Why Do Fender P Basses Come with the Pickup Staggered?

[2tonic]

I do. Sometimes.
My J has DiMarzio Model J's. No single coils there.
2 straight split P's.
A stacked coil "single" P.
A Dingwall SJ/P.
A G&L L2K.
And one of those Macca viola basses with humbuckers in it.

My favourite? The '73 P and the stacked "single" coil P. But I love them all.

I feel ya, pardner.
Mebbe you should put a disclaimer on your avatar, jes so's folks don't get the wrong idea.

 

[petrus61]

??? I'm not following you. Because of their size, the coils couldn't fit in line. So, they had to be mounted offset to each other. The choices were: bass coil forward/treble coil back (which he chose) or bass coil back/treble coil forward.

I think OP is really asking about pickup height, not "staggering" in the technical sense as applied to a P pickup.

 

[Linnin]

Leo picked "X marks the spot" for the pickup location, but the rub (literally) is the two pcs can't fit end to end, so.....
He could leave the bass side on X, and move the treble side forward.........or back, or leave the treble side on X and move the bass forward.....or back.
Relative to "X" he had four choices.
The real dilemma here is we'll never know for sure where exactly the mysterious X was!
Is the bass side still on it?
Or is the treble side occupying X.

That's easy! Neither half of the split pickup occupies X. X is the space between the halves.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

What are those reasons?

He screwed up the route on the first attempt?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Not sure, but I think that a lot of folks are misunderstanding the original question.

Hey, Hi-End: Are you asking why there are two separate pick ups, one on the E & A strings, and then a separate, but staggered pick up on the D & G strings?

That's how I read the question.

 

[Lowendtech]

I feel ya, pardner.
Mebbe you should put a disclaimer on your avatar, jes so's folks don't get the wrong idea.

Yeah. I see what you mean.
I was just tabulating my scorecard and realized (happily) that there isn't a true single coil anywhere in my arsenal.

 

[Son of Wobble]

"HE GOT IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME."

 

[Son of Wobble]

I once assembled a bass dead drunk and was so wasted,
I managed to get the pickups seated in the cavity at an angle similar to this:

I certainly felt the visiting spirit of El Borracho that night.

 

[Son of Wobble]

If you would like to get drunk enough to install your OWN "borracho" humbuckers,
here is a list of U.S. bars serving TB-approved, carrot-based cocktails.



Get Drunk Enough for Installation With These 22 Carrot Cocktails

 

[Lowendtech]

I once assembled a bass dead drunk and was so wasted,
I managed to get the pickups seated in the cavity at an angle similar to this:

View attachment 2752491

I certainly felt the visiting spirit of El Borracho that night.

I bet it matched the particular Pup route that you saw at the time though.

 

[Lowendtech]

If you would like to get drunk enough to install your OWN "borracho" humbuckers,
here is a list of U.S. bars serving TB-approved, carrot-based cocktails.



Get Drunk on Easter With These 22 Carrot Cocktails


View attachment 2752492

So that's why the answer to the poll is "Carrots".
Thanks for clearing up that major stumbling block.

 

[petrus61]

So that's why the answer to the poll is "Carrots".
Thanks for clearing up that major stumbling block.

Or staggering block, in this case.

 

[mellowinman]

Those two pickups were actually NOT intended to be staggered.

But story has it that a factory worker at the original 1950's Fender, Ensenada plant
named "El Borracho" was so cockeyed-drunk when he installed the first such humbuckers
that the tradition stuck. El Borracho's drunken gait also explains the colloquial, "staggered pole pieces."

This is an Urban Legend. There is no El Borracho. However, Fender has long encouraged drunkenness in its workers, largely so they don't notice how much they are underpaid. The fact is, almost every staggered pickup has been installed by a drunken employee. This also explains the off-set body.

 

[Son of Wobble]

This is an Urban Legend. There is no El Borracho. However, Fender has long encouraged drunkenness in its workers, largely so they don't notice how much they are underpaid. The fact is, almost every staggered pickup has been installed by a drunken employee. This also explains the off-set body.

I had not heard this origin of the offset body before but it makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing your information.

Your story reminded me of a trip I took to Dublin, Ireland. My host was a woman whose grandfather had worked in the Guinness factory. At that time, they gave the factory workers each a crate of beer a week, and as a result, some of them never drew a sober breath. My host's grandfather was a tyrant at home, and would sit in his arm chair and smoke and drink until the ashtray was full, then knock it on the floor and demand his wife pick it up. The plucky wife retaliated by nailing the ashtray to the arm of chair to keep it in place, but the old man came up with a workaround: When the ashtray became full, he simply knocked the entire chair over, then demanded his wife clean the resultant mess.

TL-DR : Things really were better in the olden days.

 

[mellowinman]

I had not heard this origin of the offset body before but it makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing your information.

Your story reminded me of a trip I took to Dublin, Ireland. My host was a woman whose grandfather had worked in the Guinness factory. At that time, they gave the factory workers each a crate of beer a week, and as a result, some of them never drew a sober breath. My host's grandfather was a tyrant at home, and would sit in his arm chair and smoke and drink until the ashtray was full, then knock it on the floor and demand his wife pick it up. The plucky wife retaliated by nailing the ashtray to the arm of chair to keep it in place, but the old man came up with ta workaround: When the ashtray became full, he simply knocked the entire chair over, then demanded his wife clean the resultant mess.

TL-DR : Things really were better in the olden days.

You ever treat that beautiful woman you married like that I am coming out to California to nail some stuff to some chairs.

 

[Son of Wobble]

You ever treat that beautiful woman you married like that I am coming out to California to nail some stuff to some chairs.

I told her what you said, but she just cackled, "I'm the only one who nails your genitals to the furniture now, buddy." She's so possessive!

Just hit the six year mark. Here we are at a mixer last week to mark the milestone.
I don't remember much but am told it was a lovely night.

 

[mellowinman]

I told her what you said, but she just cackled, "I'm the only one who nails your genitals to the furniture now, buddy." She's so possessive!

Just hit the six year mark. Here we are at a mixer last week to mark the milestone.
I don't remember much but am told it was a lovely night.


View attachment 2752989

I'm not kidding, man. You got a REALLY good one there. You're a lucky man.

 

[Son of Wobble]

I'm not kidding, man. You got a REALLY good one there. You're a lucky man.

The photo speaks for itself.

Read 'em and weep, men of TB!

 

[petrus61]

I told her what you said, but she just cackled, "I'm the only one who nails your genitals to the furniture now, buddy." She's so possessive!

Just hit the six year mark. Here we are at a mixer last week to mark the milestone.
I don't remember much but am told it was a lovely night.


View attachment 2752989

That doesn't look like Linda to me, Hank. I think you posted your skid row hottie by accident.

 

[Hi-End Basses]

For what it's worth, I did tinker with the height of my split coil P pups. The truth is my Aguilar 4P-60's and my AG 4P-Hot sound very balanced when they're at the same height. Volume is even depite the neck radius. Maybe that's just Aguilar. Any similar results with EMG or Seymour Duncans?