Do Guitar Pickups Affect Sustain? (2024)

FAQs

Do Guitar Pickups Affect Sustain? ›

Your guitar's pickups only affect sustain if they are set too high. Setting pickups too high can affect the string's oscillation pattern physically (your strings are bumping into the pickup) or magnetically (your strings are getting pulled by the pickup's magnets).

In the case of guitar sustain and how it's affected by pickups, it's not quite as simple once again as level of body resonance or pickup strength and proximity to strings. It has to do with balance and cumulative effects both in understating and overstating.

Pickups. Seen as a panacea for almost everything, magnetic pickups can help, and hurt, your guitar's sustain. Powerful guitar output can drive your input harder, and therefore possibly longer.

A few popular answers would be the 1959, the 57/61 or the Bloombuckers. After hearing the Tone Specific line of PAF style humbuckers, most pros will tell you these pickups have the most sustain & dynamic range of any Humbucker ever made.

If your pickups are too high, they may not be picking up the sound to the best of their ability. Having your pickups set too high can cause intonation/tuning issues. Because pickups are essentially magnets, when they are set too high it can cause the string to be pulled downwards.

Cons of Humbuckers

Don't cut through the mix as well as single-coils due to thicker, less clear sound. Not as crisp or detailed when used with clean tones.

If pickups are set too low, the magnetic field from the pickups won't pick up the vibrations from the string and your resulting tone will sound quiet or thin.

Mahogany is a tonewood that produces a punchy growl with excellent sustain, generally favoured for punchy rock music. Good quality mahogany tonewood will age really well and sound better as it matures.

Sonically, solidbody guitars tend to have the most sustain of the three body types, since the density of the wood contributes to the sustain. The denser wood also makes solidbody guitars more resistant to feedback from the pickups and results in a tighter, or more focused, low end.

Uncovered pickups will sound brighter and more open than a covered pickup (given all other variables are the same: magnet, coil and physical properties). The feel is more dynamic and when “cutting through the mix” is required an open pickup is often preferred.

What height should humbuckers be set at? ›

For standard, full-size humbuckers, a reasonable starting point for the bridge pickup is at least 1/16" (1.5mm) from the high E and 5/64" (2 mm) from the low E. There are no recommended distances for the other 4 strings.

Once you deal with the string action, the straightness of the neck, any fret buzz, and any intonation and tuning issues (a visit to a good luthier and maybe replacing the tuning pegs if you feel so inclined), then yes, your pickups can indeed make a significant difference, especially depending on what you are replacing ...

Typically, lowering a guitar's pickups will yield a woodier and more natural sound with great playing dynamics and clarity.

Start by setting all of your guitar pickups to 3/32” (0.093”, 2.38mm) on the bass side and 2/32” (1/16”, 0.0625”, 1.98mm) on the treble side. Remember, this is the space between the top of the pole piece and the bottom of the string, held down at the last fret.

Having high action on the guitar gives you a better overall sound. The strings have more room to vibrate, the sustain is better, and the guitar generally has a fuller, more “meaty” sound.

As well as the strings acting on the pickup's magnetic field, that magnetic field can also act on the string. Adjusted too close, the magnetic field can interfere with the strings' vibration.

I find that raising and lowering a pickup does several things. When I move my pickup closer to the strings I get more output and more attack. When lowering a pickup you get less output and a smoother sound. As the pickup is moved further away from the bridge the louder and fuller it sounds.