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I find that raising and lowering a pickup does several things. When I move my pickup closer to the strings I get more output and more attack. When lowering a pickup you get less output and a smoother sound. As the pickup is moved further away from the bridge the louder and fuller it sounds….

I like having the pickup (both bobbins on a humbucker) adjusted closer to the strings as it allows more magnetic field from the string movement to cut through the coils to produce more current or output in a pickup. If the two bobbins on the humbucker are further away from the pickup and the pole…

There are a few things I would do, first I’d use a longer or stiffer compression spring , and second if you use a longer rubber grommet (1/4″ OD x 1/8″ ID x 3/8″ long) to take up the loose slack between the mounted pickup and pickguard. You have to remove the old compression spring…

Lowering the neck and middle pickup on the bass side of the strings helps reduce the “Strat-itis”. I remember needing a pickup for the center position of an old Strat and I ended up putting an old Duo-Sonic pickup that was reverse wound and reverse polarity (RW/RP) from the existing bridge and neck pickups. I…

If a compression spring is used for height adjustment there can be several problems associated with them. If the springs are loose especially when the pickups are adjusted lower as in the neck position on typical Stratocasters the springs can vibrate and cause a howling feedback. When playing at higher volumes or in close quarters…

Screws used for height adjustment are usually made of a ferrous material that is plated with nickel, chrome or gold. The height adjust screw used on instruments such as Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters, Gibson humbuckers etc. can attract the magnetic field from the pole pieces or bar magnet and can act like a pole piece. The…

This is a trick I’ve seen Jeff Beck do on a guitar I built for him during the 70s. It was nicknamed The Tele-Gib. He used in on songs like “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers”, and he was seen playing it on the “Secrets Policeman’s Ball” video. He would lower the bridge pickup about 1/4″…

It is basically a amber surgical tubing made from a gummed-rubber that had been commonly used for medical purposes. It has measurements of 1/4″ OD, 1/8″ ID with a wall thickness of 1/8″. It is now commonly used with many types of exercise devices and commonly seen on sling shots. I like using the rubber…

Adjustable screws are used to adjust the balance from string to string. At times you may need to adjust the output on a particular string because it may lack the output for your picking or playing style. You may need to lower a pole to decrease the output on a particular string when the output…

Mounting rings are used for mounting the pickup and allowing height adjustment up or down for the desired pickup position. Mounting rings can be angled to fit the desired area from the neck to bridge position. With mounting rings, the pickup can be adjusted lower on one side and higher on the other. Usually the…