Pickup placement question

[ctmullins]

Tim, you crack me up!!

 

[StereoPlayer]

Either would work well. The farther apart the two pickups are, the more pronounced the mid-scoop when they are both combined (in parallel, which is the default). So if you want a wide-open, airy, almost pillowy sound, spread them wide. If you want more mid-focus and "punch" (whatever that means), move them closer to one another.

Glad to see that your bridge pickup isn't right up against the bridge. While a few millimeters either direction doesn't usually make much difference, it most certainly does when you're that close to the bridge. If you like some "bass" in your bass, it's important to keep some distance between the bridge and the bridge pickup.

Because I play this bass in stereo there’s no scooping. I wish the bridge Pu was closer to the bridge…
The bass roars…I love it!

 

[Max Bogosity]

I'd probably go for option B just because it would leave a little more free wire length on the neck pickup so the soldering will be easier. Option A looks like it might start to get a little tight.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Tim, you crack me up!!

Thanks Todd, I try to never take life seriously.

Oh, I also been meaning to ask, you guys doing okay down there? Ida and all....

 

[ardgedee]

Leading edge of the nut to the end of the board = 25"

Some of the G5 builds pictured on the forum definitely show cantilevered boards, extending beyond the end of the neck and the neck pocket.

So it's effectively a 22 'fret' neck.

Personally I think both pickup placements look fine. If it's all the same to you I'd go with the one that's more amenable to your right hand style. Some prefer having their fingers over the pickup, some hate it, some just want the pickups where they can rest their thumbs.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Lets assume your comfortable with your string spacing using your current nut. Mines a little off. Seems to run in the family.

A: If you feel the poles must be centered, take the H cover, flip it over and trace it, including the holes. Use that as a template for locating it under the strings.

B: Center it in the P sweet spot and forget about the pole spacing. They (Aero H), also do custom covers. You could have one made with out the holes in it and it won't effect the tone or magnetic pull.

I've seen electrical tape also placed over the tops of the pickups and then the cover is placed over that. It will help to mask spacing issues. Some peeps use a different color tape to purposely make the poles stand out.

 

[DC in ATX]

So it's effectively a 22 'fret' neck.

Personally I think both pickup placements look fine. If it's all the same to you I'd go with the one that's more amenable to your right hand style. Some prefer having their fingers over the pickup, some hate it, some just want the pickups where they can rest their thumbs.

Exactly right. 22 frets is the standard neck. An extended board get you to 24 frets.

Hand placement is a good thing to keep in mind. I'll probably cheat and put a ramp between the pups. Right hand technique is not my strong suit. A ramp helps keep me anchored.

You can hear Aero H pups in action on a fretless bass here:



It's hard to find a video of Lawson playing with an unprocessed clean tone. This is close, but involves the fretted model:

 

[MotorCityMinion]

but if the pickup is good, it's going to sound good no matter where you put it. So put it wherever you think it looks the best.

YMMV, I cant agree with that statement. I rarely like the sound of a soloed bridge pickup. Doesn't the pick up output determine bridge or neck location ?

 

[ctmullins]

Thanks Todd, I try to never take life seriously.

Oh, I also been meaning to ask, you guys doing okay down there? Ida and all....

All good here. Not our turn this time around.

 

[BlueTalon]

YMMV, I cant agree with that statement. I rarely like the sound of a soloed bridge pickup. Doesn't the pick up output determine bridge or neck location ?

Typically, yes. My comment was in the context of precisely placing a neck pickup.

On my main player, a three-pickup jazz, I have one bridge pickup and two neck pickups. That relates to this thread in two ways. First, I placed my pickups exactly 2" apart edge-to-edge, purely for aesthetic reasons, and just trusting it would sound good. It sounds phenomenal. Both neck pickups sound great, and neither one sounds like it's misplaced.

Second, the pole pieces of the neck-neck-bridge pickups present a slight angle along each string, such that it's impossible for the string to be exactly centered over the pole pieces on each pickup. I doesn't matter to the final sound, not even a little bit.

 

[DC in ATX]

Because I have all the parts, I went ahead and bolted up the neck; strung the outer strings; and used calipers to adjust the bridge to match the outer poles on the neck pickup.

The neck pickup has poles at 17.3mm OC. So the distance between the outermost poles is 17.3mm x 4 = 69.2mm. Here’s a photo of the bridge set to achieve that 69.2mm distance:

The neck pickup has poles at 16.3mm. So, the magic number for exact string spacing purposes is 16.3mm x 4 = 65.2mm. Setting the calipers to find this magic moment, lands here:

This is roughly at the Option B position.

Just for fun, I walked the calipers to the most extreme possible positions for the necks pickup:

The difference is relatively modest, even at its most extreme. At the neck position a difference of 4mm just moves you off the center of the strings to the inside edges of the strings. Meanwhile, each pair of pickup poles is 12mm across. So, it’s hard to get too far off the center of the poles.

So, everyone who said “put the pickup wherever you want it” gets a gold star. Thanks for the solid feedback. I trusted the crowd, but it’s helpful to see it on the bench.

 

[DC in ATX]

Mockups to cavities:

The original bridge screws and pickup cavities were about 1.5mm off of center. Neck pocket is true, as best I can tell. So, I centered the new cavities and will drill new bridge holes when the time comes.