Cutlass SSS: the important of pickup height

[digitaltubes]

Was on the verge of returning my Cutlass SSS I got used from GC. It did not sound good at all. Pick attack was as loud as played note. I found article on factory pickup height from this forum & adjusted it to spec. Wow, really sounds good now. Did A/B comparison with an American strat with standard pickups. The Cutlass is much hotter. I would like to experiment with height to get a little more bite out of it.

I really love the off-white body & maple neck.

Next step is to replace the strings. They are in good shape but too much tension for .10 & told the guitar comes with .09s, so first owner must've replaced the strings, even though the guitar looks brand new.

Those of you who haven't used the GC used guitar inventory with 45 day return policy are missing out on a great service.

 

[Astrofreq]

I raised my pickups a little on my Cutlass. It just made it sound hotter and more to my liking.

 

[Fro]

My Cutlass came stock with 10s on it.

 

[DrKev]

The 2018 RS Cutlasses come stock with Hybrid Slinky M-Steels, 9 - 46.

Re: string height, for those of us with some form of home recording DAW setup, here's a little experiment to try...

Set the pickups medium high. With a clean clean, undistorted, uncompressed guitar tone, record yourself playing something.

Then set the pickups so low you would never consider doing it for real and then record yourself playing the same thing.

Now equalize the difference in volume between the two parts you just recorded and compare them.

The tonal differences are way smaller than you would ever have imagined. Repeat this little experiment a few times and tell me what you think.

I have a theory about this and I’d like to get some feedback from you all first.

 

[Astrofreq]

I also think that pickup height might be differ depending on what amp you use. I have a 100w tube, so I can make the pickups a tad higher without distorting. If you are running a 15w Blues Jr, you may not have the luxury of higher pickups because it will distort sooner in the amp.