[CosmicOceanHorror]

So for some reason, I'm finding my results to be quite satisfactory doing this. I've been lowering pickups (Black Winters, Stock PRS pickups) lately and raising the screws and I'm getting great clarity, plenty of bite, and balancing for the treble strings is MUCH easier now. Has anyone else gotten great results doing this?

 

[Vince]

Really depends on the pickup. I've had a few Evo 7s that would feedback if I had them close to the string, but by backing off the pickup height and bringing up the poles a bit, it worked really well. Otherwise I usually leave them at stock height on all pickups, especially if they're flathead driven screws.

 

[Mattayus]

Yeah definitely depends on the pickup. I used to be really anal about raising the screws to the same radius as the bridge or board, but fuck that shit these days, just crank it up and get on with it.
I do find the sweet spot for most bridge humbuckers to be between 3 and 2mm from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the low E.

The only pickup I've found it really works well with is the JB. It definitely tightens it up and gives it some clarity. But for pickups that are already quite defined and bright I wouldn't bother. You want it to pick up a broader spectrum of your strings more evenly.

 

[Iron1]

I play with pickup height a lot, especially when I first get new pups. When it comes to messing with the pole pieces though, I've always avoided that probably because I'm afraid I'll screw the pickup, well, up, and won't be able to get it back where it was when stock. When I had the Black Winter and couldn't get on with it, person after person kept telling me to mess with the pole heights, but for me it was easier to just sell it and buy a Trident II. I get the tweaking, but if a pickup doesn't start out stock in a place I dig, I have no confidence in my own ability to get it there. :lol:

 

[Max]

It works especially well with low-to-medium output pickups, less so with really hot pickups.

 

[Hellion]

yeah someones post here or maybe just in a google search said to try this to help with a muddy guitar tone. when I got my jackson SL3X it was and still is really heavy on the lows and low mids and has a muddy sound at typical pickup heights.

lowering the pickup, both stock and the Pegasus i put in have helped a lot with reducing the lows and low mids. raising the pole pieces allows you to get some upper mids and highs back. how I've got the Jackson now, all the pole pieces are raised slanting down toward the high E string and the pickup is slanted toward the low E string. the poles are all about equal distance from the strings while the bobbin is tilted into the body on the low E side.

 

[dbwells]

I prefer to use medium output pickups and keep them closer to the strings. But that's just my taste since I play with lots of gain. With retarded amount of gain I have on tap in my 6505+ there is no need for high output pickups, medium output so I can keep them closer to the strings for more dynamics and still have clarity.