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Topic: George L pickup height |
Mitch Adelman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 10:15 am |
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| I have a George L pickup on my Carter and have read from their site that the strings should be a minimum of a quarter's distance from the string due to the plastic cover. This is closer than pickups with exposed poles like a BL. It was wondering what minimum distance means. I think it means a quarter is as far away as the strings should be which to me implies that the strings can be even closer to the strings than a quarter. I know on Lace sensor pickups on a strat you can put the pickups as close as you want without any problems with magnetism etc.Does anyone keep their george L's closer than a quarter distance and does it adversely affect the tone (make it much louder and harsher) or gives more clarity and sustain. I'm a bit screwdriver wary to mess with the height until I know its worth checking out. Just curious and thanks. |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 10:30 am
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| Quote: |
| It was wondering what minimum distance means. I think it means a quarter is as far away as the strings should be which to me implies that the strings can be even closer to the strings than a quarter. |
I believe the opposite is true: A quarter is the closest the strings should be. |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 11:34 am
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Mitch,
I just set up my George L's E66 on my home built. A quarter's distance. Plugged it in to an amp and it sounded just beautiful.
So you can safely have that as a starting point.
Bent |
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Thom Beeman
From:
California, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 10:11 pm
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| Mitch, minimum means no closer than that distance. If your closer when you place your bar on the strings your strings have a good chance of laying on the pickup. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2007 4:49 am
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| Quote: |
| A quarter is the closest the strings should be |
Yep, and with many pickups that is far too close. As you increase response by getting closer you also cause several things to happen that are undesirable; eddy currents, ghost notes and most importantly a loss of sustain through the magnetic action of the pickup. If you ever want to learn about this, call Bill Lawrence - and have a thesaurus nearby, as he dives right into deep technical information.  He's a treasure-trove of "reality" about pickup design and placement. Some people like his pickups, some don't (I think they are a bit too hi-fi and icepicky at the same time) but he IS a wonderful guy, very giving with information.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Bill Dobkins
From:
Rolla Missouri, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2007 6:22 am
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When I got my new Derby, the pickups were about 1/8 "
below the strings. Its a GL 66, the tone and sustian is great. I had to lower it a little for my low strings end. they were a touch louder than my high strings. Now they are more balanced.
_________________
Custom Rittenberry SD10
Boss Katana 100 Amp
Positive Grid Spark amp
BJS Bars
Z~Legend Pro,Custom Tele
Honor our Vet's.
Now pass the gravy. |
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Paul Redmond
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2007 9:59 pm
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I always felt that a quarter was a bit too close, so I set mine with a machinist's scale at 3/32" from the bottom of the strings.
PRR |
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B. Greg Jones
From:
Middleport, Ohio USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2007 10:20 pm
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| Jim Sliff just nailed it!!!! |
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Paul Redmond
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2007 10:50 pm
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Jim - The single magnet on George L's pickups lies horizontally at the bottom of the pickup, so its effects on strings aren't the same as individual round pole pieces like you find on more conventionally-configured pickups. The two blades coming up vertically from the magnet through the two coils are stainless steel and therefore possess no residual magnetism of their own. What I'm getting at here is that the dynamics of George L's pickups are more tolerant of changes in installation height than pole-piece pickups which can get real squirrelly with just 1/4 turn of the mounting screws one way or the other. I use his pickups because I've found them to be very quiet, seem to exhibit no microphonics whatsoever, and don't have that ragged 'edginess' that many others seem to have.
PRR |
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Mitch Adelman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2007 5:55 am Pickup height
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| Thanks for the info. Paul's reply makes me think that pickup closeness height to strings of george L pickups has much more leeway than pole piece pickups and that being closer might be better than being further from the strings for maximum tone. I know that the Lace sensors pickups on fender that have plastic covers can be as close as you want without any strange effects. I have my george L's at a quarter but I was wondering though the benefit of putting them at 3/32 as far as sound goes. Again thanks for the input! |
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Paul Redmond
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2007 4:46 pm
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I have this bad habit of sometimes 'clunking' the bass string on my Uni 12's with the heel of my right hand. I don't do it often, but it does happen, so the 'quarter' thing just aggravated the issue. I found that dropping them to 3/32" eliminated that. You're correct. The George L's p/u's are more forgiving re: height. George told me that eons ago. I also found that by lowering them a bit, it seemed to make the tone mellower. Maybe just my imagination. About the same time frame, I started picking my strings around the 17th and 18th frets instead of close to the p/u. I found it makes the Whitney sound more like a ZB.
PRR |
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Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2007 7:37 pm
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What Jim said  |
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