Through a series of DEER measurements on two Gd rulers, with Gd–Gd distances of 2.1 and 6.0 nm, we show that artefacts commonly observed when measuring short distances can be eliminated by avoiding excitation of the central transition by both the pump and observer pulses. By using a wideband induction mode sample holder at 94 GHz, we demonstrate that high-quality DEER measurements will become possible using Gd spin labels at sub-µM concentrations, with implications for in-cell DEER measurements.