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Music man pickup in precision pickup position

jongor

jongor

Jan 11, 2003
1,867
325
Maine
mamasboomshack.com
#1
Did some searching and didn't find that this has been discussed before.

Thinking of picking up a MM Sterling but I'm not crazy about the tone, a little bridge/burpy for me, but I love the playability of them.

What if I had a new guard made and move the pickup to the classic P pickup location?

Has this been done?

Would love to hear a bass in this configuration.
 
#7
Yeah, it's pretty much a L1000 or L2000 with neck soloed/active circuitry at that point. A similar, humbucker-in-the-P-sweet-spot tone comes from a Peavey T45.
It's a great sound, in series, it's much like a P, in parallel or split, more like a J.
 
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#9
bigtone23 said:
humbucker-in-the-P-sweet-spot
Click to expand...
I know what a humbucker is. But what means "P-sweet-spot"? I have also heard of a "Stingray-sweet-spot"? I heard this term "sweet spot" frequently but none of the users I met could explain what it defines?

I argue it is some marketing flubdub?

If you think that "P-sweet-spot" is a unique definition of the pickup position you obviously do not know that the p pickup position has changed over time. Even Leo Fender has experimented with the position and the follow up owners of Fender changed it some time. And if you check the position of the pickups of different manufacturers you will find a large range.
 
#10
It sounds very similar to a P-bass: big, round. To my ears, a little less mid push than a P-bass. I recently purchased a Squier Jaguar H bass that has the MM pickup in the P-position. With the mid 32-inch scale and inexpensive price, a good little bass. I had to change the pots for good quality 250 kohm audio taper and a standard .047 tone cap, standard P-bass wiring, to get all the tone out of the pickup.
 
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#12
bitwo said:
.... Ahh! This "it" is the sweet spot?
Click to expand...
OK. Many folks say the "sweet" spot for a bass pickup is about where the double octave of the third harmonic rings over the pickup. (the double octave d note harmonic on the G string). P-basses have the pole pieces of the E-A segment of the pickup in about this position. On the Squier Jaguar H with the MM pickup, this point, proportionately due to the shorter scale, is in the middle of the MM pickup.
 
#13
iiipopes said:
OK. Many folks say the "sweet" spot for a bass pickup is about where the double octave of the third harmonic rings over the pickup. (the double octave d note harmonic on the G string). P-basses have the pole pieces of the E-A segment of the pickup in about this position. On the Squier Jaguar H with the MM pickup, this point, proportionately due to the shorter scale, is in the middle of the MM pickup.
Click to expand...

If you were to run the pickup in single coil mode, do you think it matters whether it's top or bottom coil?
 
#15
bitwo said:
I know what a humbucker is. But what means "P-sweet-spot"? I have also heard of a "Stingray-sweet-spot"? I heard this term "sweet spot" frequently but none of the users I met could explain what it defines?

I argue it is some marketing flubdub?

If you think that "P-sweet-spot" is a unique definition of the pickup position you obviously do not know that the p pickup position has changed over time. Even Leo Fender has experimented with the position and the follow up owners of Fender changed it some time. And if you check the position of the pickups of different manufacturers you will find a large range.
Click to expand...
OK, I'll bite. I have measured enough basses and their pickup locations to give hard facts.
It's not marketing flubdub, but perhaps applying a colloquial term to some simple math. It's simply the spot along the string where the pickup hears a unique harmonic content.
The "P Sweet Spot" is defined by the Fender post '57 P bass with the split coil pickup. (Yes, the single coil P bass is also a P bass, but it's not the long running, revised design.) The split coil P bass pickup has not moved much over the years. It's centered about 28.5" from the nut-which puts one coil centered about 28" and the other at 29". Yes, certain designs of P/J Fenders, as well as other manufacturers may nudge that location a small fraction of an inch one way or the other (like 28 5/8" on my Ibanez RB630), but 28.5" is the overwhelmingly common location for a bonafide, single pickup Fender Precision Bass.

For comparison:
The single coil/pre-'57 P pickup location is centered about 27 5/16" from the nut.
The J bass neck pickup is centered about 27 3/4" from the nut.
The Stingray sweet spot has it's pickup centered about 30.5" from the nut.
The 'Ric' spots are pickups located where the '24th' and '36th' frets would reside. Since a Ric is 33.25" scale, I won't use measurements, but the locations are easily found since the pickups are at strong, easily found harmonic nodes, regardless of scale.
 
#19
Many thanks for the exhaustive answer with the measures of pickup positions.

bigtone23 said:
I won't use measurements, but the locations are easily found since the pickups are at strong, easily found harmonic nodes, regardless of scale.
Click to expand...

Who has brought in the term "Sweet Spot" for this band of possible pickup placements? In principle it has no meaning. As the string will change the vibrating length by fingering. As a follow up the pickup position relative to the harmoncs of the changing string length will change. This term "Sweet Spots" says nothing at all.

But if anybody uses it, nobody will question it after some time.
 
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