Do you believe in "sweet spots" for pickups?

[Lance Bunyon]

I believe in miracles.
I believe in wood.
I believe in little tiny frets.
I believe in fretless.
I believe in magnet positioning.

I believe that every time a bell rings,an angel gets their wings.

 

[PiquetBass]

I vote yes because I have preferences. I suspect most players do too.

For sonic reasons I don't see how pup placement can be irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant at all - the science will show that. It's all about the relative volumes of which harmonics are emphasised over the first-mode string vibrations, and therefore the tone, get enhanced. But what makes it the "sweet-spot" is defined solely by the player based on what sounds good to them. Which is a inevitably a mix of those harmonics, and which ones the user "likes" the most.
The mix of harmonics you get with any particular placement is fixed based on that position versus the scale, mass and tension in each string. Whether you like it or not (over any other position) is up to you!
So... it's purely subjective.

 

[blastoff]

yup every fret essentially changes the scale length. therefore the pickup is located at a different harmonic ratio for every note along the neck. where you put the pickup defines, among other factors, the instrument’s characteristic voice. whether that voice speaks to you is a different question.

 

[sikamikanico]

Yeah, sweet spots are subjective, kinda Goldilocks situations. My rule of thumb is that every 5mm makes an audible difference. The sweetness of the spot also depends a lot on the pickup type and number of strings, and some on the type of strings.

There do seem to be a few sweet spots that people have embraced more than others, and thus appear commonly, having a bit of an “objective sweet spot” flavor. Kinda like industry standards. For example, a passive 4 string bass works really well with a pickup in the P bass sweetspot - a nice general tonal profile that will sit in the mix and support the song in a traditional bass role, yet maintain clarity and articulation well. I think this is in part an industry standard because Leo put the pickup there first and we developed the taste for it… but at the same time, Leo didn't put it there by chance - it was determined by experimentation and user feedback, as far as I know.

 

[Nekomata]

Why worry?

 

[Iristone]

Most of my favourite bass designs (Ric, Tbird, Stingray, EB-3, Hofner) haven't got a pickup in the "sweet spot" as in a P bass. Doesn't prevent them from sounding good, although they've all got different tones from different positions.

 

[Nolan Tremblay]

But does the sweet spot change if you use the producer switch.....?

The bass player is always in the sweet spot with that switch!

 

[PiquetBass]

It's not irrelevant at all - the science will show that. It's all about the relative volumes of which harmonics are emphasised over the first-mode string vibrations, and therefore the tone, get enhanced. But what makes it the "sweet-spot" is defined solely by the player based on what sounds good to them. Which is a inevitably a mix of those harmonics, and which ones the user "likes" the most.
The mix of harmonics you get with any particular placement is fixed based on that position versus the scale, mass and tension in each string. Whether you like it or not (over any other position) is up to you!
So... it's purely subjective.

I guess that all means.... "Yes, I do believe in the sweet-spot". But in reality, I believe in MY sweet-spot on one particular bass, which isn't necessarily YOUR sweet-spot on the same bass. And it certainly WON'T be the same sweet-spot on a different bass!

 

[chadds]

Personally, I do not. If a sweet spot is based on a specific part of the string being over the pickup, would it not change every time you fret a note?

Edit: If a Sweet Spot is the best spot for a pickup to be placed to rest the thumb on, well now that's just purely subjective.

To your edit: The constants are the bridge, nut, fretted note (new nut) and scale length. Within those constants you are exciting vibrations. See nodes. These vibrations happen through out nature and aren't dependent on you believing in them. The engineers who recognized these principles have used them to place pickups in the most ideal spots in relation to the nodes. But hey I don't believe in magnetism.

Is this another troll thread? I mean really. Would a thread title like, "Why is there a sweet spot for a pickup?" attract fun informative sharing?

 

[Smooth_bass88]

absolutely positively YES. Where a pickup is placed on the body of an electric bass can drastically effect tone. You think you can get a Jaco tone from a Gibson EB 2 bass? forgot about it, it's impossible

 

[mambo4]

I assume it's a personal preference, not science.

 

[dalkowski]

"Sweet spot" is a marketing term and meaningless otherwise.

As a marketing guy (who desperately wants out of the biz), I concur heartily. Whatever sounds best to the player is the sweet spot.

 

[MattZilla]

I don’t believe in holograms, but I do believe in captain crunch.

 

[2saddleslab]

Yes, there is a sweet spot. It's up to you to determine where it's sweetest.

 

[GrapeBass]

Kind of like you're asking if we believe in science and physics.

Where the pickup is located affects the tonality and designers/luthiers have their personal preferences. There are be optimal locations for o/p but, as I said, designers/luthiers have their personal preferences on the placement, which is biased and subjective based on their personal preferences and goals.

 

[Honkey tonk]

Go figure
A vibrating string is the moving part of a generator that is a Transducer

 

[matdras]

After work today I’m gonna stop by my favorite sweet spot for a root beer float, and they won’t be using froyo!

 

[wiscoaster]

Personally, I do not. If a sweet spot is based on a specific part of the string being over the pickup, would it not change every time you fret a note?....

Good - and valid - point. Maybe it depends on something other than the vibration nodes? Because it's a fact placement does affect the sound output by the pickup. Fact learned by moving pickups on a "project" bass but not changing anything else.

 

[Smoove-Groove]

Yes. And Leo Fender hit the nail on the head with the P-Pickup position

 

[MattZilla]

Is this another troll thread?

Of course it is.

Whether they know they’re being a troll and are doing it for funsies, being cognisant that a solo’d bridge pickup on a Jazz or Ibanez SR will never sound like a P and a P will never sound like a solo’d neck pickup on a Ric regardless of where you are on the neck, and 15mm difference toward or away from the neck of an MM pickup from its placement on a StingRay will change its response of all notes up & down the neck for anyone with modestly developed ears… or they are an ignorant arse who doesn’t have a well developed ear going out of their way to be confrontational, like a colorblind person calling out what they perceive as pretentious jerks who claim to see orange and green and blue and etc. … troll is as troll does.

100% a troll thread.