Sounds like a powerful and very growly jazz bass to me with clear high mids and lot of definitionnin general ... that’s the character of the pickups Carey intended to design in this case I believe
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Some real talk about Pickup Placement.....
- Thread starter pablomigraine
- Start date
Sounds like a powerful and very growly jazz bass to me with clear high mids and lot of definitionnin general ... that’s the character of the pickups Carey intended to design in this case I believe
I prefer a single pickup up near the neck but I can make do with the pickup at or near the P position.
Why are all the options based on the Fender pickup position model (one in the middle of the body, one near the bridge), or variations on Fender based / designed models?
Not a very "real" conversation, unless you consider all the other options available.
Rickenbacker 4003?
Gibson EB3?
Hofner Violin?
Not a very "real" conversation, unless you consider all the other options available.
Rickenbacker 4003?
Gibson EB3?
Hofner Violin?
It’s a bit of Symantec’s. There are not options based on those positions but rather they are used for reference points. Part of that has to do with the fact that they are the default standards. The other component is that of all the other options you listed none of them are 34” scale. Referencing a distance from the 12th fret can be easily understood when we know it’s on a 34” scale bass.
The placement is relative to the scale length not a fixed length.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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I wonder how much pickup preference is driven by playing style. When I play with a pick to rest my fingers other adjustments are needed. I dial back the volume and adjust tone or pickup selection.
My usual is to play flatwound strings finger-style with a light touch. To make that sound good I favor the bridge pickup. Also for multi pickup basses I prefer a super wide spacing between the two with one very close to the bridge and the other very close to the neck heel.
My usual is to play flatwound strings finger-style with a light touch. To make that sound good I favor the bridge pickup. Also for multi pickup basses I prefer a super wide spacing between the two with one very close to the bridge and the other very close to the neck heel.
- Aug 21, 2003
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- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
That must be very scoopy sounding.
I found basses like this to sound have trouble sitting in the mix with a lack of mids.
I’m assuming you boost your mids for a bass like this.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
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- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
The wider spread lowers the frequency of the mid scoop compared to a J bass which is why I like it. Cuts low mids and retains a nice high mid growl. I don’t think the amount of scoop changes, mostly shifts the frequency.
An EB3 Gibson (example bass with wide spread) can lack mids in general but I think it’s because of the pickup design more than placement. That’s why they call it a mudbucker.
I’m not aware of any basses constructed in the way I like besides those I have built for my own use. Wrong pickups or wrong placement vs my preference. I mostly use the outermost coils in the pictured basses.
If I mess with EQ, generally I will slightly cut low mids at 250 to 500 hz and boost high mids between 800 and 1000 hz no matter what pickup situation. My use of flats and playing style seem to need that.
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- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,605
- 18,644
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Cool...I most certainly don’t think anything is wrong, just preference.
It’s funny because I go the almost thr opposite way but then again it’s all in technique as well. I have a Heavy right hand and I’m playing brighter sounding roundwounds (%99.9 of the time).
I have (most) of my Alinco pickups wired in series to get that little more lower mid thing going on.
Cheers
Its strange....I have an '83 Electra X640N P/J but the pickups are very widely spaced, with the P-pickup way out of the sweetspot toward the neck and the J very close to the bridge...It has an 18V pre and very interesting preamp features, including a parametric....It gets a very "somewhere in the neighborhood" Ric-like sound considering that the pickups arent in Ric positions
I'm assuming that you're not referring to the Cyber Security firm, but "semantics", as in the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning. That's pedantics for you.
My point was not based on scale length, but based on pickup position, as per the thread title.
The Poll options do not have any other options for pickup placements any further forward than the middle of the body (like the J bass), regardless of scale length, therefore, you are limiting your discussion parameters to Fender influenced designs.
I'm assuming that you're not referring to the Cyber Security firm, but "semantics", as in the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning. That's pedantics for you.
My point was not based on scale length, but based on pickup position, as per the thread title.
The Poll options do not have any other options for pickup placements any further forward than the middle of the body (like the J bass), regardless of scale length, therefore, you are limiting your discussion parameters to Fender influenced designs.
Haha. Autocorrect.
I'm assuming that you're not referring to the Cyber Security firm, but "semantics", as in the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning. That's pedantics for you.
My point was not based on scale length, but based on pickup position, as per the thread title.
The Poll options do not have any other options for pickup placements any further forward than the middle of the body (like the J bass), regardless of scale length, therefore, you are limiting your discussion parameters to Fender influenced designs.
True, but I think the poll is based on paradigms for the sake of productive discourse.
Does anyone know the difference in distance from the nut/12th fret of a Fender Precision split coil vs. the neck pickup on a '60s Gibson Thunderbird IV?
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
They should totally release the CS-74 in some form … and use the fact the Chris played one a lot and maybe do a 5 string version
- Aug 21, 2003
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- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
It’s been discussed but Jon, is inadated with repairs and his own designs right now. I will see him within the next 2 days and ask.
Cheers
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
- Aug 21, 2003
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- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
I can tell you this right now...That is the last thing He wants. Jon is most certainly does not want exspand. He had the smaller place for a year and loves it.
Turnaround
Commercial User
There is no doubt that the position of the pickup affects the sound. But the quality of the tone produced is a function of the intensity of the partials of the vibrating string that are sensed by the pickup. That mix of partials is determined by the pickup position in relation to the vibrqting length of the string.
So at approx. .85 of the vibrating length of the string you get a balance of partials that equates to the "sweet spot" of the P-Bass tone. When you work your way up the fretboard the relative position of the pickup to the vibrating length of string decreases (using the P-bass example). At the 5th fret the ratio is at .78 approx. At the 12th fret it's down to .68. That's in large part why the tone sounds different at the 12th fret than what it does on the open string.
And so it goes with other pickup locations. The balance of partials is dependent on the position of the pickup in relation to the vibrating length of the string. So on a 60's style J bass bridge pickup, you get a ration of .93 on an open string, .90 at the 5th and .85 at the 12th. That is a very different set pf partials than you get at the neck pickup which would be .82, .75 and .63 respectively.
So at approx. .85 of the vibrating length of the string you get a balance of partials that equates to the "sweet spot" of the P-Bass tone. When you work your way up the fretboard the relative position of the pickup to the vibrating length of string decreases (using the P-bass example). At the 5th fret the ratio is at .78 approx. At the 12th fret it's down to .68. That's in large part why the tone sounds different at the 12th fret than what it does on the open string.
And so it goes with other pickup locations. The balance of partials is dependent on the position of the pickup in relation to the vibrating length of the string. So on a 60's style J bass bridge pickup, you get a ration of .93 on an open string, .90 at the 5th and .85 at the 12th. That is a very different set pf partials than you get at the neck pickup which would be .82, .75 and .63 respectively.
Leo got it right the first time IMO. Pickups too close to the neck and its too thumpy and boomy, too close to the bridge and its too thin sounding. Give me a nice split coil humbucker right in the middle! I'll change the sound myself. If I want a deeper tone, I'll play up closer to the neck, if I want a thinner tone, I'll play back by the bridge. There is a good reason the P bass is still the most copied and most used bass on the planet, its perfect.
