because the difference is noticeable(also invented by Seth Lover).
I've been playing guitar, Les Pauls, for over 50 years, and I've never adjusted the individual string screws on the pickup,..... until a few weeks ago. I'll likely never do it again!
I think if you can't play very well, it won't help. Even if you kept shooting for the rest of your life. Nothing can replace exercise ;) We are looking for the holy grail, instead of sitting on our asses and playing - the rest is just looking for excuses ;) Besides, just as we see colors, we hear differently. Sounds good when you like it ;) ✌&🧡 And remember - the producer doesn't want to help you - He wants to rob you of your money ;)
Interesting stuff. I appreciate this video...its an aspect that I haven't seen much discussion about. I wonder if there's a significant difference between tube amps and modelers with respect to screw adjustments. I never messed with pickup screws with tube amps...like you, I adjusted pickup height and played. However, I do get worthwhile results in my modeling rig (I no longer own a tube amp so I can't compare them myself). So, in light of your video, I am interested in why I hear those changes...wound strings have better clarity and unwound get brighter when I raise the screw in relation to the slug. I wonder if the reason is that it is changing the interaction between the slug and screw coils, re: changing which of the two is gathering more energy from the string. It may be that I was thinking that raising the screw was making the screw coil brighter when, as you point out it is decreasing gauss, and thus emphasizing the slug? Does the type of magnet and amount of winds matter? I use A5 overwound bridge pickups, fwiw...how might a humbucker with A5 /5000/42 gauge wire versus another with A2/4000/42 differ on this subject? Another thought, and this might be idiotic (I acknowledge that I only know enough to be misguided LOL) but is there something going on with phasing? In the end, I can make the guitar sound better by adjusting the screws, and that is really the only bottom line for me.
Interesting. For me it's been the opposite, just by listening - when I raise the polepieces the signal gets stronger. However, what I have been doing is adjusting the individual polepieces according to each string's volume, which is based on it's core diameter. That way, lowest E is loudest, then A and D. When it comes to G, again, it's louder (actually loudest out of all strings on 6 string guitar), then B and high E. As such, I have adjusted the polepieces so that the one under low E is flush, then A a bit higher and D higher again. Then the one under G is flush again (even lower than low E), then B a bit higher and E even higher. I have found that way, just by listening that it balances out all the strings and all of them become audible. But again, I did this by ear, not with a gauss meter. I have also checked that my polepieces go way below the pickup (I use Dimarzio Transitions). The problem is that many people adjust the polepieces according to guitars radius. I also used to do the same. What happens it that it sends the whole guitar out of whack, making it unbalanced, as the G string, which is very loud by itself, becomes even louder. In that case it's better to leave the polepieces flat and don't worry about that. IMO the polepieces make for some fine adjustment when it comes to the strength of individual string volume and gain - I have not experienced any tone change (like more treble, less bass or whatnot) as some people claim. It's different than moving the entire pickup which fundamentally changes attack, response, compression, may add more bass, may add clarity etc.
I often adjust the screws to balance the output of the wound and unwound strings - I was surprised that I didn't get the sort of "magnetic distortion" as I moved the screws quite close to the strings. Now I know why. Thanks for the follow-up video.
I always leave my humbuckers flat. I usually leave them alone, but will change the pickup height if the volume needs adjusting. No problems after 50 years.
Dylan are you allowed to build a humbucker that fits in dogear P90 cover like the one Mr Lover made, so we can replace dogear p90 with dogear humbucker? I bet alloys used today for the screws are quite different from what Gibson used in the 50s and 60s. The older ones sounded much less harsh to my ears.
I see the pole piece height adjustment as a tunable focus for the sweet spot of a given string vibrating within the pickup's induced magnetic field. There may be sonic pros and cons to adjusting this. Admittedly the difference is usually neglible or even inaudible to most folks but you can sure affect how a particular string is communicating information to the coil as it vibrates and modulates the signal by small voltage fluctuations in a given frequency range. And if I as a player think it helped something about my sound to adjust one or two poles of a pickup, that's reason enough to do it. But on 3/4 of my guitars the pickups sound fine and work well as they came and I leave the pole adjustment alone. Why bother? Mainly, on all guitars just adjust the overall height and slope of the pickup for best string/pick clearance and overall output balance for how and what you play. If you wanna adjust the poles there's no harm really- just keep notes so you can reverse your changes back to where you started. Have fun with it.
Ok so my setup. High e is a little closer to the strings then low E. Say 1.5 ish mm treble 2mm bass then adjusted half or quarter turns to taste / balance output between the two. I do raise the screw a little on the bass side of the neck. But cause it takes some of the low bass out. And gives it a sweeter higher frequency sound. So bass side from screw pole to bottom of the string is about 1.8 mm ish. Again this is all to taste and feel. But it works for my Les Paul. My strat on the other hand. Low almost level to the pickguard bass. Treble sits about 3-4 mm high. Or just above the adjustable screw height. Look for david Gilmore strat pickup height. Looks similar. But again all to taste. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to making sound and music. Just do what feels right. And keep Rocking. Even if it is just for you in your bedroom at 2 in the morning. It’s always fun to tinker. Just remember to take measurements before. That way you can always set it back to the start. If you get lost or the sound gets away from you.
Adjustment is necessary in some cases. If you've got ceramic magnets, thicker strings, and use open tunings -- if you don't adjust your pole pieces, a lot of your chords will sound like crap. If you have a pickup with no adjustable pole pieces, and the same thicker strings, ceramic magnets, etc., being a little creative with individual string height and overall pickup height can also compensate. Being that a lot of players use light strings and don't play a ton of full chords, pole piece adjustment may not be as crucial, but believe me, all my guitars have ceramic magnet pickups, and I play 50-12's, and pole piece adjustment is crucial. Otherwise, you get a string or two that drowns out the others, sticks out like a sore thumb, which really sucks musically and sonically. I also agree with the other poster who says that the gauss is probably better measured at string height, because even if there is less gauss at the head of the pole piece, the closer proximity to the string, and increased interaction with the string, will probably counteract the decreased gauss. And then you also have to take into consideration that at string height (especially if your pickup is more than a few millimeters from the strings -- some guitarists have their pickups set further away from the strings than others) any individual string is being 'seen' by more than one pole piece. So when you're adjusting pole pieces, it's really adjusting just one part of the whole magnetic field. If that makes any sense.
Adjusting the height of dog eared P90 screws was a bigger thing in the mid to late 60’s not for tone but for output. More output to overdrive amps that weren’t made for overdrive.
Wow thanks man! I always thought the exact opposite but that totally makes sense that the further away from the body of the pickup the screw is the less powerful it'll be. Time to re-adjust some pickups! Man i wish i had youtube back when i started playing, even better ive got it when im 40! Lol
Well, I don't believe science says that the stronger the magnetic field, the better the tone though. I have my humbuckers placed pretty low with raised polepieces, and judging by the recordings I made before and after the adjustment, I think it sounds better now. More bite. Less mud. We're not talking enormous changes here, but enough to make a difference, and where's the harm in trying it out? If you can count, you can always get them right back where they were originally anyway.
When I get a new guitar I like each string to have equal "volume" so I adjust the screws up a bit, usually for the d and g string. I believe your test is flawed: No string is right up against any pole piece. They float above, at different distances depending on the radius set in the bridge. If you had measured the gause at a specific height (1cm) for example, I would imagine the readings would be different. That's why a string does in fact get louder (more gause) when a pole piece is raised. Is there a diminishing return if the pole is raised too much, perhaps.
Roswell LAFs sound clearer with the poles raised. These are mass produced. Of their were made by a small company I'd be more inclined to leave them alone
Try taking all of the HB's Filister Head screws OUT of the both pickups. It will surprise you how this sounds. This will not damage your pickups but the sound is something to try. I'll say no more and not ruin the surprise for those who try it.
So the words of Seth Lover basically support what I was thinking, it does matter and in the way I thought. It is interesting to see proof that raising the pole piece attenuates the overall output, but it doesn't matter because you tune to accommodate your ears anyway, not to a ruler. I can see at least three applications of this feature. One, you aren't satisfied with your current string set balance, especially when you don't buy the same set per guitar over and over again. Second, if you are not satisfied with the freqs you are getting, which is basically the same as above but more tone -specific rather than volume- specific. Third, you may want to experiment with how your entire pickup sounds, attenuating one coil altogether Vs the other coil. You may or may not like the result, but, as we know, coils with an unmatching winding count were an inevitable part of the earlier humbuckers so there's no reason you shouldn't try should you want to try something different. It might become part of your own signature sound. Myself, I rather adjust the sides of a humbucker or the halves of a P-bass pickup. But that's more because it takes way less time and I'm usually content with the result for now and leave it for later and I never come back to it later.
I've only adjusted the height of the pickups. Never touched the screws. My complete setup has never involved the screws and any adjustments to the height of the pickups has been miniscule. Screws are left as they were from the factory. setting up a guitar with him buckets shouldn't be that complicated.
.. the mistery that is not really one as its just a Gibson's sale gimmick lol .. just like EVH & his Frankenstein 😬 .. but I got to admit that I did wonder about the screws .. with questions like - why are they even adjustable screws; do I need to adjust them .. if so, how to do it correctly?
Ots actually hilarious to listen to theses conversations, I happen to agree with the builder , there should never of been screws for all of these geniuses to mess with. Everyone seems to have an answer for everything anymore and not that I am trying to start a chat argument because they happen to often because everyone is always right o line but you give a child something to mess with they will but I will damned if I am going to play with screws because someone said it does something special for their sound .any players dont realize that their sound is in theor fingers, many dont realize how to work their amps or their volume knob to get the clarity they think they get ffrom moving screw's.. I am proud to say I have been with DiMarzio pickups for about 35 yrs and if there was some trick as people claim it would be in the instructions or online or my rep would tell me as I order my pickups... I dont think many musicians or players realize that the instrument is to be played not tempered with just because and at the cost of guitars and pickups my tech does what I need and thats it... It funny you wouldn't tear apart a EMG to see how to adjust it so damn pay the money have it installed and leave it alone .. Whole pickup up or down but look for the rest of your sound in you and your amps or effects not the pickup you just paid a pretty penny for... Its not brain surgery!!!! Cheers
Youve really given me something to think about... Modern guitars and amps have so much gain, Im not afraid to loose some, here and there. Im getting pretty curious about what I can do with balancing volume and tone between strings, coils and both pickups
Flat and adjusted height even with the rings slightly dipping the low E side. It sounded great on my guitar with Pearly gates and let it be. That interview is funny 🤣 you'd expect it to be something special, but it came down to marketing.
Wouldn’t a db meter and a spectrum analyzer measuring guitar signal make more sense? Seth never said that it didn’t make any difference…. He said that he thought it didn’t make that much of a difference. Seymour Duncan published directions on how to set the poles based on a db meter and personal preference.
Thanks for the video! I wonder what would happen if you would remove the screws alltogether. Would that make the humbucker act more like a single coil? I think it would not be bucking the hum anymore but still function as a pickup but I never had the cocholes to actually try it out.
Slightly related question: Does the length of the screws matter at all? I have to replace a neck pickup and the pickup route is super shallow (neck tenon takes up space). It seems like the only way I can get a humbucker to fit is if I cut the ends of the screws off with some dikes. Am I good to go?
Weaker magnetic pull, but closer proximity to the string will have a greater impact on overall signal strength, no? For me, the benefit of moving individual poles is on guitars with either a low radius (so that the poles are uniformly distanced from the string) or with larger string gauges on the bottom (ie, my baritone setup means the strings on the bottom are huge and much louder compared to the top strings, but pulling back on the bottom strings can help here).
So would you raise or lower the pole screws for a brighter tone? I could literally use my Les Paul neck pickup to play bass. Come to think of it, my Tele is the same. Got as much boom as a P-bass
The bar magnet shares the slug side and the screw side…. It only has “X” amount of field strength to spread between the coils. If you kept the screw side flat… it would require the whole pickup to be closer to equally distribute the magnetic field. If you raise the adjustment screws… that one and only coil increases sensitivity and harmonics due to saturation from one coil to another. Can you hear it or see it… scientifically yes… but I find that if you use your ears and raise a humbucker until it feedbacks naturally and sweet…. That is the best adjustment you can do. The winding on the coils effect the sound more than the magnet itself. Let’s not even talk about the many types of magnets and their brightness
I think the pickups height and poles have everything to do with fretboard radius. Gibson for the most part a flatter boards, whereas some strats with the 7.5 radius benefited from the D and G poles being a bit taller.
Alright, this was pretty clear, but what happens if you set a pickup to a good height and then additionaly raise some of the pole screws? I do this on A and D strings to even out the output with a G and B. I think it works but that might me a placebo in my head. Any scientific basis for that?
I tried to adjust them on a guitar once years ago and I felt like I only made things worse, so I put them back where they were and now I only touch the overall height. So glad to know the screws were just a marketability afterthought 😂
Apparently if you unscrew one row of pole screws completely and take them out you get more of a single coil tone voicing from a humbucker. Never tried it, perhaps you could do a video on it?
if i get a new guitar i rarely adjust the pick up hight. but if i build one, i like to fine tune the pick up hight and pole pieces, but 5 percent of guitar players actually build theirs and 90% of them have no desire to build, let alone take a screw driver out and adjust anything pertaining to their guitars.these percentages arent official or backed by any kind of research its all antidotal, but i agree most people should just leave set ups to people who know what they are doing
Those are screws on the pick ups are volume screws for each string. they are set from the manufacture. You can adjust them. the higher the screw gets to the string it creates you lose some sustain .don’t mess with them,They’re already preset. plain and simple.😊
I say trust your ears. If you like the sound of your guitar then leave it as is. If you are thinking of swapping pickups I suggest to play with the screws as you might get what you were looking for. Worse case scenario is that you just put the screws back where they were and you can make a choice from there.
I've had pickups that basically "woke up" from factory setting with just a few minutes of playing with the screw. To my ear the pickup gets clearer, less muddy. I get a bit more twang and jangle so that suits me fine. I learned this from the screws of Filtertron pickups being pretty high off of the body of the pickups. Again, trust your ears.😉👍✨
Yes..especially helps a muddy neck pickup
Yes...especially helps a muddy neck pickup
Exactly right! And if you have the option, record your sound before and after, so you can compare properly!
This is quite confusing because when I recently bought a new guitar with humbuckers, especially plain G was very loud compared to wound D when all polepieces were at same height, and I could get it very much to balance by adjusting those screws. 🤓
P.S. I checked what I in fact did, and I just turned G string polepieces 2 mm down.
Adjusting pickup height will determine overall gross frequency response and output, and then adjusting individual screws adjusts the balance in output between strings to compensate for the different thicknesses of the core wire. I'm always amazed at musicians who reject a pickup without adjusting the pickup in the guitar.
So a couple of thoughts.
1. Just because Seth Lover didn't add the screws because he felt they were important doesn't mean they aren't. Happy accidents happen all the time.
2. You say that the field gets weaker because it's pulling the scrw up out of the bobbin, but that's just one type of humbucker. On some DiMarzios for example, the screws extend well past the bottom of the bobbin, so when you adjust them the length still in the bobbin is the same.
3. As someone pointed out above, field strength does not weaken linearly in space, so a weaker field closer to the string may still produce a stronger signal.
Personally, I either don't adjust them, or I adjust them slightly to follow the radius of the strings and fretboard, but I can hear the difference when I do.
The way the probe tip was positioned . . . Those readings absolutely made sense . . . However, I like to see the readings from a static probe position . . . let say 5mm . . . to emulate the string distance from bobbin . . . from the two screw heights . . . I suspect that these will read differently . . .
same, I would measure on the same string from the same heigh with screwed in and out. just to be sure
Dylan Talks Nonsense? The higher reading on the lower screw is due to the probe being closer to the bar magnet compared to the higher screw. And the conclusion that raising the screw height doesn't work contradicts why they were added to P90s (remarks at 3:30 and 6:04) in the first place. If the measurements were at the same height above the pickup as MSirirat describes, we might actually have valid data. I know from experience that screw height makes a difference, but I also know that overall pickup height makes a bigger difference - maybe if the measurements were done properly we would be able understand why adjusting screw height seems less effective than we might expect, which is I think what Dylan is actually trying to demonstrate.
I totally agree. In addition, I improved my LP strings balance a lot this way.
You can measure this any way you want but I can deffinitely hear a higher volume from the strings I screw the poles closer to. Usually end up with two three pole stairs from the low E to the D that's the closest to the string and the G, who is the furthest to the high E. I do this completely by ear. In soapbars I set them at the same string distance (fretting the string in the last fret, 2.5mm from the low E and 2mm, then testing overall volume ballance between pickups and making minor adjustments and lastly setting each pickup's poles to match the string ballance). You can 100% tell the closer you have the pole to the string it sounds louder. I guess it could change if the screw is way outside the bobbin which should not be necessary at all to balance them out.
you might be able to hear an EQ change depending on how far away the screws are from the bobbin, again not noticeable if you are just balancing the string volume whithin the pickup having the G string all the way screwed in.
lastly, for dog ear P90s you can definitely tell if you're trying to balance the lower sounding bridge pickup in some Casinos, for example, and you just raise the pole pieces it thins the pickup greatly and exactly what you are explaining happens, well, kind of, you do get a thinner sound but you get more volume. But, if you balance the output between neck and bridge with a shim and then just use the pole pieces to mildly balance each string's volume it works great and you can't practically tell the way the mildly closer pole string sounds thinner than the others in context.
Exactly, because you actually play the guitar instead messing with meters that have nothing to do with sound. The true test is a db meter. You will see a massive difference in volume with a db meter.
@@Cody-my1yy absolutely, also he measures touching the pole instead of at string distance. I do agree that EQ changes (the pickup gets thinner) if you raise the poles and lower the bobbin to match volume before and after. I also agree that people mess with things they don't understand. I myself used to slightly copy the radius of the fretboard without considering that wound strings need to be closer than plain ones, specially the D string as it's the one furthest away and the G (if it's plain) string sounds a lot louder. Leo Fender knew this and staggered the pole pieces but for a wound G...
@@jmledesma88 exactly, Setting the screw Higher may be make weaker magnetic field, however that screw is closer to the string, making the net output or db in that string higher. The all the way around lowering the screw. I think Gibson was right asking to Seth lover to put screws in the Paf pick ups. Other wise what a boring pickups 😅😂
For a proper experiment, measure the magnetic field at string level on a mounted pick-up with slug up or down. The string will provide a stable reference distance from the magnet in the pick-up.
Interesting video and well done.
I think for more information, you can test all the pickup screws down with the meter test probe approximately at string height distance..... and then retest the same pickup with all the screws adjusted up (again with the test probe at about string height distance from the pickup).
I would be curious to see what type results you get. Thanks for doing the video. Interesting stuff...Gave you a sub.
Phil
What is your opinion on the direction of the screw slot on the adjustable PU?
I had a Certified Gibson Luthier, who I went to one time, tell me the slot heads had to be parallel to the direction as the strings. Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.....
I adjust the screws both to get even volume between the strings and to get more of a single coil sound from a humbucker.
No. Don't tell me what to do. You're not my dad!
Dylan, shouldn't it make sense to install screws of different lengths in each slot, that would have the affect of compensating for differences in common string outputs?
Well, Gibson in their "golden era" radiused the screws with the fingerboard. But you're talking less than a MM of height difference between the E strings and the D/G strings. So you're aren't losing the gauss that you would doing an extreme example as you showed. The fact is, that if you put a cover over the pickup, even as flat as you can get the bobbin inside the cover, people turn the screws a few MM's to poke out of the cover. So I guess "the holy grail PAF's" that everybody goes after had "weak" screw coils by application and design and that's the sound. That said, that could be the defining difference between a covered and non-covered pickup.
Unwound G string is always louder so i screw it in
They were designed so well that theyre still used today and nobody has been able to improve them, even active pickups, some like em but most want the standard humbucker. Has it been 75 years now? Thats really something, there may never be an improvement to the original design. People keep trying but not yet anyway
Bass side lowered with poles raised, treble side raised with flush poles. Makes for a thicker sound on the high strings and a bit more articulation on the low strings. Just my preference.
Interesting. So many variables!!
That's exactly what I do too.
That's what I do too. All trial and error.
lowering pickup into the body then raising the screws up makes my les pauls neck up less muddy gives it more like tele style punch
This actually explains pretty well why I like having them slightly raised.
I find my burstbucker 2/3 combo to be a bit muddy and a bit hot on the output. Raising the polepieces up a few turns, lowering the pickup slightly, gives me a bit less output, a little more clarity, while still being VERY different from my tele and strat.
Exactly this. Cleaning up muddy humbucker by rising the screws on thicker strings.
Yep, did this on the neck pickup on my Paul. Stopped it being boomy and muddy.
Dropped the overall height then raised the pole pieces a smidge. Much better.
Took the same action with the same results on my LP as well
I have an HSS strat with the humbucker adjusted this way. I think it sounds better split as well
Nothing seems to fix how it sounds combined with the middle pup though. Eventually I’ll rewire it to combine with the neck instead and hope that it sounds better
That's very interesting Dylan that the gauss reduces as the pole is screwed out! Normally when I adjust humbuckers, I have them a little lower on the bass side, then start adjusting the pole pieces from there. But to tell the truth, it's pretty hard to tell the difference in output. I just adjust them until all strings sound even'ish.
I've experimented a lot with Pickup Body height, and Screw height on Humbuckers with Screw Pole Pieces. Both make a difference. I adjust the body height to get the basic sound I want, and then adjust the screws to get the balance between strings I want. It's critical to use your ears, and not be swayed by your eyes. I've had a couple Pickups where certain Screw Pole Pieces made the particular strings they were under unmanageably hot.
No amount or raising or lowering the pole pieces alone or in combination with the other pole pieces or with the body height or changing string gauges would allow me to get a balanced volume across all of them. I also tried some different types of screws/materials in the offending locations, and learned a lot from doing that, but matching threads per inch and pitch was not easy. I looked up the screw types, and determined they were called "Filister Screws," before I decided to Mod the problematic Pole Pieces, just in case I needed to replace them. I got out the Dremel, and started grinding off a little of the bottom of the screws where the threads are, putting them back into the Pickup to test if it was making them adjustable into a range that I could get a balanced volume. I worked slowly and carefully. After a several tries, I achieved a workable volume balance within the range of adjusting those screws up and down. I ended up removing about 1-1.5 mm from the bottom of the screws.
I wouldn't suggest anyone do this who doesn't have a good idea what they're doing. I had never read about anyone doing such a Mod, but it seemed to me like it could work, and if it didn't it was reversible for a small expense. Luckily, everything worked out, and that made two of my favorite Pickups work the way I wanted. YMMV
I usually adjust the screws higher when I want more clarity and less bass and gives an almost single coil tone
That guilt trip section though 🤣🤣🤣 puppy and a cat too!!
So the Gibson Kalamazoo method is BS?!?!? I adjust mine all the time……
no - pickup high adjustment is a must for good tone
D, another helpful and great video, thanks. question... why do you bother with using screws at all ? i was a little surprised you did not give us the gause measurement of the slug coil. thanks, steve
I also had the wrong idea about raising the screw heads higher... Is there any way of manufacturing a pickup that gives an even output?
No. By and large. You can have over wound super hot pickups with flat magnet pole pieces (on both single coil and HB) but you will lose dynamics and treble contect, but it'll act as a "natural" limiter or compressor of some sorts, and easily distort whatever you plug into, almost. But it sure gives you an even output.
I have not ever adjusted the pole screws on any pickup. I do have a P90 guitar, but it is mounted into the body and has an adjustable height for the whole pickup. I have never found any need to adjust the pole screws.
I have ephiphone riviera with p90’s and I always had the issue with the 6th spring being too loud, took to my guitar guy, and he adjusted the screws on the pick up’s and the magic happened, now plays like a champ, and is perfectly balance
So then why are all the pole pieces on my fender ultra at different heights? Mind you they are non adjustable slugs. Is that just cause single coil pickups are different than a humbucker?
I guess the question is, does the screw’s closer proximity to the string make up for the loss in Gauss? Also, how does this apply to pickups with just one row of pole pieces, and no fixed slug coil, such as those dog-ear P-90s? I had a bass years ago with a DiMarzio P-Bass pickup, featuring individual screw pieces in a row, and raising one of them up individually definitely made a string louder.
Reverse mounted pickups seem to make a difference to pinch harmonics. I find they happen a lot easier with a reverse mounted neck pickup than a correctly mounted one. Unless I've just suddenly learned how to do them correctly...
Maybe it's just me, but I definitely hear a difference when adjusting the screws on a humbucker. I start with the high E polepiece screwed iin and evel with the top of the pickup at 3/32 away from the string. The low E is done the same, but 4/32 away from the bottom of the strings. The remaining strings are adjusted to match the radius or until I'm happy.
Thank you so much for this, Dylan.
I unfortunately read on forums about this when I was trying to get the mud out of my P90 neck pickup in my LP special. Dropping the pickup down and raising the pole pieces was supposed to make the treble stronger and drop the mud out a little. It didn't do anything for me or at least nothing positive that I could hear. I got so frustrated with it that I just returned the screws to their normal height and dealt with it the mud until another solution came along.. At least now I know that it was bullshit all along and will never ever play that game again, LOL . Once again, you share great knowledge with those of us who really need and want it!
Isn’t that the point? You can adjust your bass side so it’s not as muddy or screwing in your treble side if the tone is a bit too harsh? That’s what I’ve always done (the inverse adjustment). Especially if adjusting my pickup height didn’t do the trick. Then again my ears over the years have gone to hell so it just doesn’t matter as much anymore!
I never touched mine but I told a buddy of mine that you could adjust the balance by pulling a screw up higher if that string was weak "in the mix" which he did.. now understanding I should have told him to raise the ones that were strong and leave the weak one alone, I feel obliged to tell him that I was an idiot. Anyway he seemed very pleased with what he did so I might as well not burst his bubble. It's all perception anyway.
Hey Dylan. Would you please touch on the topic of ebow, could it possibly affect the polepieces in a negative way when used directly over the pickup?
I never adjust those screws, but your explanation was completely opposite of what I would have expected; the more you know...
I should have read the comments first instead of wasting 9 minutes to get the answer.
Thanks so much for watching !!!
Opening is genius.
Well played
Yup, I liked just for that. But also the demonstration that the mag strength gets lower when you raise a pole piece was surprising and interesting. So double like there I guess. ;)
I was trying to figure out how to skip, before Sarah M started tearing at my heart strings.
Time stamps would help. Just want to know if it’s a bad idea to turn those damn things.
I get what you are saying. But I'm not 100% convinced that the Gauss meter reading translates directly to impact. For example, even if the field is weaker at the top of the screw, it is also true that this weaker field is closer to the string. And I think electromagnetic fields tend to weaken in proportion to the cube of the distance. To me, the only way to really assess impact is to measure the signal the PU produces with the screws at different heights, in a controlled test where you can reliably reproduce the "string pluck" (I envisage some sort of "mechanical plucker"). Or measure the frequency spectrum of plucking all 6 strings and see how the spectrum changes after PU screw adjustments.
Words have power. Careful what you say. If a guy on the internet tells you, "this is a fact, this is science", a lot of people are going to believe it. I agree with the comments below. Use your ear, experiment. That is what guitars are for. That is why so many guitarist monkey with their guitars. To get their own sound. Everyone's ear is different. We are not meters. We are human. Plus, most of us probably has Tinitus or some hearing loss, which skew's everything anyway! 😁🤣😂🙃
Hmm. And I thought I was being smart raising the screws on my SG bridge. You know because those pickups don’t really follow the string angle at all.
The screws DO adjust the string balance, just like they do on a p-90. They are not there just for marketing.
Most of Fender’s original pickups had staggered pole pieces to compensate for the differences in output from one string to another.
When Lover designed the wide range humbucker for Fender, he again included height adjustment screws.
When Seth Lover specified his ideal humbucker for Seymour Duncan, he once again included height adjustment screws.
While it was his opinion that Gibson only wanted the screws for marketing, I would assume they wanted them for the same reason they had them on the p-90: to adjust string balance. Seth Lover did not play guitar, so he probably didn’t understand the importance of this feature immediately, being more concerned with the hum canceling aspect.
I agree. They weren't part Of SL's original spec but that doesn't mean they weren't found to be useful by loads of players and almost no pickup manufacturer doesn't spec them.
@@chrishodgson4290 guitar sound a lot better without the B string ringing twice as loud as the high E
@@APMTenants You sure got that right. Check out my comment about my crazy way of getting the high notes loud and fat, and the lows crisp and clear.
The staggered poles on old strats show that Leo was mostly trying to follow the fretboard radius except for the "B" string which must have been louder than the others because it's slug is the lowest. I'd say it's ok to lower the screw for the B string a little or raise the others slightly and see how that affects the string-to-string balance. Everything in moderation! As for myself, I seldom adjust the screws for individual strings.
@@andybedford7889 Thanks for your reply. I might agree that Leo was trying to match the neck radius but for the appearance of some photos in books that I own. There are pics showing that players like Chuck Berry, Django Reinhardt and others had their pole screws adjusted a lot like the Fender Strat magnet stagger. (Yes, Django played a Rio brand electric archtop in his later years.) And if you take a good look at the so-called Charlie Christian pickup the blade has a sizable notch machined into it under the B String. When I was a teenager I thought that some players used to file that notch into the blade to tone down their too-hot second string. I didn’t know at the time that filing the blade would probably heat it up and ruin the magnetic strength. Back when Charlie, Django and Chuck were in their prime most electric guitar strings were made with steel cores and nickel windings. Nickel has some magnetic properties, but not nearly on the order of steel, which is used much more often these days. I believe that this is the reason why the magnet slugs on Stratocaster pickups are taller under the G, D, A, and Low E strings. The vintage stagger has been used by Fender and other pickup makers as a selling point for a long time, but it doesn’t make sense tonally or musically nowadays when most players are using an unwound third and wound strings that are about 92% steel with a nickel plating that comprises only about 8% of the wrap material. I mean, really, why put the tallest magnet under the loudest string? In the nickel string era (during which I first learned to set up and play guitars and basses) the plain strings were usually louder than the wound ones. But nowadays take a look at the composition of a typical set of.010-.046 “nickel wound” strings. The term nickel wound is misleading unless you purchase what they call “pure nickel wound.” If you do a little geometry, keeping in mind that a guitar string is basically a cylinder, and allowing for the air spaces between the windings, the typical nickel plated wound low E string contains FIFTEEN TIMES the steel as the high e, with a correspondingly greater influence on the disturbance of the pickup’s magnetic field. This is most easily observed when playing a humbucker-loaded guitar straight into an amp with nothing else in the signal chain. Some people hardly notice this, but it drives a few of us batcrap crazy. That’s why I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed and Gibson’s sales force convinced the company to keep the adjustable pole screws. Ideally, they should have put them into both coils so the player could balance the output of the new lighter strings that were just coming into use, often with a plain third that was way louder than the wound D. When you raise the pole under your weak high e to balance it with the G string you are cheated out of the full humbucking tone and you get more of a single coil sound from the first string. It was a giant improvement for a lot of players when pickup designers like Bill Lawrence and Larry DiMarzio started putting adjustable screws in each coil. This gave savvy players even more control over the balance and tone of their strings. Shortly afterwards, Carvin came out with their excellent M-22 Humbucking Pickups, which had 22 adjustable screws, eleven set in each coil. This was another huge improvement, and it gave birth to what I consider the finest humbucking pickup of all time, the Carvin M-22SD. This was a very impressive pickup and tonally an improvement over the DiMarzio and Lawrence designs. It was about as loud as the SDHP, but tonally superior in that it had thicker magnets of Alnico 5 instead of the ceramics used by DiMarzio and the sort of oddball Alnico 8s used by Lawrence. With the Carvin M-22SD you could achieve the optimal balance and tone, and the double rows of eleven pole screws ensured that there was no falloff in volume when bending strings. I put these pickups in many of my custom builds and I have just one pair left, brand-new and unpotted, that I’m saving for a very special project.
Nowadays it seems that most players have so much tone-sucking crap connected between their guitar and their amp that they don’t notice much difference when they adjust their pickups. I know guys and gals that have never even touched the height screws, let alone the individual pole screws. If they’re satisfied, that’s fine by me, but I’ve been after a specific tone for about fifty years. Back in the late 1970s I figured out how to make my Ibanez Deluxe 59’er Model sound great through a Pignose that was run into a Peavey hundred-watt head and a special cabinet that I built myself. That cab was loaded with a fifteen-inch full-range guitar speaker that I bought from Carvin. The Peavey head was just basically a slave amp-all of the tone came from the Pignose and the guitar. The sound I was chasing was the sound of Duane Allman’s Les Paul on ABB at Fillmore East and Eat a Peach. I got pretty damn close to it back in about 1978, and though I blew up the Pignose and sold the Peavey rig I can still get the sound I want from an Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy and a Marshall Valvestate combo. If you like the sound of Duane Allman’s guitar on the albums I mentioned, take a look at my long comment given about two weeks ago on this video. It requires modern-not Fifties-wiring and very specific adjustments to the pole screws, pickup heights, and the slant of the pickups from the treble to bass sides. And if you try it, start with the strings off the guitar in case you lower the bass side of your neck pickup too far and it drops into the guitar body. (If that happens it’s not the end of the world. If you lose the height spring it’s probably sticking to the bottom of your pickup.)
I’ve tinkered with it, but never really found much of a difference. Changing the overall pickup height made the most difference.
I don’t touch them.
Hey Dylan. So when I was like 14 I had a really cheap epiphone Les Paul Jr, that had a humbucker instead of a P90. In my infinite wisdom as a 14 year old who just started learning how to play powerchords, I thought I could make my humbucker sound like a single coil by taking the screws out of the pickup. What was I actually doing to the signal by doing this?
For single coil pickups, US Fenders use staggered height slugs, while G&L & MIM Fender use radiused-height slugs. I don't know if it's psychological, but I prefer the radiused-height slugs. Therefore, for humbuckers, I adjust the screws to match the radius of the strings, while keeping the screwheads as close to the bobbins as possible. And I like to move my pickups really far away from the strings, like deep into the body.
Hi Dylan!
I'm curious, please, can you explain how does this apply to the G&L MFD pickups? Maybe because they're single coils and don't other coil with slugs as "parameters" to get equal can they affect the sound somehow?
I'm tryin to understando how does this adjustment translate in strenght and eq.
Thank you very much! Cheers!
I adjust the height of the pickup to taste. I then use the screws, to adjust the loudness per string to get it even. Works for me.
The only adjustment I have ever made to my pickups was to adjust their height. I have been playing electrics since 1965.
But why is the single coil pickups, pole pieces staggered then?
I say it all depends. G&L "Magnetic Fields" pickups has adjusting screws INSIDE the pole pieces, which are the actual magnets. On a humbucker the magnet bar resides at the bottom of the pickup, so adjustment screws are a little overkill and just for shows. Because the other coil of the humbucker pickup has just flat "poles" with no screws. The screws, which has NO physical connection with the magnet bar in the bottom when raised up. It depends HOW the pickup (single coil or humbucker) is designed from the ground up. I have heard just as much difference on some pickups by adjusting the screws, as I have not heard any difference at all.
The pole pieces in any (ok, most) single coil pickups are ACTUALLY the magnets and makes a significant difference from a pickup with a magnet bar att the far bottom. On G&L pickups they have these screws INSIDE the magnetic pole pieces which very much makes a difference. And yes, if set too close, it will cause MSP (Magnetic String Pull) on certain strings which has the least tension, like plain G-string or low E-string.
It is not a clear cut or set in stone rule of thumb. Mind you that the actual screws can be magnetic or non magnetic too. Pure nickel? Slim chance! Aluminium? No way. Stainless Steel or solid Iron? Yes, big time. There is a diff, albeit subtle. On some pickups so subtle that it is neglible. You're right in that raising the whole pickup makes a much larger difference, but I am the one who thinks it should and MUST be tamed for each string individually. You can slant the pickup in either way raising it on the treble side and lower it on the bass side until hell freezes over, but it won't ever beat individual pole pieces height for a) each string b) radius neck. So, when do we see pickups with RADIUSED form? It's just the pole pieces that are radiused or staggered, so there must be something to it.
With pickups with RAILS on there's very little to do. The plain G-string still jumps out like a sore thumb in volume in relation to the others. You can curb it all with limiters and compressors, but then you lose the (all) dynamics. If there's a pickup with rails where you can adjust individual height... please let me know... :-) Plus the magnets are always the rails, not in the rails, THE rails.
There's too much difference going on between the wound strings and plain strings on guitar (on electric bass less so, but still) so individual adjustment is a must. I am even a stickler for that the pole pieces should reside DIRECTLY under each string and not go slightly beside it, as they do on neck pickups because they have not calculated the decreasing string space that is happening from the bridge towards the nut. And on the posh boutique pickup Q-tuners theres night and day difference when adjusting the 3 (!) pole pieces screws. All in all, I say only:
It depends.
I run EMGs so...
My old Les Pauls came with all screws on both pickups aligned horizontally from the factory. Both my post-2019 ones came with the screws randomly turned. I wonder why Gibson did that. I have a hard time imagining Gibson USA is intently adjusting the pole pieces.
Connect the guitar to the PC interface. Put a VU meter in the DAW. Adjust till its close enough. It usually follows the single coil staggering. (G string down. D string up. E string up a tiny bit. E and A can be controlled by lowering the bass side.
I have two guitars and one bass I can adjust the pickups on without making serious alterations to the guitars. The other is a Wolfgang Special. I'll trust Eddie's judgment on that one (for now). Seymour Duncan's website suggests 3.2~mm away from strings for pickups. I don't touch the screws on the pickups. There aren't even screws on the pickups on my Ibanez guitar (the guitar I've learned most of what I know on over the last 20 years) or my bass. That 3.2mm height what mine two guitars with pickguard rings are set to. My Wolfgang is factory standard (though I want to find a way to get the neck higher without a pick guard ring). I'm going to be looking at my bass tonight.
In short: I don't mess with pickup screws. Only pickup height.
Didn't Ray Butts invent the Filtertron at the same time as Gibson's humbucking pickup? Seems like his pickup has adjustable polepieces on both coils. Why is that? I have never been one to adjust my polepieces on Gibson type humbuckers because it didn't make any dramatic difference in sound though I do adjust them on my 70's Fender Wide Range Humbuckers because the difference is noticeable(also invented by Seth Lover).
I've been playing guitar, Les Pauls, for over 50 years, and I've never adjusted the individual string screws on the pickup,..... until a few weeks ago. I'll likely never do it again!
I think if you can't play very well, it won't help. Even if you kept shooting for the rest of your life. Nothing can replace exercise ;) We are looking for the holy grail, instead of sitting on our asses and playing - the rest is just looking for excuses ;) Besides, just as we see colors, we hear differently. Sounds good when you like it ;) ✌&🧡
And remember - the producer doesn't want to help you - He wants to rob you of your money ;)
Interesting stuff. I appreciate this video...its an aspect that I haven't seen much discussion about.
I wonder if there's a significant difference between tube amps and modelers with respect to screw adjustments. I never messed with pickup screws with tube amps...like you, I adjusted pickup height and played. However, I do get worthwhile results in my modeling rig (I no longer own a tube amp so I can't compare them myself). So, in light of your video, I am interested in why I hear those changes...wound strings have better clarity and unwound get brighter when I raise the screw in relation to the slug. I wonder if the reason is that it is changing the interaction between the slug and screw coils, re: changing which of the two is gathering more energy from the string. It may be that I was thinking that raising the screw was making the screw coil brighter when, as you point out it is decreasing gauss, and thus emphasizing the slug? Does the type of magnet and amount of winds matter? I use A5 overwound bridge pickups, fwiw...how might a humbucker with A5 /5000/42 gauge wire versus another with A2/4000/42 differ on this subject? Another thought, and this might be idiotic (I acknowledge that I only know enough to be misguided LOL) but is there something going on with phasing?
In the end, I can make the guitar sound better by adjusting the screws, and that is really the only bottom line for me.
Interesting. For me it's been the opposite, just by listening - when I raise the polepieces the signal gets stronger.
However, what I have been doing is adjusting the individual polepieces according to each string's volume, which is based on it's core diameter. That way, lowest E is loudest, then A and D. When it comes to G, again, it's louder (actually loudest out of all strings on 6 string guitar), then B and high E. As such, I have adjusted the polepieces so that the one under low E is flush, then A a bit higher and D higher again. Then the one under G is flush again (even lower than low E), then B a bit higher and E even higher. I have found that way, just by listening that it balances out all the strings and all of them become audible. But again, I did this by ear, not with a gauss meter. I have also checked that my polepieces go way below the pickup (I use Dimarzio Transitions).
The problem is that many people adjust the polepieces according to guitars radius. I also used to do the same. What happens it that it sends the whole guitar out of whack, making it unbalanced, as the G string, which is very loud by itself, becomes even louder. In that case it's better to leave the polepieces flat and don't worry about that.
IMO the polepieces make for some fine adjustment when it comes to the strength of individual string volume and gain - I have not experienced any tone change (like more treble, less bass or whatnot) as some people claim. It's different than moving the entire pickup which fundamentally changes attack, response, compression, may add more bass, may add clarity etc.
I often adjust the screws to balance the output of the wound and unwound strings - I was surprised that I didn't get the sort of "magnetic distortion" as I moved the screws quite close to the strings. Now I know why. Thanks for the follow-up video.
I always leave my humbuckers flat. I usually leave them alone, but will change the pickup height if the volume needs adjusting. No problems after 50 years.
DYLAN!!! Can you do a video on chrome vs nickel hardware? Which one you prefer? How to age them or if you should only age nickel? Please
Would suggest measuring the field strength at the actual string height.
Dylan are you allowed to build a humbucker that fits in dogear P90 cover like the one Mr Lover made, so we can replace dogear p90 with dogear humbucker? I bet alloys used today for the screws are quite different from what Gibson used in the 50s and 60s. The older ones sounded much less harsh to my ears.
I see the pole piece height adjustment as a tunable focus for the sweet spot of a given string vibrating within the pickup's induced magnetic field. There may be sonic pros and cons to adjusting this. Admittedly the difference is usually neglible or even inaudible to most folks but you can sure affect how a particular string is communicating information to the coil as it vibrates and modulates the signal by small voltage fluctuations in a given frequency range. And if I as a player think it helped something about my sound to adjust one or two poles of a pickup, that's reason enough to do it. But on 3/4 of my guitars the pickups sound fine and work well as they came and I leave the pole adjustment alone. Why bother? Mainly, on all guitars just adjust the overall height and slope of the pickup for best string/pick clearance and overall output balance for how and what you play. If you wanna adjust the poles there's no harm really- just keep notes so you can reverse your changes back to where you started. Have fun with it.
Ok so my setup. High e is a little closer to the strings then low E. Say 1.5 ish mm treble 2mm bass then adjusted half or quarter turns to taste / balance output between the two. I do raise the screw a little on the bass side of the neck. But cause it takes some of the low bass out. And gives it a sweeter higher frequency sound. So bass side from screw pole to bottom of the string is about 1.8 mm ish. Again this is all to taste and feel. But it works for my Les Paul. My strat on the other hand. Low almost level to the pickguard bass. Treble sits about 3-4 mm high. Or just above the adjustable screw height. Look for david Gilmore strat pickup height. Looks similar. But again all to taste. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to making sound and music. Just do what feels right. And keep Rocking. Even if it is just for you in your bedroom at 2 in the morning. It’s always fun to tinker. Just remember to take measurements before. That way you can always set it back to the start. If you get lost or the sound gets away from you.
Adjustment is necessary in some cases. If you've got ceramic magnets, thicker strings, and use open tunings -- if you don't adjust your pole pieces, a lot of your chords will sound like crap. If you have a pickup with no adjustable pole pieces, and the same thicker strings, ceramic magnets, etc., being a little creative with individual string height and overall pickup height can also compensate. Being that a lot of players use light strings and don't play a ton of full chords, pole piece adjustment may not be as crucial, but believe me, all my guitars have ceramic magnet pickups, and I play 50-12's, and pole piece adjustment is crucial. Otherwise, you get a string or two that drowns out the others, sticks out like a sore thumb, which really sucks musically and sonically.
I also agree with the other poster who says that the gauss is probably better measured at string height, because even if there is less gauss at the head of the pole piece, the closer proximity to the string, and increased interaction with the string, will probably counteract the decreased gauss. And then you also have to take into consideration that at string height (especially if your pickup is more than a few millimeters from the strings -- some guitarists have their pickups set further away from the strings than others) any individual string is being 'seen' by more than one pole piece. So when you're adjusting pole pieces, it's really adjusting just one part of the whole magnetic field. If that makes any sense.
Adjusting the height of dog eared P90 screws was a bigger thing in the mid to late 60’s not for tone but for output. More output to overdrive amps that weren’t made for overdrive.
Wow thanks man! I always thought the exact opposite but that totally makes sense that the further away from the body of the pickup the screw is the less powerful it'll be. Time to re-adjust some pickups! Man i wish i had youtube back when i started playing, even better ive got it when im 40! Lol
Well, I don't believe science says that the stronger the magnetic field, the better the tone though. I have my humbuckers placed pretty low with raised polepieces, and judging by the recordings I made before and after the adjustment, I think it sounds better now. More bite. Less mud. We're not talking enormous changes here, but enough to make a difference, and where's the harm in trying it out? If you can count, you can always get them right back where they were originally anyway.
When I get a new guitar I like each string to have equal "volume" so I adjust the screws up a bit, usually for the d and g string. I believe your test is flawed: No string is right up against any pole piece. They float above, at different distances depending on the radius set in the bridge. If you had measured the gause at a specific height (1cm) for example, I would imagine the readings would be different. That's why a string does in fact get louder (more gause) when a pole piece is raised. Is there a diminishing return if the pole is raised too much, perhaps.
Me: "well, i cant subscribe to everyone"
Grey bearded Chihuahua: "you sure about that?"
Me: "No, youre right, i have room for one more"
Roswell LAFs sound clearer with the poles raised. These are mass produced. Of their were made by a small company I'd be more inclined to leave them alone
Try taking all of the HB's Filister Head screws OUT of the both pickups. It will surprise you how this sounds.
This will not damage your pickups but the sound is something to try. I'll say no more and not ruin the surprise for those who try it.
I've never adjusted the pole piece height. Didn't think it would help bad sounding pickups, and why would I mess with good sounding pickups?
So the words of Seth Lover basically support what I was thinking, it does matter and in the way I thought.
It is interesting to see proof that raising the pole piece attenuates the overall output, but it doesn't matter because you tune to accommodate your ears anyway, not to a ruler.
I can see at least three applications of this feature. One, you aren't satisfied with your current string set balance, especially when you don't buy the same set per guitar over and over again.
Second, if you are not satisfied with the freqs you are getting, which is basically the same as above but more tone -specific rather than volume- specific.
Third, you may want to experiment with how your entire pickup sounds, attenuating one coil altogether Vs the other coil. You may or may not like the result, but, as we know, coils with an unmatching winding count were an inevitable part of the earlier humbuckers so there's no reason you shouldn't try should you want to try something different. It might become part of your own signature sound.
Myself, I rather adjust the sides of a humbucker or the halves of a P-bass pickup. But that's more because it takes way less time and I'm usually content with the result for now and leave it for later and I never come back to it later.
I've only adjusted the height of the pickups. Never touched the screws. My complete setup has never involved the screws and any adjustments to the height of the pickups has been miniscule. Screws are left as they were from the factory. setting up a guitar with him buckets shouldn't be that complicated.
.. the mistery that is not really one as its just a Gibson's sale gimmick lol .. just like EVH & his Frankenstein 😬
.. but I got to admit that I did wonder about the screws .. with questions like - why are they even adjustable screws; do I need to adjust them .. if so, how to do it correctly?
Ots actually hilarious to listen to theses conversations, I happen to agree with the builder , there should never of been screws for all of these geniuses to mess with. Everyone seems to have an answer for everything anymore and not that I am trying to start a chat argument because they happen to often because everyone is always right o line but you give a child something to mess with they will but I will damned if I am going to play with screws because someone said it does something special for their sound .any players dont realize that their sound is in theor fingers, many dont realize how to work their amps or their volume knob to get the clarity they think they get ffrom moving screw's.. I am proud to say I have been with DiMarzio pickups for about 35 yrs and if there was some trick as people claim it would be in the instructions or online or my rep would tell me as I order my pickups... I dont think many musicians or players realize that the instrument is to be played not tempered with just because and at the cost of guitars and pickups my tech does what I need and thats it... It funny you wouldn't tear apart a EMG to see how to adjust it so damn pay the money have it installed and leave it alone .. Whole pickup up or down but look for the rest of your sound in you and your amps or effects not the pickup you just paid a pretty penny for... Its not brain surgery!!!!
Cheers
Youve really given me something to think about... Modern guitars and amps have so much gain, Im not afraid to loose some, here and there. Im getting pretty curious about what I can do with balancing volume and tone between strings, coils and both pickups
Flat and adjusted height even with the rings slightly dipping the low E side. It sounded great on my guitar with Pearly gates and let it be. That interview is funny 🤣 you'd expect it to be something special, but it came down to marketing.
Wouldn’t a db meter and a spectrum analyzer measuring guitar signal make more sense? Seth never said that it didn’t make any difference…. He said that he thought it didn’t make that much of a difference. Seymour Duncan published directions on how to set the poles based on a db meter and personal preference.
If you know what you’re doing and what results you need. My Les Paul sounds better than any other one I’ve picked up. And it’s just a studio model.
Thanks for the video! I wonder what would happen if you would remove the screws alltogether. Would that make the humbucker act more like a single coil? I think it would not be bucking the hum anymore but still function as a pickup but I never had the cocholes to actually try it out.
Slightly related question: Does the length of the screws matter at all? I have to replace a neck pickup and the pickup route is super shallow (neck tenon takes up space). It seems like the only way I can get a humbucker to fit is if I cut the ends of the screws off with some dikes. Am I good to go?
Weaker magnetic pull, but closer proximity to the string will have a greater impact on overall signal strength, no?
For me, the benefit of moving individual poles is on guitars with either a low radius (so that the poles are uniformly distanced from the string) or with larger string gauges on the bottom (ie, my baritone setup means the strings on the bottom are huge and much louder compared to the top strings, but pulling back on the bottom strings can help here).
So would you raise or lower the pole screws for a brighter tone? I could literally use my Les Paul neck pickup to play bass. Come to think of it, my Tele is the same. Got as much boom as a P-bass
The bar magnet shares the slug side and the screw side…. It only has “X” amount of field strength to spread between the coils. If you kept the screw side flat… it would require the whole pickup to be closer to equally distribute the magnetic field. If you raise the adjustment screws… that one and only coil increases sensitivity and harmonics due to saturation from one coil to another. Can you hear it or see it… scientifically yes… but I find that if you use your ears and raise a humbucker until it feedbacks naturally and sweet…. That is the best adjustment you can do. The winding on the coils effect the sound more than the magnet itself. Let’s not even talk about the many types of magnets and their brightness
That subscriber PSA-Style thing was funny lmao
Hit the like after the “making a difference” segment-also, no pole pieces for me- all my guitars are at different heights but in the same ballpark
I leave ‘em be… If it ain’t broke - don’t fix it…. as long as my guitar neck is good, I find that everything else probably is too…
I think the pickups height and poles have everything to do with fretboard radius. Gibson for the most part a flatter boards, whereas some strats with the 7.5 radius benefited from the D and G poles being a bit taller.
Alright, this was pretty clear, but what happens if you set a pickup to a good height and then additionaly raise some of the pole screws? I do this on A and D strings to even out the output with a G and B. I think it works but that might me a placebo in my head. Any scientific basis for that?
I tried to adjust them on a guitar once years ago and I felt like I only made things worse, so I put them back where they were and now I only touch the overall height. So glad to know the screws were just a marketability afterthought 😂
Apparently if you unscrew one row of pole screws completely and take them out you get more of a single coil tone voicing from a humbucker. Never tried it, perhaps you could do a video on it?
if i get a new guitar i rarely adjust the pick up hight. but if i build one, i like to fine tune the pick up hight and pole pieces, but 5 percent of guitar players actually build theirs and 90% of them have no desire to build, let alone take a screw driver out and adjust anything pertaining to their guitars.these percentages arent official or backed by any kind of research its all antidotal, but i agree most people should just leave set ups to people who know what they are doing
Those are screws on the pick ups are volume screws for each string. they are set from the manufacture. You can adjust them. the higher the screw gets to the string it creates you lose some sustain .don’t mess with them,They’re already preset. plain and simple.😊
I was guilty of watching your videos not being subscribed. Not anymore 👍🏼
Completely off topic but, for a very long time, sometimes I put the blue painters masking tape over my pickups..
😉