Interesting...Thoughts?

[Snakeman1066]

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Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone.

I would love to try it...would also be very cool if you could swap out pick up styles...

 

[Bass V]

depending on various factors it could have sufficient mass to produce good sustain and tone. imo it all starts with the neck and if it's great then the join is the next crucial point, after that it can go any which way pro or con. if Harmos could produce a very toneful and high sustain steel guitar out of a tinker toy concept then this bass idea should be able to do the same.

 

[FunkHead]

Norton Merlin Vinatge Fretless Bass, Aluminum tube frame with sliding pickups!

Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone.

I would love to try it...would also be very cool if you could swap out pick up styles...

Norton Merlin Vinatge Fretless Bass, Aluminum tube frame with sliding pickups!

 

[Keger Jupit]

Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone.

I would love to try it...would also be very cool if you could swap out pick up styles...

I do...& I agree, I would love to try it. P/U placement, IME, has a far greater influence on overall sound than mass of body does.

This is VERY intriguing. Thanks for posting

 

[two fingers]

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Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone.

I would love to try it...would also be very cool if you could swap out pick up styles...

Pickup placement every time. Way more important to me.

 

[Keger Jupit]

This is VERY intriguing. Thanks for posting

OUCH! I just looked, this is VERY expensive!!

 

[RyanOh]

Not me, but this reminds me of the 80's Westone Rail

 

[jmlee]

The old Gibson Grabber had a single pickup you could slide back and forth. I don't think it really revolutionized anything.

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[zubrycky]

That's a very interesting thread. Thanks!

My gut feeling tells me that pickup placement is more important than the instrument mass. Besides that, pickup placement does affect the tone because it also determines the space available for the fingers of the plucking hand.

 

[soundsupport1]

best implementation of this concept that I've seen:


He does use it, too: it's on the David Gilmour live in Pompeii DVD, on (I think) Run Like Hell.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[LT131]

Pick up placement is key. If your instrument is properly designed the PU's should be in the right place to start. I don't see moveable PU's as a good tone control. If it were there would already be successful designs in circulation. I deem it just another gimmick.

 

[jamro217]

I like the idea of sliding pickups. The tonal possibilities are at their maximum. The only downside is the appearance. The channel needed makes an otherwise beautiful instrument look like a test mule. It would be a novel idea to have a lever similar to a whammy bar attached to the pickup enabling it to move while performing, sort of like a built in wah. Has that been done yet?

 

[teh-slb]

More parts that move means that I would break the poor thing quicker

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

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Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone.

I would love to try it...would also be very cool if you could swap out pick up styles...

Didn't Gibson try this in the Ripper? Bass?

 

[LkS]

I'm just gonna go ahead and say no. An answer to a question no one is asking. It has been tried before and no one picked it up for real.

 

[JRA]

Do you think the advantage of moving the pickups around outweighs the practicality of having mass to create sustain and tone

yes, of course. idea vs. myth.

 

[40Hz]

Didn't Gibson try this in the Ripper? Bass?

Yes. Sold close to 6000 of them before they ceased production. But it got tripped up by two design issues. First, the rails were basically plastic on plastic and they could distort, bind, or break over time. Second, it was primarily marketed to the hard rockin’ crowd who tended to subject it to rougher handling than its design could endure long-term.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

I have a Grabber with a movable pickup. Position definitely affects tone, although I play it with it all the way toward the neck 90% of the time. Still works great; bought it new in 1983.

That Norton looks really sweet, though.

 

[BAG]

An answer to a question no one is asking.

As per the post from @soundsupport1 Guy Pratt asked the question and Warwick answered.

best implementation of this concept that I've seen:


He does use it, too: it's on the David Gilmour live in Pompeii DVD, on (I think) Run Like Hell.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, wouldn't a PU Blend knob do pretty much the same thing?