Pickup placement issue - 32" Scale build

[Marlat]

Hi Luthiers

I am getting a bass built by a UK lutheir (who may well be known to you around these parts). I wanted to have the bass made in 32" scale to use it mostly for chord playing (it will be strung E-C), but wanted to have the bridge pickup in the same position as Anthony Jackson's Contrabass (which I believe is a DC pickup in the p-bass position) and another slim humbucking pickup in the 70's J bass poition.

I measured my Sadowsky PJ4 which is 34" scale and then proceeded to use the measurements in the following formula:

32/34 * (distance from 12th fret to pick coils on Sadowsky)

Is that the correct formula? Does anyone have a template or can think of a reason not to place them that way?

Thanks for your help.

 

[mongo2]

That works mathematically.

 

[xaxxat]

You could do it that way, or use Stew-Mac's fret calculator and position the pups by fret position.

http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

 

[ZolkoW]

32/34 * (distance from 12th fret to pick coils on Sadowsky)

this works, but I believe that AJ has his pickup at the 36th fret's position, right between the 24th fret and the bridge.
I measured once from a big photo, I hope I'm not misleading you.

 

[Marlat]

Is thre somewhere that sets ou the typical pickup positions on various common basses (ie P-Bass, J bass 60's 70's, MM Stingray etc) relative to the frets?

 

[ZolkoW]

Is thre somewhere that sets ou the typical pickup positions on various common basses (ie P-Bass, J bass 60's 70's, MM Stingray etc) relative to the frets?

I don't know, but you can make one.
I don't remember the P location exactly, but the J'60 is 710 and 802 mm from nut, J'70 is 710 and 810mm, MM is 775 mm.
all measurements are from the nut to the middle of pickup.
and 34", of course.

 

[xaxxat]

Here's a graphic with some common pup spacings. I believe the measurements are from the nut edge to center of the pole pieces.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2976&d=1081517692

 

[pilotjones]

Here's a graphic with some common pup spacings. I believe the measurements are from the nut edge to center of the pole pieces.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2976&d=1081517692

Yes, those are the nut to polepiece distances. IIRC the J position is for 60s, not 70s.

 

[Kalango]

Yes, those are the nut to polepiece distances. IIRC the J position is for 60s, not 70s.

Yes, it's 60s position. 70s position is the same for the neck, and 27 7/8" for the bridge (with a small variation of course).

 

[PilbaraBass]

this works, but I believe that AJ has his pickup at the 36th fret's position, right between the 24th fret and the bridge.
I measured once from a big photo, I hope I'm not misleading you.

on a 32" scale, 24 fret is at 16", 36 fret is at 16 + 16/2 or 24 inch (from nut).
That's pretty far from the bridge, for any scale.

 

[pilotjones]

on a 32" scale, 24 fret is at 16", 36 fret is at 16 + 16/2 or 24 inch (from nut).
That's pretty far from the bridge, for any scale.

Check your math. You just gave the positions for 12th and 24th, not 24th and 36th.

 

[PilbaraBass]

Check your math. You just gave the positions for 12th and 24th, not 24th and 36th.

OOPS!
you're right...

12th fret is 16" from nut
24th fret is 24" from nut
36th fret is 28" from nut (4 inches from bridge)

 

[Marlat]

For what its worth, I made the measurement off the AJ models on the FOdera website and the front coils of the DC pickup are defintely under the 36th fret position on AJ's bass.

 

[ZolkoW]

For what its worth, I made the measurement off the AJ models on the FOdera website and the front coils of the DC pickup are defintely under the 36th fret position on AJ's bass.

that makes sense.
maybe we should ask Justthumpin or someone else at Fodera
the image I used was in a book, and it showed probably an older piece of AJ model - it had a very narrow pickup, and if I remember correctly, the pickups middle was right at the 36th positioin.
maybe they changed this over the years.