Tele Pickup Height with JD Simo and Dan Strain - Ask Zac 198

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A discussion with my friends, JD Simo, and Dan "Danocaster" Strain about how they set pickup height on Telecaster type guitars. The discussion begins with a look at Simo's 2nd Danocaster, and how he had just changed the pickups to a set of Budz 58s, that then evolves into a discussion on pickups as JD adjusts his new instrument. We also discuss pickups that favor harmonics over fundamental tones, and how JD and I love our Headstrong Lil King amps.

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker

Danocaster Guitars

#askzac #jdsimo #danocaster

[TheHamebusk]

Enjoyed every moment. In ham radio, we say "armchair copy" when the signal is clear and operators on both sides of the antennas are fully engaged in great conversation. This video is definitely armchair copy!

[bldallas]

Great video, but I assume anyone who doesn’t know how to adjust pickup heights, likely doesn’t have the experience needed to just freely adjust them based on tone. So they need some guidelines.

I start by setting my pickups at 1/8” below the fretted E (6th) and e (1st) strings. By fretted, I mean highest fret (21 or 22), and like action, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece or screw.

Though I have pup gauges, an easy hack to use a 1/8” or 3mm Allen key. Allen keys sizes are measured flat side to flat side, so they work perfect for measuring pickup heights.

Once everything is 1/8” below the fretted strings, I set the volumes control(s) on the guitar to 10 (max) and the tone(s) o 5 (middle), and tweak the heights for tone. By this I mean I’m really trying to balance the volume from the bass end to the treble end, one eacg individual pup, and from pickup to pickup. 1/8” is really at the widest end of most recommended spacing range, this “tweaking” usually means slightly raising (1/2 turn or so) to increase the softer of the two volumes.

Finally once everything is balanced, if I know I have a lower powered set of pickups, or just ant a louder / different sound, , I will raise everything by a full turn and see how that sounds.

Y’all might say I’m over thinking it, but this approach is systematic. Unless a player is as experienced as this guy, telling them to just grab a screw driver and start adjusting heights until it sods better, could easily lead to them getting pups that are too close to the strings and they may not notice until they are playing hard or having tuning issues.

[Sammywhat]

Great episode, Zac, Truly three people which I would dearly enjoy hanging out and talking Tele ALL day long. Cheers!!

[mandodude]

Made me feel better about the way I adjust pickups. I too have always just tweaked them by ear. Another enjoyable and informative video as always. Thank you!

[Southern.child]

Sitting here with a cold Topo Chico in hand, listening to JD do his thing, his wonderful thing!

Thanks for letting us “sit in” on the hang with these guys Zac!

[tyler-jameskelly]

Very laid back video. Love it. It would be helpful to folks to let them know if the amp is set “flat” or not before you said “tweak.” Love the videos Zac, thank you.

[lazvt]

Can't believe Zac didn't talk about his hack of removing the neck from the tone pot....because of him, I've done it to all 10 of my Teles...even my CS. Love that mod!

[ggman]

JD Simo reminds me of Daniel Steinhardt from That Pedal Show. You want to hear what he's got to say, but often when he gets the floor to say something, he pauses to collect his thoughts and almost loses the moment before someone else talks over him! LOL

Great content. Thank you!

[britthibbert]

Thanks for this great video, Zac. This one and the 'Tele Tone Tricks' were very educational! I wonder if you'd be interested in doing another video on adjusting tele pickup height, where you take it a bit more step-by-step and explain and/or demonstrate the different qualities of tone that JD was talking about? like, if you or JD would be willing to try to point out the specific characteristics in the tone (harmonics that you want, bass too flubby, etc) that you are hearing and aren't hearing as you're adjusting. I try to listen for these things that JD was talking about, but sometimes my ear isn't sure what it should be hearing and listening for. Thanks for so much great content.

[brettarney]

This was so helpful "just plug into your favorite amp with a screwdriver and dont worry about how it looks". I was on the verge on swapping out a great sounding pickup until I followed this advice. Great topic!

[cgavin]

Love seeing Simo in his element. Great content, sir!

[ForTheLoveOfGuitars]

Man, I continue to find great back content from you. Love this stuff. Love my tele, so these are really valuable insights. Thanks, Zac!

[RobertCadieux-xr]

Zac! Do more of this kind of hanging out!

[alexpoteetguitar]

Amazing players and builder. These guys seem like very sweet folks. Love this channel Zac! I do wish the neck vibrato trend in modern guitar player would die off! It gets old seeing every modern guitar player just bend the neck constantly…

[VisualGuy]

I have two Danocasters. I mess around with my single cut some, but I haven't touched my double cut pup height. It is perfect. This trio is so much wealth in knowledge and experience. Thank you for filming, Zach. Love ya Dan!

[GlennJimenez]

JD Simo is a wonderful guitarist! He has always made gear sound great!

[gcatwyo]

That was a great way to spend part of my morning, thanks Zac, JD, and Dan!

[guitareveryone]

I totally agree on this. I don’t follow the whole pickup height spec thing. I adjust it to the way I like it. Of course you have to watch out for how close the pickup is to the strings to avoid weird overtones and stuff but your ears will tell you that. But for the most part adjusting pickup height is a great thing to experiment with especially if you’re not getting the tone you prefer. Before pulling out those pickups, adjust them first. You may be surprised with the results.

[grantbob]

Very insightful. Thanks for sharing this Zac!

[PascalDP]

JD is right on about the sweet spot. For Les pauls, it’s a balancing act between the pickup height and the individual pole pieces. I think you don’t have to be afraid to try extreme settings. It’s by doing so that I can get a LP neck pickup to sound snappier, like a single coil.