Question about pickups

[flunkie]

Hi Everyone,

I recently bought an Elrick Evo 4, which I love in terms of action and sound. However, I found getting a lot of pain in my knuckles when I play it. I compared it to my other basses, which I've never had a problem with. I realise that my strap is a little too long on the Elrick, but also that the height of the pickups (they are about half a centimetre from the strings) is forcing my hand into a slightly unnatural forward position. When I play my other basses I tend to pick over the bridge pickup. Because the pickups are so close to the strings I can't do that on this bass. I'd like to adjust the height of the pickups, and am very nervous about damaging the tone. I've never done this before. Can anyone advise me?

Thanks

[hubrad]

Drop them down a bit; if you can fit a little bit of masking tape on the side of them you could put a mark on each one to remind you where they were so it's all reversible. You might have to up the gain slightly, but the main thing is to keep them in balance.

[HowieBass]

Count the number of turns you make to each pickup height adjustment screw and maybe do a single turn each side then see how tone and playability are affected. Keep counting the number of turns you make as you adjust height in case you want to go back to the old setup. I think you'll notice a slight change in volume more than tone but that shouldn't be a major issue (you just turn your amp up a bit more).

[flunkie]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated

[Conan]

Some pickups (particularly active EMGs) benefit from being very close to the strings.... not sure about the ones (Barts aren't they?) in the Elrick though...

[flunkie]

They are Barts If it alters the tone too badly, unfortunately this bass will have to go. I need to be able to position my hand there. Cramming it between the raised pick-ups is making my knuckles very sore!