Table of Contents
How high should Pickups be on a Stratocaster?
PICKUPS
Bass Side | Treble Side | |
---|---|---|
Vintage style | 6/64″ (2.4 mm) | 5/64″ (2 mm) |
Noiseless™ Series | 8/64″ (3.2 mm) | 6/64″ (2.4 mm) |
Standard Single-Coil | 5/64″ (2 mm) | 4/64″ (1.6 mm) |
Humbuckers | 4/64″ (1.6 mm) | 4/64″ (1.6 mm) |
How do I make my Strat sound fuller?

Strat’s naturally place a lot of emphasis on the treble frequencies, and less on the mids and bass, which gives them that sharp, but thin sounding tone. In order to thicken this up, you need to use the EQ pedal to switch the emphasis from the treble, to the bass.
How do you make a Stratocaster play easier?
5 Quick and Easy Ways to Make Your Cheap Strat Play Better
- Lubricate the Nut. Often on cheap guitars you’ll find the nut that holds the strings is poorly cut or not perfectly sized.
- Swap Out the Bridge.
- Swap Out the Tuners.
- Put on New Strings or Change Them More Often.
- Adjust the Action or Truss Round.
How high should the strings be on a Fender Stratocaster?
The height should measure 1/64″ for the 1st string and graduate to 2/64″ for the 6th string. Each thicker string should be slightly higher than the one before it.
How do you tell if your pickups are too high?
Setting your pickup height too high will cause your magnets to push and pull your strings out of tune. Here’s a quick way to tell if this is happening to you: play the Low E string at a high fret (15th fret is a good one to start at). You might hear a “warbling” sound. That sound is your magnet fighting your string.

Does pickup height affect tone?
Guitar pickup height affects tone due to the distance between the pickups and the guitar strings. As the distance gets smaller, the string’s vibration pattern, pitch, and sustain are altered along with an increase in the pickup output. All of these factors ultimately affect the tone of the guitar.
How high should the strings be on a Stratocaster?
How high should the action be at the 12th fret strat?
For electric guitars, in our opinion, a good default string height at the 12th fret is typically about 6/64th of an inch (2.38mm) on the bass side and 4/64th of an inch (1.59mm) on the treble side.
What is considered high action on a Stratocaster?
Electric guitars generally can achieve a lower overall action than their acoustic or Classical counterparts….String Height at the 12th Fret.
Low Action | Medium Action | High Action |
---|---|---|
Low E: 1.6mm (.063”) High E: 1.5mm (.059”) | Low E: 2.5mm (.098”) High E: 2.4mm (.094”) | Low E: 3.5mm+ (.138”) High E: 3.4mm+ (.134”) |
Can pickups be too close to strings?
But there’s a drawback. 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. If that happens, you’ve got problems.
Why do stratocasters sound so good?
The Stratocaster had a distinctive voice thanks in part to its three pickups, the wire-coiled magnets that transmit string vibrations to the amplifier. Most electric guitars at that time had one or two. Fender also designed a new vibrato — the metal arm at the end of the strings that allows player to vary their pitch.
Can you set up your own Stratocaster?
Doing setup work on your own guitar can be intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s easy to do, saves you money, and allows you to dial in your guitar to play exactly how you like it. Follow along for a step by step guide to setting up your Stratocaster to play perfectly.
Do I need to lubricate my Stratocaster?
If you want the best performance out of your Stratocaster you must lubricate. This is where our Big Bends Nut Sauce comes into play. The most important areas to lubricate are the slots in the nut, the bridge pieces anywhere the string touches and the pivot points on the tremolo.
What pickups should I look for when buying a Stratocaster?
Even if you don’t go with that particular model, you can look for other pickups with similar sound profiles. The classic Stratocaster setup is, of course, three single pickups, although the HSS (humbucker at the bridge, and singles in the middle and neck positions) setup is quickly gaining popularity.
Should I upgrade my Stratocaster to a rail tail tremolo?
Should you be looking for serious upgrades, you could install a Floyd Rose trem bridge. To retrofit a traditional Floyd Rose would require drilling, whereas their Rail Tail Tremolo model is a drop in replacement for any Stratocaster with an existing 6 point trem.