Putting a neck pickup in the bridge position

[Tchar]

Hi!

I built myself a bass recently, I just finished it in January. I've been meaning to post some pictures on here, but haven't gotten around to it.

Originally, I only put on a Bare Knuckle '58 p-bass pickup, which sounds preally good. However, I've been thinking of adding a jazz bass pickup for a little added spunk when I'm in the mood. I managed to get my hands on a Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pickup, though out of the pair, I only have the one intended to be in the neck position.

My question is the following: Would a neck position pickup sound too weak in the bridge position? Is there any way I could use the pickup and maybe compensate for lower output by bringing the pickup closer to the strings? Or should I not even bother with this pickup and wait until I've found a pickup made for the bridge position?

Any input is welcome and very much appreciated!

 

[Beej]

The issue is more likely to be pole spacing related than it is to be low output. As long as the poles can line up reasonably well beneath the strings, you should be good to go.

 

[chinjazz]

Hi!

I built myself a bass recently, I just finished it in January. I've been meaning to post some pictures on here, but haven't gotten around to it.

Originally, I only put on a Bare Knuckle '58 p-bass pickup, which sounds preally good. However, I've been thinking of adding a jazz bass pickup for a little added spunk when I'm in the mood. I managed to get my hands on a Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pickup, though out of the pair, I only have the one intended to be in the neck position.

My question is the following: Would a neck position pickup sound too weak in the bridge position? Is there any way I could use the pickup and maybe compensate for lower output by bringing the pickup closer to the strings? Or should I not even bother with this pickup and wait until I've found a pickup made for the bridge position?

Any input is welcome and very much appreciated!

Most Jazz pickup pairs are voiced for those neck and bridge positions, and sound different. Sometimes they're different lengths also, so that's at least a few other things to keep in mind.

 

[Tchar]

The issue is more likely to be pole spacing related than it is to be low output. As long as the poles can line up reasonably well beneath the strings, you should be good to go.

I hadn't thought about pole spacing at all. Thanks for bringing that up. I just checked how the strings lined up with the poles, and I think I may have bought the bridge position pickup after all. The length is perfect for where I intend to place it.

 

[Beej]

Awesome, good luck with the project!

 

[kevmac]

The issue is more likely to be pole spacing related than it is to be low output. As long as the poles can line up reasonably well beneath the strings, you should be good to go.

I realize this post is a couple of years old but I have this exact question.I am putting a bass together and I have a set of vintage Fender Jazz pups.The thing is the body is pre routed and the neck pickup fits perfectly in the bridge position while the bridge pup is too large for it and can only fit in the neck.The poles line up perfectly though.

 

[5tring]

There a few different 'standard' sizes of jazz pickup, I think there is a thread somewhere on TB with the info - try searching 'jazz pickup dimensions' or something like that.

I'm by no means an expert in history of pickups, but I think at some point fender changed the size/shape of their j pickups, so if you have an old one it may not fit a route for a modern j

 

[Scoops]

I realize this post is a couple of years old but I have this exact question.I am putting a bass together and I have a set of vintage Fender Jazz pups.The thing is the body is pre routed and the neck pickup fits perfectly in the bridge position while the bridge pup is too large for it and can only fit in the neck.The poles line up perfectly though.

You may be OK, but more info is needed

With Jazz bass pups, the bridge is usually larger than the neck.

I am unclear from your post which is which

Is the routing on your bass such that the bridge is larger than the neck?

 

[kevmac]

You may be OK, but more info is needed

With Jazz bass pups, the bridge is usually larger than the neck.

I am unclear from your post which is which

Is the routing on your bass such that the bridge is larger than the neck?

No the bridge is smaller,much more so.Its an Eden body I bought on Reverb, pretty nice actually.I don't own a router,plus it came with a very nice paint and poly job that I'd hate to have chip around the edges.I didn't cheap out on parts but if the pups position will negatively effect this build I'll take it to my luthier and pay him to do it.

 

[dwizum]

Fender have used different size pickups on their different product lines so often it's easy to get confused. And then all the copies seem to just do random things as you're finding out.

Some pickup brands make a given product in multiple sizes to accommodate all this nonsense. For instance, I know Bartolini makes both voicings in each of the standard 4 and 5 string sizes, so you can get the "right" setup despite what sizes the holes are.

And of course as already mentioned there's no strict technical reason why you HAVE to put a given pickup in a give position so you can pretty much do whatever you want with the routes you've already got, there's no need to try to change the routes if you've got something that fits.

 

[kevmac]

Fender have used different size pickups on their different product lines so often it's easy to get confused. And then all the copies seem to just do random things as you're finding out.

Some pickup brands make a given product in multiple sizes to accommodate all this nonsense. For instance, I know Bartolini makes both voicings in each of the standard 4 and 5 string sizes, so you can get the "right" setup despite what sizes the holes are.

And of course as already mentioned there's no strict technical reason why you HAVE to put a given pickup in a give position so you can pretty much do whatever you want with the routes you've already got, there's no need to try to change the routes if you've got something that fits.

You know your stuff.Many thanks.