Does Pickup Height Affect Tone?

Pickup height is a critical element of your guitar's tone. Set too low, and your pickup is inefficient and weak. Set too high, and your pickup will cause all sorts of problems for you.

How does changing pickup height affect tone?

Raise the pickups up a bit too high and your tone will muddy up and be harder to shape with your amp. Conversely, if you lower the pickups too much, you might not have enough signal left over to 'feed' your amp adequately -- luckily, if your pickups are too low for optimal performance, it should be fairly obvious.

Does pickup height affect output?

Yes, more output! Closer pickups will deliver a higher output with a more pronounced and defined high end. But you will not necessarily maximize your sound by just setting the pickups as high as they'll go. In fact, a higher setting can diminish an otherwise outstanding guitar tone in a few different ways.