G&L Commanche Pickup Height

[Sambooby123]

Hey guys, just picked up my first G&L yesterday from Buffalo Bros.

My question is how high are the Z-coils supposed to be set up?
What are the factory specs?
What have you guys found that works best for you?

When I recieved it the pickups were between 8/64" to 10/64" on the treble side fretted at the 22nd fret. Is that a bit low? I'm not sure how these magnetic field pickups work.

Thanks guys

[helle-man]

I know others here may disagree, but I always set my pickups, including Z coils, as close to the strings as I can without the string vibration actually hitting the pickups. I don't scientifically measure the distance, it's all done by sight and a little experimenting.

In general, I set the bridge PU closer to the strings than the neck PU because the strings have a narrower vibration range being close to the bridge. Also, bridge PU's tend to be weaker sounding to my ears than neck PU's, so I usually lower the neck PU a tad to balance the sound between them.

Z coils are hotter than most PU's, but I don't care - I want the most output I can muster out of a PU. It's just habit. Besides, most modern amps have 2 inputs to accommodate both weak and strong PU's.

My 2¢
Will Ray

[Craig]

Hey guys, just picked up my first G&L yesterday from Buffalo Bros.

My question is how high are the Z-coils supposed to be set up?
What are the factory specs?
What have you guys found that works best for you?

When I recieved it the pickups were between 8/64" to 10/64" on the treble side fretted at the 22nd fret. Is that a bit low? I'm not sure how these magnetic field pickups work.

Thanks guys

As a starting point, check the G&L Owner's Manual in our Gallery.
Then adjust to your own preferences.

Hope this helps.

[ChrisPcritter]

Having played guitars with humbuckers most of my guitar-life I adjust the bridge pickup for the sound/tone/ouput I want and the neck lower to balance the volume and when I middle pickup is involved I again balance the volume.

I have two Will Ray models (thanks Will for designing such a cool guitar) one is a semi-hollow(chambered body with no F hole) and one is a solid body. There's no way I would set the pickup height identical, even though the electronics are identical they are very different in tone.

I have done a lot of experimenting and after reading Wills' post I'm gonna try adjusting like he has it set as well.... I'll experiment with the bridge pickup only as that is the one that seems to be the key for me. If I can get the bridge pickup to sound great, the rest are easy as I tend to adjust them for volume..

[BillEvans1956]

Ok guys,

This post will expose my ignorance, but how exactly do you adjust the pickup height? Is it simply a matter of 'loosening' the screws which fix the PUs to the guitar body? Is there a spring under the PU cover and between the PU and the guitar body which will raise the PU towards the strings when the screws are loosened? And, how much 'loosening' will the screws allow before the PU just 'pops' completely off the body? Sorry if this is an 'idiot question'. The User Manual is great on details of recommended PU height, etc., but it assumes the User knows how to adjust the PU height with confidence.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bill

P.S. I have a Legacy with single coil and humbucker pickups, and two ASATs with the MFD pickups. Is adjustment the same for both types? Ta.

[sickbutnottired]

Ok guys,

This post will expose my ignorance, but how exactly do you adjust the pickup height? Is it simply a matter of 'loosening' the screws which fix the PUs to the guitar body? Is there a spring under the PU cover and between the PU and the guitar body which will raise the PU towards the strings when the screws are loosened? And, how much 'loosening' will the screws allow before the PU just 'pops' completely off the body? Sorry if this is an 'idiot question'. The User Manual is great on details of recommended PU height, etc., but it assumes the User knows how to adjust the PU height with confidence.

Yea you have the process down the mechanics change a little PU type to PU type, you can raise PU's so much they come off, but it is not a problem, just put turn the screws back a little. (I have some Seymore Duncans that are the reverse, you tighten the screw to raise the PU, because it has a slick bracket.) I can't help with the guitar specific questions cause I am only smart enough to play 2 PU guitars. Three just puts me on tilt!

I setup my pickups much like Will and CrisP. Start with bridge and get it as high as possible and still be attached to the guitar and sounding good. Then guess and check the other(s) (in my case on the neck) into position by adjusting and playing on the both pickup setting. Then finally checking neck only setting for tone. You can always turn gain down, but turning it up--and keeping the great tone in the signal is a bigger challenge! It's pretty much whatever sounds good to you.

By the way, I saw Derek Trucks this summer, and the bridge pickup came off his SG on stage. He didn't miss a beat, just screwed it back on. His guitar tech came running out with a screw driver, but I think he had it back on before he got there. I am guessing he has that bad boy set pretty high!

[Philby]

P.S. I have a Legacy with single coil and humbucker pickups, and two ASATs with the MFD pickups. Is adjustment the same for both types? Ta.

On the ASAT's you can also adjust the pickup pole height for better string to string balance using the hex key that came with the instrument. That's a great feature of the MFD pickups that is often overlooked.

[scolfax]

I know others here may disagree, but I always set my pickups, including Z coils, as close to the strings as I can without the string vibration actually hitting the pickups.

Yeah, I do the opposite. Neck and middle pickups are about the height of a nickel, bridge pickup about twice that. Magnets farther away from the strings reduce the output but let them vibrate longer.