bass pickup question

[kopie101]

ok, i think most of us know the sound you get when you push down on a string at the pickup and the string hits the little metal circle(i have a fender jazz if that helps you know what im talkin about). its not a very good sound and i push down with my thumb sometimes and hit the pickup and it makes the pop noise from the amp. i was wondering if pickups that have the circle covered up, for instance 'i like tictac''s new bass, do they make that noise when you push the string to the pickup? if so, is there anything i can do other than turning the neck pickup off or way down?

[i like tictacs]

They don't on my Warwick, I think they make covers for that, I believe that those circles have something to do with the magnetic field of the pickups. If you can raise/lower the pickups, try that, if not, try raising or lowering the action on your bass so the strings are a little higher, may help, may not, maybe i have no idea what i'm talking about.

If you're doing pops and slaps and the strings are hitting, try doing the pops and slaps higher up towards the neck so that the string comes in contact with the neck rather then the pup.

[street fish]

That little circle is an exposed pole piece (magnet). . .

It sounds like your pickup might be too high. Push the E string down at the last fret (20th fret on a Jazz). Measure the distance between the top of the pickup and the bottom of the string. This distance should be 7/64". Repeat with the G string, that distance should be 5/64". Take a screwdriver and adjust the screws on each end of the pickup, that will raise or lower that end of the pickup.

If you're still hitting the pickup after setting the height, you probably need to take a look at your technique. The string shouldn't be hitting the pickup whether or not you have exposed magnets.

Here's a link to a setup guide for Fender basses. http://www.mrgearhead.com/faq/basssetup.html

[street fish]

Follow that setup guide in the link I posted. Ignore the part about micro-tilt adjustment, I doubt that applies to your bass.

The key to a good setup is to first follow the steps in the correct order.

You adjust the relief in the neck first. This adjustment generally has nothing to do with whether you like high or low action.

After the truss rod is set, then you adjust string height at the saddles.

Then you adjust pickup height.

You need to understand how these parts all work together before you start screwing with them, or you'll just compound the problem by adjusting the wrong part.

Pretty much everything in that setup guide should be no problem even for a novice except the truss rod. Make sure you get instruction on how to adjust a truss rod before attempting that. Everything else is pretty straightforward as long as you have patience and a fairly steady hand.

Some players have their instruments professionally setup, and that's probably a good idea if you don't know what you're doing. But its important to learn how to do it yourself, so you don't need to rely on someone everytime your truss rod needs tweaked because of the weather. The more you play you'll become more sensitive to setup, and even changing brands of strings will affect it.