mrredpants900 wrote:
...Someone told him the pickups should be level with each other (you see the front one is say down and rear one is way up). Thoughts?!
No, they are not level exactly.
The poles on the bridge pickup need to be very close to the strings. You can use a thin coin like a dime as a rough gauge to start then adjust the gap a bit more until you get the optimum output.
It needs to be close at the bridge simply because there is not much string movement there (vibration) which means less output and less volume.
At the neck the opposite is true. There is more string vibration so the signal is stronger. You need then to lower the pickup so that it doesn't foul the string when strumming and make horrible noises. And as Corsair pointed out if the pickup is too close here the magnetic field is actually strong enough to affect the vibration pattern of the strings and cause distortion.
The neck pick up on your guitar is far too low and it's struggling to "hear" the strings. Again let you ears be your guide, it should be as loud as possible without causing noise or distortion.
edit / p.s. This is also why bridge pickups are always a bit hotter than the neck pickups
She looks really nice!