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reverse p pickups in p/j basses

#24
GnRDuff1 said:
Which I also find odd. The addition of active electronics drove fender to go against its own tradition? I scratch my head wondering who said "let's make two basses in similar spirit but reverse it for some and not both"
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The active Jazz Special had an extra fret on the neck (compared to the passive Jazz Special).

I don't know if the extra fret was related to the P pickup reversal, or if it was strictly for other reasons.

I think there was P pickup reversal on some older active Yamaha BBs as well, but I think the number of frets was the same.
 
#25
amimbari said:
:D everyone gets it wrong.... that's a Charvel Eliminator5. They only made 100 of them and they never offered them in the catalog. I think it's ugly and a pretty good Yamaha/Collen ripoff, but it's a Jackson and rare,. so I keep it around ;) Jackson did make 1986 units with a normal-p.
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Well excuuuse me! :smug:

(very nice bass even if you think it's ugly. And if you ever want to get rid of it, drop me a line first...)
 
#26
Ian, for all I know it could be 10 made because I never saw another one except in someone elses picture on another board a few years ago, and like Kramer there are no real records of how many were made.

sorry for the thread derail.

I had a rev-p/j Jazz at one time :)
P1010256-1.jpg

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#27
I found a nice old Yamaha BB300 with a reverse P and added a second reverse P at the Bridge - my Lee Sklar tribute bass. It's nice!

As an engineer, it makes more sense to me to be reversed. However, I must say that Leo did a LOT of research. The P sound is not an accident.
 
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#28
amimbari said:
Ian, for all I know it could be 10 made because I never saw another one except in someone elses picture on another board a few years ago, and like Kramer there are no real records of how many were made.

sorry for the thread derail.

I had a rev-p/j Jazz at one time :)
P1010256-1.jpg

.
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Love those Charvel JX's...been hunting one too, there have been a couple on Ebay but the price hasnt been right....jazz body, jazz neck, reverse P/J...outside of a Spector, its the perfect bass ;)
 
#31
amimbari said:
The CHS P-Bass had smoother lines ;)

P1010148.jpg
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That is a wonderful "almost-but-not-quite" Fender-esque headstock that if I was ever having a Warmoth Jazz-type Bass built for me I'd try and duplicate. And at the risk of me derailing with another Phil Collen reference (yes that website pic was over the top, but if I can manage to have a body like that when I'm 53 you're damn straight I'd show it off ;) ) his modern day signature looked about 10X better with the Charvel/Jackson "Non-Fender" headstock than it does now with the typical Strat headstock... :scowl:

JacksonPC1_Phil_Collen_md.jpg


vs...

lg_pc1chlorine.jpg
 
#33
I play a reverse p/j yamaha bb1200. On other basses I used to buy a string set with a slightly heavier D and G, because I always found them to thin sounding compared to E and A. With the reverse p that's not nescessary. Also the reason a reverse position might be better in a P/J is the bass-p is in the original p-position and the treble p is closer to the neck, where it's almost in a neck j-position. At least that's how they're postioned in most p/j's. I think thats makes the overall result still very close to Leo's laws.

Some single reversed p's are reversed around the same mid-point, or the bass-p is closer to the bridge. That would probably be more of a change in sound towards a traditional P.
 
#35
acebase62 said:
The active Jazz Special had an extra fret on the neck (compared to the passive Jazz Special).

I don't know if the extra fret was related to the P pickup reversal, or if it was strictly for other reasons.

I think there was P pickup reversal on some older active Yamaha BBs as well, but I think the number of frets was the same.
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I used to want a Yamaha BB3000, but after realizing that the BB2000 had the reverse P config, I did some changes to my GAS list. ;)
 
#36
funkytoe said:
Historically, I believe you can trace the reverse-p pickup back to the mid 1970's and the L.A. session scene. Some of the session folks, like Lee Sklar, started experimenting with p-bass pickup placement - basses with dual P pickups, etc. Those guys were playing on lots of gold records....
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Fender did it in the sixties, 'though it's not the usual P-pickup:
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#37
Nothing like resurrecting a one-year-old thread :)

My Guild Pilot has a reverse P and I love it. Like others have said before me, it seems to make more sense (to my ear - YMMV) that the E and A should have a little more punch than what they have in the traditional P placement. With the reverse p'up placement they do.
 
#38
Peepaleep said:
Nothing like resurrecting a one-year-old thread :)

My Guild Pilot has a reverse P and I love it. Like others have said before me, it seems to make more sense (to my ear - YMMV) that the E and A should have a little more punch than what they have in the traditional P placement. With the reverse p'up placement they do.
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You mean one month old? Check again sir.

I'd like to hear a regular P vs a reverse P side by side some day.
 

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