Achieve the ideal height however and you will have more output and less noise, the perfect outcome. The magnets in the pickups will pick up unwanted noise if you push things too far.
![single coil vs humbucker note definition bass single coil vs humbucker note definition bass](https://zinginstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/example-of-single-coil-pickups.jpg)
Think about it in terms of your car stereo, how loud can you crank the volume before things start to break up? Pickups work the same way in relation to distance from the actual strings. Signal-to-noise ratio (abbreviated as S/N) simply means how much output you can achieve before things start getting noisy. Essentially you are trying to achieve an ideal signal to noise ratio. The thing to bear in mind is everyone’s equipment is different, there’s no hard and fast rule to pickup height simply because all pickups have different levels of output.
![single coil vs humbucker note definition bass single coil vs humbucker note definition bass](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jo4zFa8XQBs/maxresdefault.jpg)
There is a difference and it all comes back to the strength of the signal and the amount of noise that accompanies it.
![single coil vs humbucker note definition bass single coil vs humbucker note definition bass](https://prosoundhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/rhythm-vs-lead-guitar-diagram-1024x526.jpg)
This isn't a major concern, either way, you are not looking for the highest output but rather your electric guitar kit's ideal output. Have you ever noticed when you have picked up a guitar to test it out in a music shop (or even just trying out a friends guitar) that when you then plug another guitar into the exact same amp without adjusting the settings that the level of output can change dramatically? It's pretty common, often a humbucker will sound a lot louder than a single coil pickup for example. How high should you adjust your pickups after your kit guitar assembly is complete? It makes sense to want to know after all it has the potential to have an impact on the output of your new guitar and since you have built this guitar yourself you don’t have the benefit of having this taken care of for you.