Split coil P pickup angle

[MammaryVest]

I've seen P-Basses with the "factory setup" that have the two halves of the pickup slanted towards the strings at an angle in a pyramid shape. Is this recomended? does it make a difference? if yes, what's the best position?

[meev992]

Originally Posted by MammaryVest

Is this recomended? does it make a difference? if yes, what's the best position?

Generally, It's recommended:

This sort of relates to "adjustable pole-pieces". The old-timers were discussing them, and how that in the early days of string manufacturing, strings and their qualities were inconsistent between other strings in the same package....the solution: adjustable pole pieces.

This applies to the P-pickup slanting, in that, if it sounds just fine before or after adjustment, then just leave it. For me, one of my P-basses don't have the pyramid tilt, while the other one does.

"If it sounds balanced, and it functions, then it'll be just fine".

best position? If you find that adjustment is necessarry, then adjust the pickups until you get a uniform response between all of the strings. If you're lost on this, or don't have sharp enough ears for it, you can always look at written specifications.

[BellBottomBlues]

Most of my P-basses (I've got 8) have the pickups almost flat against the body, or have a very slight angle were its barely noticeable. However one of them, an American Series P-bass, has them angled quite sharply. Still sounds like a P-bass, still has even string response. I lowered it to as close to flat as I could and it still had even string response, though I had slightly less output (negligible in fact)

In general many of the older P-basses have them flush with the body in my experience, and by and large, very very few have them at an obtuse angle.

[202dy]

Setting pickup height is the science of matching distance and mass with the goal of generating even output from each string. The more mass in the string the more output it generates. Therefore the pickup is not set as close to the string as it would be for a string with less mass. When setting pickup height for a jazz or soapbar pickup the distance between the pickup and the E string is greater than the distance between the pickup and the G string. However, because the strings are set at the bridge to the arc of the fingerboard the A and D strings are somewhat further away than is optimum. The P-bass pickup presents the unique opportunity of setting pickup height for each string. The pyramid shape occurs because the pickup is set to balance the A and D strings with the E and G.

The rule of thumb for setting passive bass pickups is 1/8" and 3/32" bass and treble respectively (E and G) measured from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. On a P-bass the pickup under the A string will be slightly closer than the E and the D string slightly further away from the string than under the G. The idea is to follow the curve of the fingerboard.

BTW, adjustable pole pieces like a PAF should be adjusted with care. If the pole piece is moved out of the pickup very far it will have the opposite effect because the pole piece is being moved out of the flux field. The result is decreased output. That is why most guitar players just leave them alone. So do most techs.