Mismatching pickup/string spacing, HELP

Joacocool · #1 06-13-2009, 04:39 PM

Hi, i'm new!

I've got a squier jazz bass and i bought a couple of basslines pickups to improve my sound. One mman replacement and a quarter pound for jazz bass(bridge) but i've installed it on the neck position. The problem is that the G string lands outside of the pickup's poles! (the others string also aren't totally centered) I don't know if this is ruining my sound or is just imperceptible.

So the question is:

Is there a way to increase the distance between strings? by installing another bridge? or am i limited by the with of the neck?

Here is a picture of my situation

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9090/pickupsx.jpg

Thanks in advance!

walterw · #2 06-13-2009, 05:08 PM

the obvious answer is to get the neck version, since it's going by the neck. you'll never get the strings wide enough to make a bridge-spaced pickup line up up there.

you could also cut up the pickguard and mount that pickup at an angle like warwick does sometimes.

JLS · #3 06-13-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joacocool

Hi, i'm new!

I've got a squier jazz bass and i bought a couple of basslines pickups to improve my sound. One mman replacement and a quarter pound for jazz bass(bridge) but i've installed it on the neck position. The problem is that the G string lands outside of the pickup's poles! (the others string also aren't totally centered) I don't know if this is ruining my sound or is just imperceptible.

So the question is:

Is there a way to increase the distance between strings? by installing another bridge? or am i limited by the with of the neck?

Here is a picture of my situation

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9090/pickupsx.jpg

Thanks in advance!

You bought a BRIDGE position pickup, to install in the NECK position!

See if you can return it--ask nicely--for the right one. Forget changing the string spacing.

If you can't hear it, it's imperceptible. That's what, "imperceptible", means.

Joacocool · #4 06-14-2009, 02:44 PM

Thanks for the quick answer!

I've bought the bridge position because it was the only one available at the time(i live in south america

) and installed originally on the bridge position. Later i bought the mman and installed in that position, so THEN i moved the quearter to the neck position being unaware of the dimensions mismatch...

I think that changing the space between strings could be bad for playing in the higher frets on the g string...

Another question:

i found interesting the answer of walterw of installing the pup in angle. Do you know how affects the sound installing it that way?

walterw · #5 06-14-2009, 08:55 PM

well, you're already putting a bridge pickup in the neck position, so i think it's too late to start worrying about the sound now!

if forced to use that pickup, i would angle it so the bass side is closer to the bridge and the treble side is closer to the neck.

i would probably just leave it out entirely, waiting until i could find the right one rather than trying to force the wrong thing in there. that music man pickup will sound just fine by itself.

Rick Auricchio · #6 06-14-2009, 09:18 PM

Angling a pickup will alter its tone. The pole nearer the bridge will have a more trebly sound, more like the bridge pickup. The pole nearer the neck will sound more like a neck pickup.

The difference between "ends" of the pup won't be as much as switching between neck and bridge pups, but it will be noticeable.