Help! Steve Morse EBMM correct pick up height

[Justin Read]

Hi fellow forumers,

I was hoping for a little help after I purchased a beautiful (IMMACULATE) Steve Morse EBMM like this:

I have seriously wanted this guitar for 20 years and finally splurged out and bought it along with a Petrucci JP6.

Can anyone please tell me the factory set pickup height in millimeters for all 4 pickups?

After watching this:

I realized that mine have been adjusted extremely high towards the stings.

Thank you kindly, Justin

 

[fbecir]

Hello

I don't know what are the factory settings ... but I know what are Steve Morse settings :
8/32 - neck HB
10/32 - neck single
10/32 - bridge single
5 1/2 / 32 - bridge HB

From the top of the pickup cover to the bottom of the string.

Tommy (tommyindelaware on this forum), who is Steve guitar tech, gave the measurements a few years ago.

Hope that helps

 

[fbecir]

With pictures, it's even better

 

[DrKev]

François, is that holding the string down at the last fret or not? And is it the same on both bass and treble sides?

Justin, welcome to the forum family!

There is no right or wrong when it comes to pickup height, as long as you are not too close to the strings. You are allowed to trust your ears and set them where you like them.

 

[cionian]

With pictures, it's even better
View attachment 23113 View attachment 23114

Mmmmm..Steve's no 1's so tasty..the countless, a life time's worth of notes that thing has produced..

 

[fbecir]

François, is that holding the string down at the last fret or not? And is it the same on both bass and treble sides?

I think it's the height without holding the string. But I do not remember for sure. Tommy will certainly confirm.
I believe it's the same height on bass and treble sides (just look at the pics).

 

[banjoplayer]

I remember Tommy telling me at a DP show last year, that the pickup settings on #1 look so low because the neck is rather deep set in the neck pocket. You can see that the Rosewood fretboard is even a bit lower than the pickguard. On newer Morses the fretboard is a bit higher than the pickguard because the neck pocket is not that deep. He said that the Neck HB is about the same level than the lower edge of the Rosewood fretboard. (I asked because the Pickups on Steves Y2Ds were set higher)

But that just describes the position relative to the pickguard. Of course the measurements between PUPs and strings are the important datas. If you set your pickups that way they may look higher (in relation to the pickguard) than on Steves #1 (because the neck is not that deep in the neck pocket)

I hope it´s clear what I mean (difficult to describe with poor english...)

btw. LOVE this pics!

 

[fbecir]

btw. LOVE this pics!

Yes ! I do not remember who post them (in fact, I thought it was you !), but all my thanks to this unsung hero ...
You can see also that the rosewood fingerboard is quite thin : I believe with each refret the fretboard is polished thus loses a bit of thickness.

 

[Justin Read]

Wow... Wow... Wow,

I didn't know what reply to expect but this far surpassed my expectations.

Thank you so very much.

I'll set it up as soon as I get home.

Take care, Justin

 

[DrKev]

And here are the factory settings, measured from the bottom of the open E-string to the top of the plastic...

STEVE MORSE

BRIDGE..................4/32” 3.2 mm
MIDDLE (both)....... 6/32” 4.75 mm
NECK.................... 5/32” 4.0 mm
(A little closer on treble side)


I'll put these in the FAQ sticky thread later on. Of course these are just the factory settings, obviously Morse himself prefers something different. Your ears may prefer something different again. I say grab a screw driver and sit with your guitar for an hour and listen. There are worse ways to pass the time.

 

[banjoplayer]

Yes ! I do not remember who post them (in fact, I thought it was you !), but all my thanks to this unsung hero ...
You can see also that the rosewood fingerboard is quite thin : I believe with each refret the fretboard is polished thus loses a bit of thickness.

Hehe it wasn´t me :-(
I thought the pics were from Tommy. The nearest I got to #1 was this:

 

[banjoplayer]

Hello

I don't know what are the factory settings ... but I know what are Steve Morse settings :
8/32 - neck HB
10/32 - neck single
10/32 - bridge single
5 1/2 / 32 - bridge HB

From the top of the pickup cover to the bottom of the string.

Tommy (tommyindelaware on this forum), who is Steve guitar tech, gave the measurements a few years ago.

Hope that helps

Sorry for ressurecting it.... fbecir, I did a little research about the topic and found the above #'s you posted in 2013. In another thread from 2010 (here) I found

#1
6/32 neck humbucker
6/32 slanted single (pickup cover is flush w/ the pickguard)
9/64 bridge single
9/64 bridge humbucker

How does it come that we have so different '#s?

Translated in mm's (as we Euros usually do ) the measurements from 2013 seem feasible as they seem to be very low on the picture. The 2010 measurements are rather high settings i think?!?

 

[tbonesullivan]

*nod* the pickups, particularly the humbuckers, were designed to be relatively far from the strings. That's one of the reasons they are relatively high power. The neck also has a TON of winds to give a dark sound.