Why are some Precision pickups flipped?

[dwc3690]

I have seen some basses have the precision pickup flipped. Why?

The Fender way...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ass?sku=512762

The other way...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ass?sku=517955

Thanks,
Dan C.

[Jazz Ad]

It tends to counterbalance tone difference between lower and higher strings rather than enhance it.

[cnltb]

Spector started that, right?

[dwc3690]

What is the difference in sound?

[Stumpy]

Why is the phone keypad different than the 10key keypad?

[namraj]

If a pick up is nearer the neck it enhances bass frequencies, nearer the bridge treble, therefore by reversing the pickup the bass strings become less boomy and muddy and the treble strings less thin

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by namraj

If a pick up is nearer the neck it enhances bass frequencies, nearer the bridge treble, therefore by reversing the pickup the bass strings become less boomy and muddy and the treble strings less thin

+1
exactly what i was gonna say!

[dwc3690]

I like the sound of that.

Thanks for your help!

[12bass]

Yep.... a reverse-P makes much more sense to me - thicken the treble strings, add punch to the bass....

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by Stumpy

Why is the phone keypad different than the 10key keypad?

I know, that's such bullcrap. And the whole discrepancy between the number of hot dogs in a package and the number of buns you can buy in a bag. They never match up.

Oh, I like the way the traditional P pup gives the bass a big fat bottom on the E and A.

[JTE]

I don't think Spector started it. I saw it on S D Curlee basses in the late '70s. They had two pairs of P PUPs, and the one closer to the bridge was flipped. Leland Sklar's studio work-horse bass also has the flipped P PUPs. Sklar says he had it done so that the D and G strings would have a little more body, and the E and A strings would have a bit more clarity. Yamaha's BB series basses that were so popular with LA studio people in the early '80s also have essentially flipped P PUPs.

jte

[DavidRavenMoon]

I also think it sounds much better. When ever I play a regular P bass setup, I can really hear the shift in tone between the low and high strings.

Split coil soapbars like EMG and Bartolini also have them reversed.

[jojo99]

This makes me wonder why Leo Fender originally decided to go with the 'standard' P placement instead of the flipped placement, the latter of which logically makes more sense to get the most even string response. I always wondered why he angled the bridge strat pickup in this same way-- those B and E strings can be quite piercing. (he did this "high strings near the bridge" placement again much later with the G&L 'strat" with the split pickups, so he must have had some rationale for it-- but what??)

[DavidRavenMoon]

Yeah, the Strat, and Tele also have the pickups angled to get an expansion of tone.

I've read that he did that on the Broadcaster to get a wider tonality from the single pickup.

It was a different time back then. Guitars were thin and bright sounding. Listen to the old Les Paul and Mary Ford recordings.

I've been thinking of getting a left handed bridge for my Tele style guitar so the pickup will be angled backwards. Those top strings can get so shrill.

[JimmyM]

Not everybody likes the flipped P pickup, you know? I don't. I like that the low strings sound heavy and the high strings sound brighter. I don't like basses that are all evened out.

[Jazz Ad]

I too prefer the sound of regular position.
Reverse is also very annoying for slap.

[JTE]

If you look at the strings and amp used for guitars when Leo designed the Tele and the Strat, you'd find that they didn't have much high end. He was going for a warmer sound off the lower strings (many if not most guitarists then used flats too). They only got peircing after people discovered what happens when you turn the amp up all the way and use skinny strings.

And as Leo aged, it seems his high end hearing got worse and worse. Accounts from people at G&L indicated that he kept wanting more treble from his guitars and basses.

jte

[Gubna]

Originally Posted by cnltb

Spector started that, right?

wow,

I've owned a Spector for awhile and seriously, I've never noticed that until you just mentioned it! That is, I've noticed it on other basses, I just didn't realize I owned one of them! HA!