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Warmoth Sweetspot
- Thread starter fretno
- Start date
I see , so that is the usual MM postion . Those look nice , do you have any clips ? Thanks man !
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
Here's the problem with so called "sweet spots", what's the scale length and the # of frets, that you're using? (although it's a '54 style, I won't assume it's 34" with a 20 or 21 frets)
I don't forsee there being a problem. Sweet Spot is traditional tone location (although the pickup & pre are a HUGE part of this), whereas the bridge position will have more treble. Personal preference.
Is there a precise sweet spot location, and are you essentially getting a bridge kind of sound from the pickup, but perhaps with more muscle?
C.
Sweet spots can vary with scale lengths, neck/body woods and even the neck joint location. A Stingray's sweet spot is based on the relatively consistent choice of woods, electronics and instrument design. When we would get a request for a Sweet Spot bass, we would sometimes build it first, then slide a similar impedance low-profile pickup under the strings, and move it up and down until it gave the right sound (but this is a bit NUTS bordering on OCD) so you need to look at and listen to similar designs to make the call. The Old Warwick Fortress had the MM P/U WAYYY north of the bridge, and had a killer sound BUT... it had totally different electronics than the Stingray! Take all variables into consideration.
So it literally is a "sweet spot" thing, and not a certain ratio or percentage of scale-length. Interesting. What would probably be a the sweet spots on a P-Bass with a PJ set-up, assuming all other factors were the same with a classically built P-Bass?
And why don't we hear more about sweetspotting with other instruments? Does it not make that big of a difference or is it more of an arbitrary thing? Did Les, Leo, and Ted get it right the first time, some 60 years ago?
C.
The problem is that what constitutes the "best sound" is still subjective and is usually decided upon by the builder, hopefully with feedback from players. Here's an example based on an actual situation: I have a custom J Bass with the bridge P/U further from the bridge than stock Fender because I wanted a fatter sound fro that bridge. I got the fatter sound, but I lost the ability to get a classic "Jaco" tone from that bass, even though it was the same (Alder) wood and classic Fender P/U's.
I think the sweet spot on a P-bass is right where Fender puts it, but Mike Tobias sets it 3/4" closer to the bridge on his CRB Model and that bass is a freakin' Sea Monster of tone!
Les, Leo and Ted had several "Failed" experiments before they produced their legendary instruments, I believe that's why we still play them to this day.
Try to focus in on exactly what you want to hear from your project, since you're only using one P/U, I think you have the right idea of getting it optimally placed. Considerations:
1. It's a P-style... what's the body wood?
2. Active or passive? What type of pre-amp EQ?
3. Is it a standard 21- 22 - fret bolt-on neck?
4. String thru body or top-load bridge?
These factors would all help towards a good decision.
I think the sweet spot on a P-bass is right where Fender puts it, but Mike Tobias sets it 3/4" closer to the bridge on his CRB Model and that bass is a freakin' Sea Monster of tone!
Les, Leo and Ted had several "Failed" experiments before they produced their legendary instruments, I believe that's why we still play them to this day.
Try to focus in on exactly what you want to hear from your project, since you're only using one P/U, I think you have the right idea of getting it optimally placed. Considerations:
1. It's a P-style... what's the body wood?
2. Active or passive? What type of pre-amp EQ?
3. Is it a standard 21- 22 - fret bolt-on neck?
4. String thru body or top-load bridge?
These factors would all help towards a good decision.
I'm not one of the wood makes no difference in tone guys, but I don't think it has a great deal to do with "sweetspot". My understanding is that the classic 'sweetspot' is the MM location, which strikes me as very very similar to the single bridge pickup Guild Starfires of the 60's. (The 2 pick up models of that bass had the bridge pickup much closer to the bridge) IMHO it is completely related to the relative position on the instrument's scale and the type of pickup deployed. The position seems to favor humbuckers or fat single coils like the bi-sonic. I could be wrong, but I suspect a J bridge pickup moved to that position would not be ideal. I guess what I'm getting at is the 'sweetspot' is where along an instrument's scale that particular pickup shines. Of course, YMMV
Wood is not a primary factor at all, it's secondary if not tertiary. Scale length and where specific nodes form along a string's length are the primary factors, but which frequencies are enhanced or attenuated by body wood will also have an effect. Bear in mind also, that MM type pickups, when humbucking, will cancel certain frequencies that may only be heard by a single coil p/u.
. But now I'm looking at a 51' / '54 build again but it too will get a sc in the usual spot . 
ha ha ha..............."sweet spot". Yeah, what does that mean? The MM sweet spot? The P sweet spot? The J neck or bridge sweet spot? The '51-'56 sc P sweet spot?
Man! There's just too many sweet spots!
But for that MM pickup, I'd say that there are 2 sweet spots for it. The traditional Stringray position or the split coil P Bass postion.
You're question makes me really curious. What would the MM pickup sound like in the P Bass position? Also, once there, it can be coil tapped for single coil, series and parallel.
Hummm, didn't G&L make a bass called L-1000?
Man! There's just too many sweet spots!
But for that MM pickup, I'd say that there are 2 sweet spots for it. The traditional Stringray position or the split coil P Bass postion.
You're question makes me really curious. What would the MM pickup sound like in the P Bass position? Also, once there, it can be coil tapped for single coil, series and parallel.
Hummm, didn't G&L make a bass called L-1000?
I've had a musicman and a warwick FNA with the single pickup. They sounded good but I prefer 2 pickups. For j pickups on a custom bass check out a warwick thumb 5 pickup position. They use wide spacing pickups but mount them on an angle to match the closer string spacing on the bass. And the neck pickup is located in like the middle position. This gives the bass more natural mids and the pickups on an angle really helps string balance. I've been looking at building a warmoth fretless and plan to use rip off the warwick thumbs big time. Ill most likely end up routing the pickup holes myself but you do what you gotta do to get the tones you like.
