Starfire IV Corona HB1's Pickup Height??

[Gbart14]

I have read and listened to a lot of the articles on pup height and did some adjusting on my new 2003 Starfire IV Corona I just acquired. After setting the treble to 1/16" and bass to 3/32" based on advice from another thread. I then used my Bose head set through a small Vox amp with the volume set all the way up on the guitar and the amp on Clean. As I raised and lowered the pickup I could hear it go through at sweet spot of higher volume as I plucked the low E string and then moved the pup up and down. Raise it up a half turn volume drops off. Then back the sweet spot and lower it a 1/2 turn and drops off. It was subtle but I could hear it. I wonder if anyone has tried that with a scope? And now, I wonder if that is true of all pickups or just these? I guess it makes sense that there should be a sweet spot of maximum amplitude output. I adjusted as close as I could to max amplitude by my ears. And now to confuse things more, I wonder if the sweet spot is the best height for best tone? Tone is so subjective, very hard to quantify other than when it is in the very obvious "too bright" or "too muddy" range. Comments?

 

[GAD]

Every pickup has a sweet-spot when it comes to height, and I'd argue that it can't be set by a standard distance. Additionally, you can change the balance of the strings with the adjustable pole pieces because you'll find that each string produces slightly different volume.

There's also a LOT of personal preference involved. For example, I hate the middle position pickup on a Strat because it gets in my way, so I lower all three pickups to the guard. That, in turn, makes me have to turn the amp up, and suddenly I have this low-output guitar into a much louder amp and I freaking love it.

With the bridge humbucker I tend to raise them until they sound bad and then back off 1/4-1/2 turn because I like the high output on a bridge humbucker.

It's all a science that's more art than science.

 

[Gbart14]

I have not tried that on a Strat but easy to do. Yes, I certainly agree that there is more art to it than science. I was just wondering if the highest output height is also the height for best tone or not? Guess I will need to do some more subjective science experiments. Thanks

 

[GAD]

I have not tried that on a Strat but easy to do. Yes, I certainly agree that there is more art to it than science. I was just wondering if the highest output height is also the height for best tone or not? Guess I will need to do some more subjective science experiments. Thanks

There is no such thing as science when it comes to tone.

 

[Gbart14]

Perfect!! So I am going off to play and enjoy it.