pickup height

[gelinas666]

Hi.. I'm looking at the specs for the pickup height for my Stringray and it says 6\32" from the bottom of the G string to the plastic on the pickup..Is that with the string depressed or open? Thanks Mark

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

.

Hi Mark.

It can be confusing.

I do it this way:

Adjust in the play position (bass on lap while seated). While depressing the E string (or B) at the last fret, measure the distance from the bottom of that string to the top of the pickup magnet for that string. Using a small steel ruler, adjust for a distance of 4/32 inches. Do the same with the G string but, this time, aim for a distance of 3/32 inches. Final adjustment may have to be made to the G side by ear, so that the volume is even across all strings.

Even with multi pickups, the same applies.

 

[sanderhermans]

The way ebmm recomends it is with the strings open.

 

[Kong]

I am doing it all by ear.

I am aiming for a distance of about 3/32 inches at the G-String and adjust the distance of the deeper strings until they seem to sound even.

There is no need to raise my high stings because all my basses seem to have a hot preamp. They sound louder than other Musicman basses I know.

The owner of my favourite shop has some Musicman basses, somer pre EB, some EB. They all don't have this massive ammount of output as mine have.

So I think its better to adjust by ear than going for distance rules. OK, for the start setup, but then use your ears.

 

[liverbird]

The owner of my favourite shop has some Musicman basses, somer pre EB, some EB.

Station Music? (Seeing where you're from...)

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Actually, señor Trussbroken's measurements are almost the same as the EBMM recommendation. When you depress the string, you remove the string height from the measurement.

 

[sanderhermans]

Actually, señor Trussbroken's measurements are almost the same as the EBMM recommendation. When you depress the string, you remove the string height from the measurement.

Not so true. He measures from the magnets of each string while the other way os measured from the pu cover.

 

[georgestrings]

So I think its better to adjust by ear than going for distance rules. OK, for the start setup, but then use your ears.

Same here - I start at the "by the book" settings, then dial it in according to what I hear... I've also found that these settings often react differently at "TV volume" at home, as opposed to stage volume in a band mix - that goes for all my basses, not just my EBMMs...


- georgestrings

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Not so true. He measures from the magnets of each string while the other way os measured from the pu cover.

Ah, I missed that. Yes, on my SR4H the pole pieces extend about 1/32" above the plastic. I recently adjusted both my SR4H and Big Al SSS to factory specs. The SR4 was very close, but I hadn't realized that the SSS pickups were quite a bit higher than they should have been.

 

[Kong]

Station Music? (Seeing where you're from...)

I didn' t make a secret out of it. NSA knows, anyway.

Just take a look at my profile...

 

[liverbird]

I bought a 1989 SR5 from Station Music a few months ago over the phone. Nice shop. I haven't been for a few years but I do enjoy browsing their site - there's always tons of stuff!

 

[Kong]

Yeah, and real nice stuff.

I try to avoid browsing their site because of the serious danger of massive GAS....