Thinking hard about pickup pole pieces

[NBW]

So I tried setting up the pole pieces to give even output. But of course this is wrong. Why? Well the human ear doesn’t have a “flat” frequency response. We perceive frequencies as loudest around 1000hz, which is pretty much middle C. The response can be seen if you look at what are known as Fletcher-Munson curves.

So when you set the outputs even, you end up with a very bright sounding instrument. So I used my favorite amp (the Gibson Goldtone RV 30) set somewhat flat and used an a-weighted sound meter to set the pole pieces. This sounds pretty good.

in short those of you setting pole heights by ear are probably doing pretty well.

 

[Warmart]

Your ears are king, no doubt. I've tweaked 4 guitar's pole pieces recently and they are all quite different. The key is each sounds way better than before, so I'm pleased!

 

[Torstein]

I adjusted the polepieces on my cu24 yesterday, and ended up with something only slightly different from the stock height. The example image in the link seems a bit drastic. How much do you guys adjust the poles?

 

[Warmart]

I wouldn't worry about sticking to some arbitrary pattern - but definitely TRY it. That posted pattern worked well for my Paul's (like REALLY well) but not for anything else. The 58/15 MT's in my WL 594 have never been my favorite pu's, I ended up raising the pieces equally, about 1/8" above the covers - and then lowered the pu's a tad, and it's the best place for MY ears. Beware of the rabbit hole! I'm a natural born tweaker and have to fight the urge to grab a screwdriver every time I have a guitar in my hands - which is NOT a good idea!