Some real talk about Pickup Placement.....

[eastcoasteddie]

Here are MY views on this topic...how a pickup is actually designed and wound might be more important than placement to define how it sounds.
I voted 2 pups in J-fashion....though I only have one actual Jazz bass. The others are an L2500 (close...kinda), a Jazz with MM bridge pickup, and a crazy Dean with 2 MM pickups close to the bridge (where the inner coils of both pickups are in the "Sweet Spot", and sounds more like a Thumb when using these coils). I chose 2 pickups because I like variety...

A superb custom pickup manufacturer, Howard Ulyate, made a MM-style pickup with one MM coil and one Jazz coil in the same housing. When he uses the MM coil (closer to neck), it sounds sort of like a P-bass. When I used to have a Stingray, I split the coils up like that and my stock pickup neck coil didn't sound anything like his. He told me it's all in the windings...

 

[Doner Designs]

I'm very aware of the mid-scoop/comb filtering effect of multiple pickups. I usually avoid contour switches on the amp as well. I learned early in my bass career (and keep learning) that the things that make a bass sound good solo'd are the things that make it so you can't hear yourself in the mix and yet are continuously asked to turn down. Usually when someone says "there's too much bass" the mean the frequency, not the instrument. Don't turn down, dial back the low end and bring up the mids somehow.

What sounds good to you as a player will screw up the mix. Learn to make peace with it.

Very true. This scoop / comb filtering is (I think) the main reason people say flats sound good on a P but rounds sound better on a J. Flats are weaker on the upper mids vs rounds (in addition to having less growl). Of course you can make up for that by favoring the bridge pickup on a J.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I like that you used the 12th fret as your anchor point. I used a bridge saddle and the nut and found it hard to grapple with PowerPoint when resizing the bass pictures to get them in the right dimensions so they all were at the same scale length and lined up.

I did this one last year comparing
Fender 51 p
Fender 59 p
Fender 60s j
Fender 70s j
G&l l2000
Rickenbacker
WAL
Warwick
Musicman
View attachment 790961

I first made the doc bc I wanted to see where g&l l2000 and fender 60s jazz compared but ended up throwing in a bunch of others bc it was interesting

I thought the Stingray pickup was positioned slightly more towards the bridge with respect to a P bass pickup ... it seems that the best that can be done to add a "bridge" pickup to a P bass without touching the pickguard is then to place a single coil jazz bridge pickup in the 60's position ...

 

[Ric5]

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

Honestly, I'm personally more concerned about my (lack of) chops, and put more emphasis into actually becoming a better player, which, in my opinion is what will yield the best sound, regardless of what bass I'm playing, and less important, where the pickups are located. I play a P bass mostly because I just love the bare bones look, it's simplicity, and results in the least amount of time fiddling with knobs and switches. For me less is more on the actual instrument, forcing me to be a better player. This is what just works for me. Not saying's what everyone should do.

I'm the same way with guitars, and have predominantly played Telecasters for their simplicity.

 

[GIBrat51]

Sorry; no Carrot option = no vote. However... I agree with Vinny, pretty much. The pickups on all of my basses are just... where they are. I have never bought any electric instrument based on where the pickup/pickups are located. And, I doubt I ever will...

 

[dmt]

I think it’s not so much that one would buy a bass based on where the pickup(s) are located, but rather, like with the OP back in early 2016, where one would have the pickups placed if spec-ing out a custom instrument

 

[TonyP-]

View attachment 3269676

View attachment 3269677

View attachment 3269678

Question for you.
Who made that bass in the middle?

 

[TonyP-]

Sorry; no Carrot option = no vote. However... I agree with Vinny, pretty much. The pickups on all of my basses are just... where they are. I have never bought any electric instrument based on where the pickup/pickups are located. And, I doubt I ever will...

Yeah but this thread is specificialy about...pickup placement...

You don’t to car dealership that sells trucks and walk into the showroom and say. I will never buy a truck what a waste of space in the back. I would never use it...

I specifically built my signature instrument around pickup placement.

 

[Ric5]

Question for you.
Who made that bass in the middle?

I did …

I had the body made, and I bought the neck and put it all together

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/cs-74-5.htm

 

[TonyP-]

I did …

I had the body made, and I bought the neck and put it all together

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/cs-74-5.htm

Gotcha makes sense...
I was curious on that and I close with the Mouradian family.

There is talk of releasing the CS-74 again with them.

 

[jd56hawk]

Not exactly the same, but...

 

[bassdude51]

Right here!

 

[EmuBass]

There have to be about 200 threads about this already.... so I thought... WHY NOT ANOTHER.... be sure to vote on this one!

Nice picture. But the red line to the left is not the same for all four basses.

 

[BassGuyFL]

Yeah but this thread is specificialy about...pickup placement...

You don’t to car dealership that sells trucks and walk into the showroom and say. I will never buy a truck what a waste of space in the back. I would never use it...

I specifically built my signature instrument around pickup placement.

View attachment 3269902

Damn that’s nice. Does it sound similar to Sadowsky Modern?

 

[TonyP-]

Damn that’s nice. Does it sound similar to Sadowsky Modern?

Actually a bit a different...More like the cousin to the Sadowsky mordern...Its not quite the same spot as the 'Modern' and those pickups up Nordstrand Big Singles.

The best way I can describe it merge a Musicman with Jazz Bass...Get rid of the scoopy mids of the Jazz and but keep the upper mids.
Its quite punchy and the best bass I have ever had. Its tight sounding.

 

[BassGuyFL]

Actually a bit a different...More like the cousin to the Sadowsky mordern...Its not quite the same spot as the 'Modern' and those pickups up Nordstrand Big Singles.

The best way I can describe it merge a Musicman with Jazz Bass...Get rid of the scoopy mids of the Jazz and but keep the upper mids.
Its quite punchy and the best bass I have ever had. Its tight sounding.

I like everything I’m hearing. I really want a jazz that doesn’t sounds like a jazz. Can’t make that scooped Marcus Miller tone work. Similar to this to compliment my new Stingray Special HH

 

[TonyP-]

I like everything I’m hearing. I really want a jazz that doesn’t sounds like a jazz. Can’t make that scooped Marcus Miller tone work. Similar to this to compliment my new Stingray Special HH

You can tame it more then this...But here it is with me playing at the Bass Bash last years NAMM.

Grabs some cans or good monitors and check it out.

 

[XsoGol]

I like that you used the 12th fret as your anchor point. I used a bridge saddle and the nut and found it hard to grapple with PowerPoint when resizing the bass pictures to get them in the right dimensions so they all were at the same scale length and lined up.

I did this one last year comparing
Fender 51 p
Fender 59 p
Fender 60s j
Fender 70s j
G&l l2000
Rickenbacker
WAL
Warwick
Musicman
View attachment 790961

I first made the doc bc I wanted to see where g&l l2000 and fender 60s jazz compared but ended up throwing in a bunch of others bc it was interesting

Is there any way to add a 60s Gibson Thunderbird IV to this? I'm curious to see how close in position the Thunderbird neck pickup is to a Fender Precision.

 

[Sbassman Scratch]

After we get this settled, or just beat into submission, maybe we can have a poll on pickup pole-piece position: single, double, if double staggered or parallel. A pole poll for people who play.