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Not something I've played with much, usually things sounds good enough but keen to experiment with the HB 335+ and see what a difference it makes, how do y'all do it? Came across this video in my travels... looks pretty decent!

jeremyb wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:41 pm Not something I've played with much, usually things sounds good enough but keen to experiment with the HB 335+ and see what a difference it makes, how do y'all do it? Came across this video in my travels... looks pretty decent!

I think pickup height is soooo variable depending on the output and how you like your guitars set up. I like low output, so have my pickups generally set a few mm lower than is generally recommended. Especially my 335-style. Can help deal with the wooliness in the neck pickup, too.

On my Whitfill Tele, both pickups are lowish output, but I have the bridge pickup set quite high. I like having this on guitars with one volume knob, as you can effectively use the pickup selector for a bit of a volume boost.

I hold the E strings down at the last fret, then set the thick string 3mm from the pickups and the thin string 2mm from the pickups. Then I usually end up lowering the neck pup to suit.

Depends on what you're going for. You'll get a very aggressive tone with the bobbin as close to the strings as you can get without them hitting, especially with a powerful magnet like an a8 or ceramic.

Dial it back and you'll lose attack and the harder transients but you will see slightly increased sustain due to less string pull.

Next level though is lowering the bobbins then raising the bobbin screws (on humbuckers) out of the bobbin. That's generally really round sounding, especially with an a2 magnet. Then your transients are softened and it's rather smooth.

So I have different guitars setup different ways depending on what I'm going for and the pickups inductance, magnet, and tone curve. But you can replicate a lower powered magnet type by lowering a pickup more than looks 'correct'.

Basically... It depends.

Its an interesting topic, I guess its only spawned from the fact I'm not super happy with the pickups in the HB so maybe this might sweeten things a little, I have found great joy thought in middle position, neck tone wound right off, bridge volume about half way, hotcake kicked in, so good!

A magnet change can do wonders for not much. Major brands will use the same coils but change a magnet and sell it as something totally different.

It's a very cheap and quick mod that is 100% reversible too.

Drop down to lowest
Raise until sounds like shit
Drop back down till sounds good again

JHorner wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 12:45 am Drop down to lowest
Raise until sounds like shit
Drop back down till sounds good again

Reads like you’ve tuned carbs and/or 2-strokes. Experience plus critical listening equals noice

Fuck about until you get fucked off with it then fuck it up some more.
Bit like faffing with your trem heights and regretting it as soon as.

I just measured my PRS with P90's without fretting the strings. My action is 1.8mm across all strings at the 12th fret.

High E to Low E
Neck 4mm - 4.5mm
Bridge 2mm - 2mm

Pretty consistent with the video it seems.

Always liked this Lindy Fralin explanation:

So I finally got around to this today after being uninspired by the HB35+ thru the spark… sounds much better, although at 2mm on the bridge pickup on the low E side the strings were hitting the pickup so had to tweak it a bit… might just finally get round to taking it to Alan Farrow for a setup and get him to work his magic!

String gauge matters a lot too.

I was playing 12-60 at one point and dropped the pickups so low they fell off the screws