What is the bridge and neck position pickups

[hharda9791]

I bought bass lines pickups.
I thought the pickups were the same. I see one is the bridge and one is the neck.

I have squire j bass.
Is the neck position pickup the pickup closer to the neck.
the pickups on top

Is the bridge position pickup the pickup on the bottom.

I am going to change the pickups myself.

Thanks.

Howard

[BFunk]

On most jazz basses, the bridge pickup is longer than the neck pickup by about an 1/8". On some squires, they are the same length. The bridge, or rear, pickup is closest to the bidge. The neck, or front, pickup is closest to the neck.

[hharda9791]

Thanks, I installed the pickups and like the sound. Now I have another question. I use the foam backing from the old picks and tightend the pickups. However I see that some bridge pickups sit higher. Can someone explain the difference between tightening them down. Or putting more foam in and having them set higher?

Is the sound quality better?

Howard

[4StringTheorist]

Originally Posted by hharda9791

However I see that some bridge pickups sit higher. Can someone explain the difference between tightening them down. Or putting more foam in and having them set higher?

The string vibrations are less/quieter where the bridge pickup is, so people often choose to have the bridge pickup a little bit higher to be closer to the strings. This helps the two pickups have even volume with each other.

[megafiddle]

You should be able to raise and lower the pickups simply by turning the screws.

As you loosen the screws, the foam should push the pickup upward. Old foam can get
compressed and lose it's "springyness". If you loosen the screws to raise the pickup,
and the pickup does not rise up, you probably need new foam.

[hharda9791]

Thanks this has help me to learn a lot more about my bass. I will raise my bass bridge and listen to it.

[walterw]

with the bass plugged in, get your bridge pickup closer to the strings, but not so close the strings hit it! then adjust it so that all 4 strings are kinda the same volume.

now, adjust your neck pickup to be about the same volume as the bridge pickup, and also so that all 4 strings are about the same volume.

this usually means the bridge pickup is closer to the strings while the neck pickup is further away.

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by hharda9791

Thanks this has help me to learn a lot more about my bass. I will raise my bass bridge and listen to it.

You've already learned the most important thing: the way you set up your bass is by listening to it! If you want to know how high to set pickups you can go on Youtube and see what people recommend (Sadowsky, for example sets to about 1/8" between poles and strings) but the true test is you adjust it one way and try it for a while and then adjust it some other way and try it for a while. There is no rule. The whole thing depends on what YOU think good tone is, how hard you play, how low you like your action and a bunch of other things.

So you do the "art" thing. You choose a setting and listen and play it and try another and do the same and keep doing it until you finally say, "THIS is the one". And then, of course, for you it is.