P pickup in the real neck position?

[DavidEdenAria]

Ok what I'm referring to is a P pickup mounted by the neck.

Not kind of close but BY the neck as in Gibson EB basses.

I have several basses with room by the neck to route so yes this would make it a 3 pickup bass as the other 2 existing pickups are actually middle and bridge I love the bass but it's too modern and twangy and I have considered wiring the 2 pickups in series first before I go routing!

I'm sure I've seen multi P pickup basses...anyhow any links or soundclips to a bass with a true neck P pickup is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SpyderX]

Like this? I wonder if @Papalampraina still has this...

In the 80s Washburn made some models with the P fairly close to the neck, but they also had more than 19 frets, and I'm too lazy to do the math so not sure if they're really closer of if it was optics. I imagine there is a reason you don't see P pickups right on the neck very often.

Post in thread 'Show us your 3 pickup basses!'

Dec 18, 2012

Here's mine. A very cheap jazz style bass turned into a guinea pig.

These days it even has a double muff nano inside.

3 Volumes, no tone.

• Papalampraina

• 

 

[iiipopes]

Too late now, but if you must put a P-pickup next to the neck, I would have gone with a reverse-P so that you didn't lose all definition on the E and A strings.

 

[Zazie Moondust]

The P pickup it Jackson CBXNT Deluxe is next the the neck, but it's a 24 feet neck. It sounds good, P like but more low mids and bass.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Like this? I wonder if @Papalampraina still has this...

In the 80s Washburn made some models with the P fairly close to the neck, but they also had more than 19 frets, and I'm too lazy to do the math so not sure if they're really closer of if it was optics. I imagine there is a reason you don't see P pickups right on the neck very often.

Post in thread 'Show us your 3 pickup basses!'

Dec 18, 2012

Here's mine. A very cheap jazz style bass turned into a guinea pig.

These days it even has a double muff nano inside.

3 Volumes, no tone.

• Papalampraina

• 

You got it....with modern eq and hpf any neck pickup can work imo.

It's not 1965!

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Too late now, but if you must put a P-pickup next to the neck, I would have gone with a reverse-P so that you didn't lose all definition on the E and A strings.

Ha I haven't routed just yet lol...good call on reverse P pickup...I may go with something else if I route.

Probably going to series wire the bridge and middle pickup first.

I love the bass, the neck is typical Japanese Aria with stupid low action 32 scale it has guitar sized humbuckers....it's just plain too scooped sounding ...I may switch from ss 9050s to GHS Precision flats.

 

[iiipopes]

Ha I haven't routed just yet lol...good call on reverse P pickup...I may go with something else if I route.

Probably going to series wire the bridge and middle pickup first.

I love the bass, the neck is typical Japanese Aria with stupid low action 32 scale it has guitar sized humbuckers....it's just plain too scooped sounding ...I may switch from ss 9050s to GHS Precision flats.

The GHS chocolate toned flats will only make the tone more scooped. Stick with the 9050L's and boost the presence. Thanks for considering the Reverse-P in the neck position.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

The GHS chocolate toned flats will only make the tone more scooped. Stick with the 9050L's and boost the presence. Thanks for considering the Reverse-P in the neck position.

Well with the existing pickups the top end clank is hard to manage...with tone adjustments even with my Eden Metro EQ it goes from clank to muffled quickly way too thin overall which I've had rounds on it as well.

The bridge pickup is just thin...many Jaco types that use that sound could probably live with it.

I know it boils down to the wood and it's a Japan Aria 32 scale but the neck action is unreal good.

 

[groovaholic]

I modified my old Squire P to have a pickup right by the neck - it sounds a lot like a Rickenbacker neck pickup

 

[iiipopes]

Well with the existing pickups the top end clank is hard to manage...with tone adjustments even with my Eden Metro EQ it goes from clank to muffled quickly way too thin overall which I've had rounds on it as well.

The bridge pickup is just thin...many Jaco types that use that sound could probably live with it.

I know it boils down to the wood and it's a Japan Aria 32 scale but the neck action is unreal good.

1) It's not the wood in the bass. I have a Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") with a maple body and ebony fretboard. It is not too bright. 2) What kind of tweeter or high-end driver does your amplifier have? I had to put a pad on the tweeter of my previous bass rig. 3) What is the characteristic of the treble control of your on-board eq? Some have DIP switches so you can tailor the high end response and center frequency 4) Does it have an adjustment to change the center frequency? 5) All pickups in the J-bridge position can be thin due to decreased string excursion. I had to flip my EMG J 5-string soapbar in my 5-string to actually get some low end back because it was mounted by the factory too close to the bridge.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

1) It's not the wood in the bass. I have a Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") with a maple body and ebony fretboard. It is not too bright. 2) What kind of tweeter or high-end driver does your amplifier have? I had to put a pad on the tweeter of my previous bass rig. 3) What is the characteristic of the treble control of your on-board eq? Some have DIP switches so you can tailor the high end response and center frequency 4) Does it have an adjustment to change the center frequency? 5) All pickups in the J-bridge position can be thin due to decreased string excursion. I had to flip my EMG J 5-string soapbar in my 5-string to actually get some low end back because it was mounted by the factory too close to the bridge.

Eden Metro and 800RB....no tweeter an 8x10 and EV15L and Eden 2x10 I don't use.

Metro semi parametric EQ it does a lot but now I'm playing 800RB only.

I've been around guitars for many decades yes the bridge position is bright and thinner and it's not my sound typically on bass unless boost and drive pedals to get more bass.

I can get the Geddy Lee stuff on the Aria and Fender J bass close enough for the rare times I use that sound.

I wanted to hear clips of a P pickup by the neck if anyone has a link.

 

[iiipopes]

I wanted to hear clips of a P pickup by the neck if anyone has a link.

Stu Cook of CCR mounted a Rick toaster right next to the neck on his P-bass. Look up his recordings.
Billy Sheehan mounted a mudbucker at the neck along with a "stereo" output, similar to Rickenbacker Ric-O-Sound.
I don't know of any actual P-pickup sound bites. But...it doesn't matter. The pickup is the least item to contribute to a bass' tonality. Everything, whether Rickenbacker 4001, Hofner 500/1, the two basses I have mentioned, etc., will sound essentially the same: enhanced fundamental, truncated overtones, etc.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Stu Cook of CCR mounted a Rick toaster right next to the neck on his P-bass. Look up his recordings.
Billy Sheehan mounted a mudbucker at the neck along with a "stereo" output, similar to Rickenbacker Ric-O-Sound.
I don't know of any actual P-pickup sound bites. But...it doesn't matter. The pickup is the least item to contribute to a bass' tonality. Everything, whether Rickenbacker 4001, Hofner 500/1, the two basses I have mentioned, etc., will sound essentially the same: enhanced fundamental, truncated overtones, etc.

So if I put a mudbucker (a pickup I'm very familiar with) in the neck of a Ric it won't change much tonally?

I've swapped many pickups in guitars for decades there is a huge difference between say a Dimarzio Super Distortion and a Gibson T Top.

Thanks for your input.

 

[iiipopes]

So if I put a mudbucker (a pickup I'm very familiar with) in the neck of a Ric it won't change much tonally?

I've swapped many pickups in guitars for decades there is a huge difference between say a Dimarzio Super Distortion and a Gibson T Top.

Thanks for your input.

Don't go there with trying to compare guitar pickups to bass pickups. It doesn't relate. I have done this as a hobby/avocation for over fifty years. To answer the first question, the mudbucker may increase the fundamental marginally. But as I demonstrated to a friend many, many years ago with a loose pickup wired separately and held over the strings, moving the pickup up and down the scale, there is more difference in tonality of a pickup depending on its placement rather than its construction.

 

[mellowgerman]

Can't say how the pickup balance was dialed in, but this semi-isolated Jefferson Airplane studio recording from early 1966 features Jack Casady's newly-modified jazz bass with split P added in the neck position. It sure sounds beautifully chunky and drives those tubes like a Harley Davidson V-twin.

 

[Papalampraina]

Like this? I wonder if @Papalampraina still has this...

In the 80s Washburn made some models with the P fairly close to the neck, but they also had more than 19 frets, and I'm too lazy to do the math so not sure if they're really closer of if it was optics. I imagine there is a reason you don't see P pickups right on the neck very often.

Post in thread 'Show us your 3 pickup basses!'

Dec 18, 2012

Here's mine. A very cheap jazz style bass turned into a guinea pig.

These days it even has a double muff nano inside.

3 Volumes, no tone.

• Papalampraina

• 

For some unknown reason, I still have it. It's more of a gimmick and a "let's see if this works", but it can produce sound.