EMG 81 pickup height

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DUFF
Is there a recommended pickup height for the EMG 81? If not how close do you guys set them?
njrusmc

Word is that you should put them as close as possible as the magnetic is weak compared to passive pickups, but I find most people tend to adjust it to their liking. I personally follow the advice of the manufacturer and put them as close as possible.

LordCliffton

Right, since the EMG is active & has its own preamp I don't think that pup height affects it nearly as much as your typical passive pup where height can be crucial for good/better tone. And as long as it's not interfering with the string rotation then you're golden.

espdood

My Eclipse's EMG pickup height came way low from the factory and it sounded okay. I raised it up close to the strings..and it was just all good from there.

xcc

my eclipse came with the bridge pup as close to the strings as possible, I lowered them a little bit to avoid feedback, I can't hear that the tone has changed a bit..:)

vitod

In my case, the PU was very close and sounded muddy. I lowered the 81 and it sounded way better. These PU's are finicky. You have to play with them and find your sweet spot.:D

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Bridge The Void

I put them up high, but then lowered them when I heard a "squeaking" sound, coming from my palm mutes pushing the string against the pickup. That's when you know they're too close :p

Butch

you need to adjust them to just the right height....

TheDevilHimself

The same here

DeathrollJM

Rule of thumb, the plane level of the EMG pup should be in line with the fretboard plane level. If your action is set right and you don't dig into the string when you pick or palm mute, your golden, if your strings hit, either back off with the palm muting and picking intensity, or put on higher gage strings. D-EJ915's image above seems pretty close to where the pup should be.

MV-CTM

I had mine jacked way higher than anybody else I've ever seen lol, like I said if it was any higher the strings would hit it

Pat

A fender type guitar (typical guitars with floyd rose)  have a fretboard plan parrallel to the PU top.

But a Gisbon type guitar (Eclipse, and many guitar with a Tonepro tailpiece) has an angled fretboard, which is not parrallel to the body.

PU height will threfore slightly vary has there is more string height variation with a fender than with a gibson when pushing the string on the fret (chording).

 

 

HateEvent

If the OP hadn't worked out what to do with his pickup height in the last 9 years since posting this, I'm sure he has probably killed himself.

AfghanWarVet

Sadly he never figured it out. 

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