Another pickup height question!

[krr149]

Hi all - long time lurker, first time poster here. I believe I scoured with the search function to no avail before posting, but I apologize if this question has been answered. Long story short: I recently had a Novak P90 out into my Classic Player Jazzmaster's bridge position; I wanted something beefier than the stock pickups and more geared towards music like Dino Jr, the Stooges, the Wipers, and Hot Snakes. When I got back the guitar from the shop, the pickup was set at a super low position - like 6/32 away from the strings or so. I want to raise it up, but didn't know if there was a common-wisdom starting point. On my Gibson p90 guitars, I tend to aim for about 3/32 on the bass side and 2mm on the treble. That's where I have the Jazzmaster set now, but it's way, WAY hotter and in-your-face-ier than my Gibson guitars. Is Fender's recommended starting points for p90s lower?

[601210]

Jazzmasters usually have 1Meg Tone & Volume pots on the Lead circuit, which is probably why it sounds way hotter than on a Gibson (and its 500ks). I've heard mixed reports of J Mascis Jazzmasters coming with 500k pots, too.

I haven't really heard any specs when it comes to pickup heights other than what Fender recommended in very old manuals, so I kind of doubt there'd be anything on P90s since they never actually came with full-blown P90s.

I wouldn't worry about lowering it until it balances with the neck pickup, personally. That's probably what your tech did.

[krr149]

Thanks for the reply! I'll try and lower it a bit more than where I have it now. It's feed backing a bunch and still way hotter than some of my other guitars (measuring by the input on Helix Native; I'm not more electric savvy than that).

Does anyone have any measurements where they like setting P90s in a Jazzmaster?

[Debaser]

Not all P-90 types are equal, then consider that your preferences could be much different than someone else. I’d go by ear and adjust to what sounds best to you. Forget about the ruler. A few minutes with a screwdriver and your gear at volume is all it takes.

I drop down (or raise up) my neck pickups to balance with the bridge. I set the bridge best to my ears. It’s usually up very close, screws all the way down. I like the underwound varieties though. Don’t know what the Novak is wound to but I bet it’s pretty high, maybe 10K+. It seems your shop might of adjusted for balance—and you might not have a ‘good’ balance between position since you wanted a stronger P90 bridge in the first place.

[timtam]

Novak has somewhat unique instructions for setting pickup height (not based on a ruler) ...
https://www.curtisnovak.com/faq/#height

[_nash]

Novak has somewhat unique instructions for setting pickup height (not based on a ruler) ...
https://www.curtisnovak.com/faq/#height

I have always used this one on guitars I setup. Everyone seems to love it!

[jvin248]

.

You need to use your ears when setting heights. Start with the typical measurement but use the tones to direct you.

Joe shows how
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG1MSZIysPQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STeHgXlnh1c

.

[timtam]

Another pickup manufacturer (Porter) on adjusting P90s, incl overall height vs pole heights ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wecN4oJMTik