negninegaw wrote:Hi Roger,
What distance (mm) from polepiece to the string do you use (string fretted at the last fret)?
I set them to Fender spec then I fine tune them for my optimum sound and balance. I usually adjust the bridge firstly to get the right volume and sound repeatedly playing pieces and adjusting till it sounds good. Then I adjust the middle and neck so they match the bridge output near enough.again checking some tunes against these pickups. I do not use any EQ or echo and set the amp up how I like it. 2mm treble and 2.4 bass side is a good starting point.
I think its important to get the neck relief and string height right before you finalise this. Too high an action and the strings are further from the pickups and duller sounding. Again I go for Fender string height spec of around 4/64s but I have found 12 thou neck relief better than the 10 thou Fender quotes.You may need the 6th string slightly higher but not much. If you like higher action though you will need to raise the pu heights to compensate.
Your loss of volume I suspect is due to some electrical issue. Try taking pedals out straight into amp and different guitar leads. Check against the sound from other strats if poss. I would not think all three pickups could be faulty at once , highly unlikely. Check soldering joints and wiring correct ?
HTH