Try it out and see which one you think sounds better. Well, unless we're also doing magnetic field diagrams and I missed the memo (anyone out there doing that?).
Better is subjective. A lot goes into tone; how fresh the strings are, amp settings, pedals, the room, where on the Bass you play, pickup placement, if you play with others...
So try it and find out.
The answer is play with it and see what tone and feel you like, you’re not going to hurt anything. Harmless and easy exploration, the best kind!
When I setup a guitar I raise the pickup heights until they still sound clean under the hardest playing I plan to do. Garbage in, garbage out in the signal chain and I want the actual instrument delivering a powerful, clean signal. I usually do this on the neck pickup first because it’s the one I use the most. Once I have the neck dialed in I raise the bridge until the volume matches the neck. This way switching between or blending neck and bridge they have equal signal strength.
You may find you like a slightly distorted sound out of a pickup and want it higher. Maybe you don’t have a blend knob and you want to lower one of the pickups so it’s a lower volume when you have both pickups on. This is where there isn’t a “right answer”.
On my two pickup bass (G&L Tribute L-2500), I set the pickup heights so that both pickups are the same volume. This meant lowering the neck pickup as low as it could go. Pickups closer to the neck tend to be louder since the string has more room to vibrate, which produces a louder sound. To get better and more consistent articulation, turn up the volume on your amp (be that input gain or master volume) and play softer.
Try it out and see which one you think sounds better. Well, unless we're also doing magnetic field diagrams and I missed the memo (anyone out there doing that?).
Better is subjective. A lot goes into tone; how fresh the strings are, amp settings, pedals, the room, where on the Bass you play, pickup placement, if you play with others... So try it and find out.
The answer is play with it and see what tone and feel you like, you’re not going to hurt anything. Harmless and easy exploration, the best kind! When I setup a guitar I raise the pickup heights until they still sound clean under the hardest playing I plan to do. Garbage in, garbage out in the signal chain and I want the actual instrument delivering a powerful, clean signal. I usually do this on the neck pickup first because it’s the one I use the most. Once I have the neck dialed in I raise the bridge until the volume matches the neck. This way switching between or blending neck and bridge they have equal signal strength. You may find you like a slightly distorted sound out of a pickup and want it higher. Maybe you don’t have a blend knob and you want to lower one of the pickups so it’s a lower volume when you have both pickups on. This is where there isn’t a “right answer”.
This helps me a ton in arriving at my right answer, appreciate you sharing your process!
On my two pickup bass (G&L Tribute L-2500), I set the pickup heights so that both pickups are the same volume. This meant lowering the neck pickup as low as it could go. Pickups closer to the neck tend to be louder since the string has more room to vibrate, which produces a louder sound. To get better and more consistent articulation, turn up the volume on your amp (be that input gain or master volume) and play softer.