Pickup Height

Generally, and Im asking because my experiments failed, do you,

A) Get more sustain if you pickups are closer to the strings?

B) Get more feedback if the pickups are close to the strings?

C) Get more distortion if the pickups are closer to the strings?

Im refering to a les paul and the way in which you can elevate the pickups up and down.

Originally posted by Axl_Rose
Generally, and Im asking because my experiments failed, do you,

A) Get more sustain if you pickups are closer to the strings?

No way! The magnets in the pickups will pull on the strings, damping the vibration, which KILLS the sustain! It will also affect the intonation, making it sound out of tune.

Originally posted by Axl_Rose
B) Get more feedback if the pickups are close to the strings?

No. Feedback happens when the sound from the speaker causes the strings to vibrate, [u]feed[/u]ing the signal [u]back[/u] into the amp.

Originally posted by Axl_Rose
C) Get more distortion if the pickups are closer to the strings?

Maybe. But that's the wrong way to get distortion. The good kind of distortion comes from saturating the tubes in the preamp, the power amp, or both. You control that with the amp settings.

Cheers! I can always rely on you man! Im pretty annoyed because for the past 2 outa 3 years Ive been playing Ive had my pickups close to the strings! Some git in a guitar shop recomended it! Damit!

As so many people have said before "dont listen to the guy or girl in the shop" :)

Having the pickups closer to the strings gives higher output , which some people prefere for more distortion ... The better way to get that is to get higher output pickups.