As I was playing around with a K&K Bass Max pickup recently, it suddenly dawned on me that it is just like a microphone with a figure-eight or bi-directional pickup pattern. I flipped the Bass Max over, and, sure enough, the relative polarity (phase) of the sound coming from the amp changed completely. While I may well be the last person in the universe to realize this, I thought it was very interesting that the way the pickup is installed dramatically effects the way the sound from the bass and from the amp adds (or doesn't) at your ear. So far, one orientation sounds more in-phase to me than it does with the pickup installed in the opposite direction. Of course the same effect can be achieved if there is a polarity or phase reverse switch in the signal path of your amplification system. If not, it's fairly easy to flip the Bass Max over. -bob
