reverse p pickups in p/j basses

[Vanja Spirin]

Ibanez did it for a while - I tried it on a P-bass years ago - didn't like the result. Leo got it right the first time.

No, he did'nt. The case is that most of the people don't understand how it works. EA coil should stay on the standard P hotspot, so nothing changest there. Change is in DG coil, which goes nearer to the neck, so thinner strings sound fuller and more even with EA. As simple as that.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

No, he did'nt. The case is that most of the people don't understand how it works. EA coil should stay on the standard P hotspot, so nothing changest there. Change is in DG coil, which goes nearer to the neck, so thinner strings sound fuller and more even with EA. As simple as that.

Why?
Why not just swap the positions of BOTH coils... move the E/A back to align with the D/G and the D/G forward to align with where the E/A was?
What don't I "understand" about this?

 

[Vanja Spirin]

Why?
Why not just swap the positions of BOTH coils... move the E/A back to align with the D/G and the D/G forward to align with where the E/A was?
What don't I "understand" about this?

It is logical not to do that if you want a propper P-bass sound, what most of the people want. I used reversed P beause i have MM pickup on bridge position, so P and MM pickup would overlap. The only logical thing was to leave EA coil on it's place, and put DG coil closer to the neck. With this configuration you preserve both of those characteristic sounds, so my bass sounds like a propper P, and also like a propper MM.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

If I wanted a "Propper" P bass sound, I'd leave it stock.

 

[Vanja Spirin]

If I wanted a "Propper" P bass sound, I'd leave it stock.

I told you, it is because of bridge pickup, MM or J. It is very rare to find reversed P as the only pickup.

 

[amimbari]

it depends on how you classify rare as every model series 87-88 charvel 1B has them like that and they made 10s of thousands of them ( same with the Charvettes in 89-91 )

 

[bigtone23]

If I ever get a 5 string P type bass, I will want the coils reversed. Don't need all that bass tone on those lower pitched strings.
But wait, if the BEA coil is in the same position as it is in a traditional split coil and the DG coil is then positioned so it's closer to the neck, a MM bridge PU can be dropped in right at it's traditional sweet spot.
Hmm... Now I'm really thinking about this bass dream... I want a 5 string stingray with wide spacing... here's my chance...

 

[Vanja Spirin]

it depends on how you classify rare as every model series 87-88 charvel 1B has them like that and they made 10s of thousands of them ( same with the Charvettes in 89-91 )

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Well, this is stil exception. And you are missing the point. We are not discussing how many bass guitars are with a reverse P. We are discussing is reverse P usefull or not. By my opinion (grounded on experience, because I own 3 bass guitars with reversed P) this is useful.

 

[Ric5]