Bridge PU placement (p/p config)

[NoisyFroggy]

Hi there, and happy new year from France to my fellow Tbers!

I have a squier VM PBass (amber) which I dearly love.
I put a delano PVMC PU a few months ago and am delighted with the stingray meets p-bass punch I get.

However, I would like to take it up a notch or too and have booked an appointment with a local luthier to have him route the body and add a bridge PU.

The thing is, just like I can't stand HSS strats (visually) there is something about the P/J concept which turns me off (yeah, I am that vain) and I am leaning towards a P/P config instead (insert PP and double P jokes here, sorry I'm French).

I have searched TB and the internet, and read a lot about Fenders Elite II basses, and J PU placement options in PJ basses.



It seems that most manufacturers put the J in a 70's position as there might be phasing issues between the J PU and the DG portion of the P PU.

I think Sadowsky chooses to address this issue the other way round and puts the J PU closer to the P PU than a 60's J PU placement.

I have seen vids on Youtube were Warwick buzzard basses sound awesome with a mirrorred P PU config.
But the two DG portions of the P PUs look quite close to each other, and would entail the bridge PU DG portion "encroaching" on a P-bass PG somewhat.



Reversing the bridge P PU so that the DG portion be not too close to the bridge makes sense to me, but I am afraid of phasing issues between the two DG portions.

So I guess my questions are:

1- if I go the P/P (non reversed, non mirrorred) route, what distance from the pickguard would you place the P PU? Just like a fender Elite? or closer to the PG (for the PU to sound a bit fatter, but maybe at the risk of "phasing" issues)?

2- if I go the mirrored P PU route (bridge P PU "reversed") should I have the two DG portions real close to one another ( just like the buzzard and strykers from warwick, about 1 cm to 1.5cm appart), or may I place it so that the DG portion is about 1 cm to 1.5 cm from the PG (i.e like the fender elite, but reversed) without fear of bad phasing issues?

Thank you for your time!

[SGD Lutherie]

You wont get any phase issues if you reverse the P at the bridge.

I had a P with two P pickups (the bridge being non reversed) and I think they sound pretty cool. It's a more usable tone than a P/J IMO.

[Texan]

The Dual P is my favorite...This gave the Peavey TL-6 MONSTER tone.

Much better than a P/J

[NoisyFroggy]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

You wont get any phase issues if you reverse the P at the bridge.

I had a P with two P pickups (the bridge being non reversed) and I think they sound pretty cool. It's a more usable tone than a P/J IMO.

Thanks David!

What I like about a jazz bass when both PUs are dimed is the smoothness that you get with the slight phase cancellation and loss of mids (as I see/hear it, though I might not be using the correct words).

Would it be possible to approximate this effect with a P/P set-up, and, if so, how would you guys locate the bridge PU: reversed? non-reversed? As close to the pickgard as possible? closer to the bridge?

[NoisyFroggy]

Originally Posted by Texan

The Dual P is my favorite...This gave the Peavey TL-6 MONSTER tone.

Much better than a P/J

Wow.

That's beauty!

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

It's a more usable tone than a P/J IMO.

How so, would you say?

[walterw]

meh, the P/P thing always looked cooler than it sounded to me.

[NoisyFroggy]

Originally Posted by walterw

meh, the P/P thing always looked cooler than it sounded to me.

Reversed/reversed? Mirrored? "regular" (non reversed / non reversed)?
What did you find lacking?

From the vids I have watched, notably as regards Fender Elites II, the bridge PU can sound a bit too brittle and strident, which I would attribute to the DG portion being too close to the bridge for comfort, hence the appeal for a reversed bridge PU at least.

If I reverse the bridge PU and puts its DG portion right against the pickguard I guess this PU might be useful on its own (Stingray-ish?) (emphasis on "ish" ).

In doing so I just do not want to end up with the middle setting (both PUs full on) being useless due to phase cancellation issues.