I hate the terms "back" and "front" pickup.

[dasherf17]

I hear you... View attachment 4594975

 

[neutrikconnectr]

They can keep their chocolate-covered mitts off my basses, thank you.

We HOPE it’s chocolate.

 

[neutrikconnectr]

You know, double neck pedal steels have a front and back pickup.

No no no! They’re on top!

 

[ryco]

I'm confused.


but then I'm a husband, so it's pretty much my normal state....

 

[retslock]

This is the first I’ve heard that it actually took some figuring out. It’s always been a no brainer to me. I know exactly what front and back pickup means.

 

[jefff100]

The original PRS basses had a back pickup. It was a hum cancelling coil, mounted in the rear. The Stingray 5 has a third coil under the two you see, for the same reason.

Personally, I use neck/bridge

Ahhh - you beat me to it. PRS basses are the only ones I’ve ever seen with a back pickup coil. And I have an SR5 but since its not visible its more of a center affair

 

[Ostie]

How do you feel about Fore & Aft?

Or Port and Starboard….

 

[Low Main]

It's even worse with drums. Is that rack tom a 12 x 10 or a 10 x 12?

I always list the drum diameter first, then the depth. That's what makes sense to me. But a lot of folks do the opposite. Drives me a bit nuts.

It's hard to buy drum gig bags online when you don't know which size is which in the product description. There's a lot of inconsistency.

With that in mind, I can live with a little pickup confusion now and then. I don't care for the B / T "Bass" and "Treble" pickup designations, though.

 

[Em Toons]

I call them both “this one”, and I point to the one I mean.

 

[Guitalia]

This is the first I’ve heard that it actually took some figuring out. It’s always been a no brainer to me. I know exactly what front and back pickup means.

Sure. "Front" equals "foreground" equals solo equals bridge pickup; "back" equals "background" equals rhythm equals neck pickup.

And "front" equals closest to the center of the front of your body equals neck pickup; "back" equals further from that position equals closer to your back equals bridge pickup.

What do you call this one?

 

[retslock]

Sure. "Front" equals "foreground" equals solo equals bridge pickup; "back" equals "background" equals rhythm equals neck pickup.

And "front" equals closest to the center of the front of your body equals neck pickup; "back" equals further from that position equals closer to your back equals bridge pickup.

What do you call this one?

View attachment 4597757

I can’t actually see what that is but it looks like a single moveable pickup. So it’s just ‘the pickup’ in this instance, since there appears to be only one.
I don’t agree with any of your explanation above. Front and back - neck and bridge are interchangeable terms that have been in use for so long now that I find this confusion about it rather odd.
Jimi Hendrix played solos using the neck pickup. He wasn’t alone in that. There’s no rule that says the bridge or back pickup must be used for solos or that the neck or front pickup must be used for rhythm. I realise that it’s a fairly common practice but it’s not a set rule of behaviour. In 57 years of playing guitars and basses I’ve never once run across anyone who was confused by ‘front and back pickup’ until now.

 

[Rockbobmel]

But was Jimi using the front or back pickup? I guess you could say front pickup if you are pointing the guitar at the audience. But what if you are turned around to adjust your amp? Then it becomes your back pickup! Right?

 

[retslock]

But was Jimi using the front or back pickup? I guess you could say front pickup if you are pointing the guitar at the audience. But what if you are turned around to adjust your amp? Then it becomes your back pickup! Right?

Nope, the label is consistent no matter where the instrument is pointed. Front/neck, back/bridge. That’s how it’s always been for me and pretty much everyone I know since I started out in 1965. The indecision here is puzzling to me. I never had an issue with it in more than 50 years of playing until this thread come up.

 

[TyBo]

Nope, the label is consistent no matter where the instrument is pointed. Front/neck, back/bridge. That’s how it’s always been for me and pretty much everyone I know since I started out in 1965. The indecision here is puzzling to me. I never had an issue with it in more than 50 years of playing until this thread come up.

I do see a number of people stating it as the reverse of this. Whereas neck/bridge is more specific to referencing functional parts of the instrument, and is less dependent on what is simply a matter of custom (for some).

 

[byacey]

I can’t actually see what that is but it looks like a single moveable pickup. So it’s just ‘the pickup’ in this instance, since there appears to be only one.
I don’t agree with any of your explanation above. Front and back - neck and bridge are interchangeable terms that have been in use for so long now that I find this confusion about it rather odd.
Jimi Hendrix played solos using the neck pickup. He wasn’t alone in that. There’s no rule that says the bridge or back pickup must be used for solos or that the neck or front pickup must be used for rhythm. I realise that it’s a fairly common practice but it’s not a set rule of behaviour. In 57 years of playing guitars and basses I’ve never once run across anyone who was confused by ‘front and back pickup’ until now.

I've only been playing for around 40 years, but I found the terms confusing the first time I heard them, and until now. I don't see any front or back in relation to where the pickups are mounted.
I suppose they could have been named as the glorp and shnarf pickups. It would have made as much sense.

 

[retslock]

I do see a number of people stating it as the reverse of this. Whereas neck/bridge is more specific to referencing functional parts of the instrument, and is less dependent on what is simply a matter of custom (for some).

I agree, neck - bridge is a clearer description.

 

[Manuel Bass]

Every time I watch a video or read a discussion about pickups that use front and back, I get very irritated. I have to keep watching till they either point to it or reference it by the control knobs. Why do I have to be a detective to understand which they mean?
C'mon! There is a neck, middle, and bridge for position reference.

There. Whew!

Probably you need to visit a psychcologist

 

[Ekulati]

Much much worse than this is in the acoustic guitar world when people (usually bluegrass folks) call a guitar a "box" or worse yet a "guitbox." BLEAH!!!!

 

[KaraQ]

I suppose those of us with blend controls could just use "clockwise" and "counter clockwise"?





.....but I have two basses with blend controls, and they work opposite of each other, so not sure how well that would work out

 

[Joe Bob]

Neck and bridge