How to set pickup pole pieces by Haze Guitars

[Partscaster]

Have seen several threads on various forums referring to this article by Haze Guitars.
I used it today and very much like the results.

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/how-to-set ... ece-height

some text from article:
"Of course, it’s important to note that this is a rule of thumb. Think of it as a good starting point. Set your screw poles in roughly this pattern and then listen to each string’s output. Don’t be afraid to adjust things if your ears tell you something’s not right.


PLAIN VERSUS WOUND G STRING

The pattern above only applies to plain or unwound G strings.

A wound G string is the opposite and actually needs the pole closer to the string. If you play a wound G, bring that pole piece higher even than the D string.

[ID10t]

Have seen several threads on various forums referring to this article by Haze Guitars.
I used it today and very much like the results.

Pickup+Pole-Piece+heightadjustment.png

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/how-to-set ... ece-height

some text from article:
"Of course, it’s important to note that this is a rule of thumb. Think of it as a good starting point. Set your screw poles in roughly this pattern and then listen to each string’s output. Don’t be afraid to adjust things if your ears tell you something’s not right.


PLAIN VERSUS WOUND G STRING

The pattern above only applies to plain or unwound G strings.

A wound G string is the opposite and actually needs the pole closer to the string. If you play a wound G, bring that pole piece higher even than the D string.

am I the only one who sees a relationship/pattern to the saddles?

[mozz]

I actually measured the inside solid core wire of the wound strings. I have it written down here somewhere but i went by turns. First you set the heights according to your radius, then adjust the heights according to string strength. Then when you are done with all that, adjust the picklup height screws according to Gibson specs, then adjust the pickup adjustment screws if you need more bass or treble. Sometimes i put them all the same height and use coins for clearance heights.

[andrewsrea]

IMHO, this suggestion is subject to personal tastes and the topic is myth prone.

Rule #1: magnetic hysteresis is not linear. It is not as focused and isolated as a steel polepiece or an individual rod magnet would visually lead you to believe.

For rod magnet heights, staggering will create noticeable effects on adjustable and non-adjustable (but staggered) rod magnets. However, its hysteresis pattern will be influenced by the rod magnet on either side. For example, if you had the magnets on the 4th & 5th string close to the strings, the magnet under the 3rd 30% lower and the 1st & 2nd string magnets 10% lower than the 4th - the 3rd string will not be 30% quieter. The difference will be much more subtle than that.

And contrary to popular belief, steel pole pieces and steel slugs are not very efficient transfers of magnetism. The bulk of the hysteresis pattern comes from the bar magnet and the poles and slugs influence the 'shape' up wards to the strings. Many times Seth Lover said the polepieces were added to pickups for marketing purposes and had extremely little effect. There is some truth to that, except studies have shown that the mass and composition of steel present different distortions on the signal, which affects tone.

I chalk-up most to what people experience with changes in tone and balance with tweaking the individual steel pole pieces, is the changes they are also making to pickup height.

@mozz 's prior post will give you a perfect math & physics balance, which may or may not sound good to your style. In the 70's and 80's , lots of people were trying to get a very small and pure sensing of the string, which to my ears sounded sterile and unmusical. We musicians and our ears have grown accustom to blurs, distortions, phase anomalies and unbalance (I know you OCD folks are cursing me right now). The chords we produce have root, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, etc. which all sound great, but not usually in balance. For example you may prefer 3rds (complimenting) over 5ths (providing song tension) and let's stay your fingering 5ths normally on the 3rd string - so having that pole piece much lower sounds good to you. Especially if you strum a lot. Perhaps if you are a shredder, the math answer that @mozz suggests is your thing.

My cliché as always is, "play it - use your ears - like what you like." Experiment, take notes (to get back to that great setting that your tweaked yourself out of), take breaks and stick with what works.

For me this is generically what my ears say sound good for music I like (classic rock, heavy rock, blues):
- Strat single coils: traditional stagger for 7.25" radiused fret boards, even though my Strats all have 9.5" radius.
- Tele bridge: flat on the 1st, 2nd, 5th & 6th - 1mm raised on the 3rd & 4th. My Tele is 7.25" radius, but this seems to work well with 9.5" radius also.
- Humbuckers: below the cover, with small adjustments for string to string balance using 3rds chording.

I generally use the pickup height adjusting screws to balance the 1st & 6th strings.

[mozz]

Yeah, the settings i described are more or less to set a even balance of all strings. You can do that with end screws but with strat pickups if it's a bright "G" your other strings may still sound low. Nature of the beast. It actually may sound bland, but it makes you concentrate more if you hit each string the exact same strength, which might be hard to do. It was kind of set to the string gauge i had been using, probably 9's. Switch gauges and it throws it off.

Any stagger is going to emphasize certain strings and could be a reason you prefer certain chords. Not related but i read the tubescreamer has a bump at about 720hz and that's why it sounds good cranked in a band mix and not as good at bedroom levels. Fletcher-Munsun and those guys.

Another thing not related (but too lazy to start another thread) but may be related to Andrews talking about magnetism fields. A2 strat pole pieces. I bought a shit-load because of my liking of A2 for humbuckers. So wound up a set of A2 strat pickups, typical 8000 turns (i think) each. The CNC machine does pretty consistent winds. On my old winder i used to wind 3, highest inductance would go in the bridge to tame some highs, lowest inductance would go in the neck to be a little brighter. These were all about spot on the same.

Installed in a off white squier standard/partscaster. I have 2 almost identical partcasters except one has A5, now the other has A2. They didn't sound the same at all. A2 definitely has more sustain, noticeable amount , yet i can not bond with it. Tried adjusting heights, better but i still don't like it. Ripped it apart thinking i messed up the tone wiring or something. All was good, redid intonation, all good. Since i have a fairly high grade gaussmeter, i measured the A5 on each string where it crosses the magnet pole. Numbers are not accurate from my memory but went something like this. Neck 200 gauss on high E and low E . I did make small adjustments to even it out but i was amazed i was fairly close when i set this up a year ago by heights or coins. Middle 250 gauss, bridge 300 gauss.

A2 guitar was way off. So i set this one the same as the other. 200/250/300. Now, these guitars are like brothers/sisters. Pretty much the same volume wise and evenness, but they have their own personality, i'm guessing due to different wood and different magnetic field. A2 have higher inductance due to more iron so it's like having 2 slightly different EQ's but no big drastic difference if i had to swap in the middle of a song. I really like the consistency of setting the gauss. A2 still has more sustain, you can tell it's a magnet effect.

Only problem i have now is A2 guitar feels like the nut is smaller, but it's not, measures the same. I do have a few brass nuts here and have room to make the squier nuts a bit wider, they are narrow from the factory, typical complaint. Never installed brass but i have the Hiroshima files. I'm gonna write up a procedure for adjusting my pickups and tape it to the tool box.

[mickey]

Then of course T.V. Jones recommends setting up like this:

[andrewsrea]

@mozz : I like your Squire Strats!

I have a '96 American Standard and a 2016 Squire Affinity, both with my AMI Billy-B pickup sets. They also both sound great, but different and strangely, I prefer the Squire. It sounds more like Mark Knoplher, the rosewood fretboard neck us super comfy, the replacement Klusion Deluxe tuners and Gotoh bridge with 'old-style' bent steel saddles are delightful. And, I prefer the Competition Orange of the Squire slightly more to the sunburst Am Std.

My Billy-B set is A2 staggered for the bridge and basically A5 semi-staggered for the neck and bridge. I also have Eric Johnson tone wiring and a Kinnman type bleed on the volume (very subtle).

@mickey : That is close to the way I start setting up my humbuckers. Polepieces decked, bridge hiked up to the point it balances and sounds good. Occasionally a few minor tweaks to the pole pieces, then repeat for the neck pickup. However, like the TV Jones diagram you posted, the neck is typically much lower, due to all the power in the strings at that location.

[Perfect Stranger]

I drill holes in my picks so I can hold them better.....LOL