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Is there a logic behind where exactly pickups go?

#21
Ostie said:
Tell me again why Fender moved the bridge pickup on the J bass?
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To hide it visually - on the assumption that people would use the ashtray.

The position(s) of your pickup(s) does greatly affect the sound of your instrument - it's arguably more important than just about anything else - the comb filtering due to pickup placement is a very strong filter, which is very active in the mid frequencies, where you ear hears things very well, and it can't be undone with eq - the filter is different on every string, and even changes when you retune a string. Tone wood can't hold a candle to tone pickup position.
 
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#22
g-dude said:
Well, the reason why Fender even introduced the five position pickup is because people discovered you could get this cool tone by putting the three position switch in between the three main positions.
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One of several things where Fender "innovated" by copying what their users were already doing - like the whole PJ thing, heavier bridges, etc....
 
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#23
Hardly. Pickups are located all over the available string lengths of basses made in the last few decades. You’ve got Ken Smith basses with the bridge pickup slammed by the bridge, and the Yamaha Billy Sheehan Attitude with a pickup right up against the neck, and thouands of offerings with everything in between those extremes.

As mentioned before, the bridge pickup on Fender Jazz basses in the 70’s was moved back towards the bridge so it would fit under bridge covers that Fender already had in stock en masse. Purely an economic decision. Leo wasn’t involved in Fender then, but he did start a tradition of doing things cheap.

In an example on one of the most expensive basses available, the pickup location on the Fodera Anthony Jackson Presentation bass was decided by Anthony himself. He placed where he thought it sounded best. Many Talkbass pundits had theories and rationales behind its placement. Finally, Anthony came here himself and said was solely his choice and there was no rhyme or reason to it aside from his sonic preference.
 
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#24
cxcxcx said:
As mentioned before, the bridge pickup on Fender Jazz basses in the 70’s was moved back towards the bridge so it would fit under bridge covers that Fender already had in stock en masse. Purely an economic decision.
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They used the same covers for basses made with pickups in both locations - they just stuck out a bit in the "60's" basses, and were hidden better in the "70's" basses. It wasn't economics, it was aesthetics.
 
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#28
JimmyM said:
Who cares? I just want good instruments and don't care who invented what.
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To be fair though, it is worth giving credit to the folks who have pushed things forward in terms of improving instruments.

Ned Steinberger has come up with some pretty nifty stuff. Once I got used to the distance between upper horn and the nut, my Spector has become my go-to guitar because it’s really comfy.
 
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#29
cxcxcx said:
Hardly. Pickups are located all over the available string lengths of basses made in the last few decades. You’ve got Ken Smith basses with the bridge pickup slammed by the bridge, and the Yamaha Billy Sheehan Attitude with a pickup right up against the neck, and thouands of offerings with everything in between those extremes.

As mentioned before, the bridge pickup on Fender Jazz basses in the 70’s was moved back towards the bridge so it would fit under bridge covers that Fender already had in stock en masse. Purely an economic decision. Leo wasn’t involved in Fender then, but he did start a tradition of doing things cheap.

In an example on one of the most expensive basses available, the pickup location on the Fodera Anthony Jackson Presentation bass was decided by Anthony himself. He placed where he thought it sounded best. Many Talkbass pundits had theories and rationales behind its placement. Finally, Anthony came here himself and said was solely his choice and there was no rhyme or reason to it aside from his sonic preference.
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I believe his pickup is pretty much in P position.
 
#30
g-dude said:
To be fair though, it is worth giving credit to the folks who have pushed things forward in terms of improving instruments.

Ned Steinberger has come up with some pretty nifty stuff. Once I got used to the distance between upper horn and the nut, my Spector has become my go-to guitar because it’s really comfy.
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Yeah, I edited my post shortly after you saw it to reflect that I do care about the historical perspective. And agreed 100% on Ned.
 
#32
JimmyM said:
Yeah, I edited my post shortly after you saw it to reflect that I do care about the historical perspective. And agreed 100% on Ned.
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Apologies for replying faster than you edited! :D

I’m waiting for the Strandberg I ordered to finally be in stock - should be February of next year.

It’s funny, because I’m generally super big on things like legacy and the heritage of products…except for bass. When it comes to bass, I do like the idea of new and different…and having things that look like coffee tables. Because we don’t have a coffee table.
 
#33
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#36
Rolling Thunder said:
View attachment 4468494
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Diagrams that show harmonics as fixed standing waves like that are extremely misleading. The harmonic wavelengths don't just "sit" nicely in place in their fraction of the string. These diagrams imply that there are nodes where certain harmonics are essentially not present, which isn't true in practice. The actual movement of the string is essentially a slightly out of phase sum of all of the harmonics, which basically results in one slightly wonky wave that moves up and down the length of the string. The entire signal is present along the whole length, albeit in different amplitudes - lower frequencies are reduced in amplitude near the ends of the string, which is why bass frequencies tend to roll off as the pickup is moved towards the bridge.

Watch this:

 
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#38
Pickup position really matters when you have two pickups on at the same time. For example, if you take two J pickups and install them in a Rick, it will still have the signature Rick sound. On the subject of Leo's experiments, it is worth nothing that he believed in the Tele pickup placement to such a degree, when he did the Strat, he just added the center pickup. The two outer pickups are in the same location as the tele. So, one pickup maters, but no where near as much as two.
 

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