my fretless bass pickup positions?

DaniKettu · #1 12-09-2011, 10:34 AM

So i'm building a fretless bass for myself. I have two jazz bass pickups which i'm putting to it. One is going to 70's bridge position, cause I love that crowl. But where should I put the other one. I don't want to put it into "standard" neck position. I have heard that some fretless basses which have pickup very close to the bridge sound awesome. So I'm thinking what if i put the other pickup between the bridge and the 70's bridge pickup position. Is this just plain stupid or could this work? I would like to have kinda uprighty bass tone. If that doesn't work what would? This is just a goofing around project that doesn't cost very much, so it's not the end of the world if the bass doesn't turn out to be a keeper.

btw. the bass is 4-string (tuned c, f, a#, d#) agathis body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard

FretlessMainly · #2 12-09-2011, 10:48 AM

First of all, upright bass tone means more than one thing. Listen to the difference between Ray Brown and Mingus, for example. In any case, what you propose would certainly work, but you'd really be focusing on the attack and high-end portion of the sound rather than that nice round low end that can be a critical element to what certain players prefer to hear.

And you also mention that if it's not a keeper, it's not the end of the world. That's good, because many players would likely shy away from a bass with that PU configuration. But you never know - it might turn out to sound great to you. I have a FL 5-string with Delanos on it that is just too bright for me. I prefer that mix of bite with big round bass.

Lo-E · #3 12-09-2011, 10:58 AM

Is there any reason you don't want to use the "standard" position? I only ask because that position is standard for a reason; it works! There are certainly many combinations of p'up positions that will work - for something - but I've found that the neck p'up position of a J-bass (which is very close to the P-bass position) works really, really well for fretless basses. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

DaniKettu · #4 12-09-2011, 11:06 AM

I just don't like the neck pickup sound as much and my point in this bass is to make something unique. Because the materials are so cheap I'm experimenting and I like to mess around building basses as a hobby and basic jazz bass fretted or not allthough a classic is to me kinda boring..

ehque · #5 12-09-2011, 11:17 AM

A bass with one pickup in the 70's bridge position with another between that and the bridge - to me - sounds like it will be quite midpresent, Jaco-esque with less bass. That's good for certain styles especially when the bass is more of a lead instrument. Certainly not the pickup configuration I would use to get a double bass sound, unless I'm going with some drastic tone shaping.

Duckwater · #6 12-09-2011, 11:34 AM

I would go with the 2 bridge pickups and slap a fat humbucker right up by the neck for when you want that deep, thumpy sound.

DaniKettu · #7 12-09-2011, 11:39 AM

one thing came in to mind. i remembered that I have a extra p-bass pickup somewhere. I love p-bass sound, but how does it work in fretless? So if I put one j-pickup very near the bridge (I'm little obsessed with putting pickup there) and a p-bass pickup in the standard position. How does that sound. Just throwing ideas to some who know bit more.

or even two pickups in the bridge and a p-bass pickup!?

Duckwater · #8 12-09-2011, 11:41 AM

It sounds awesome IMO.

Tony Franklin - Not just another Pretty Bass - YouTube

DaniKettu · #9 12-09-2011, 11:43 AM

that p/j-bass sounds really amazing!

dmusic148 · #10 12-09-2011, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniKettu

I have heard that some fretless basses which have pickup very close to the bridge sound awesome. So I'm thinking what if i put the other pickup between the bridge and the 70's bridge pickup position. Is this just plain stupid or could this work?

You don't want to get TOO close to the bridge. A friend did that on his bass, and it sounded awful. Thin and lifeless.
I suggest looking at a Warwick Thumb Bass pickup arrangement. It's different, and it works.

pilotjones · #11 12-09-2011, 12:52 PM

Try mounting a pickup above the strings, in various positions.

HaMMerHeD · #12 12-09-2011, 01:32 PM

If you don't like the neck pickup sound, you could skip it and install a tappable humbucker at the bridge.

**Freddels** · #13 12-09-2011, 02:26 PM

The p pickup in the center position sounds good. If you prefer the single coil j style pickup, you can still install it in the center position.

powerbass · #14 12-09-2011, 03:52 PM

I made a jig to test PU's by mounting the neck and bridge onto a block of wood, they were high enough so that I could slide a PU underneath and test the sound. this is the only foolproof way of knowing what effect PU position has on the tone

Omnipharious · #15 12-10-2011, 02:53 AM

Very-neck position sounds pretty good, in my opinion. I have a fretless EB-0, and even though I am planning on adding a bridge pickup, and wiring to make it an EB-3, the fat neck mudbucker really has a cool fretless tone. Not much "mwah", but... something in between a Jack Bruce tone, and an upright tone. Not really too much one way or the other, but I could probably pass it off for an upright if I tried hard enough

bajerovaquero · #16 12-10-2011, 04:23 AM

If you really want to go with the upright thing just one word: Flats

I have build this some time ago, you may be interested in the pup placement
First build in progress

The bass is all about attack bark and mwha, which is not bad but I need some heavy Eq to get a decent warm sound playing in a band context...

DaniKettu · #17 12-10-2011, 12:47 PM

So I routed the bridge pickup about half an inch closer to the bridge than in 70's jazz and p-bass pickup to it's standard position. Here's couple of shots of the bass. I bought all black hardware to it but for now I just put some hardware to it that I found. The bass still needs finishing and I'm considering olympic white but.... hmmm...

I'm not sure. But basically this is how it's going to look. I made that "control panel" from wood and I think it looks nice.

I don't know how it sounds yet cause I don't have a working soldering iron but I have a good feeling.

But unplugged it sounds just a-ma-zing!!!! really nice mwah!

Omnipharious · #18 12-10-2011, 01:36 PM

Wow, that bridge pickup is... very far down. With the space between the pickups being so far, you should get some pretty interesting tones out of that thing.

DaniKettu · #19 12-11-2011, 05:12 AM

I have been thinking about strings and I'm going with nylon string to achieve the upright bass type sound.

gnarlyopossum · #20 12-11-2011, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniKettu

I have been thinking about strings and I'm going with nylon string to achieve the upright bass type sound.

Will the nylon strings be able to be picked up by the pickups? In magnetic pickups, the metal strings vibrate and the coils of the pickups detect those and turn them into electrical signals. Piezo detects vibrations of the body, bridge, etc but magnetic I think needs a metal string. Not to poke holes in your thoughts of design, but was making an observation. Plus, even an upright has steel strings. I think one of the keys to a good upright sound is more technique and tone through pickups, amp, and effects.