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Wow! Check out this guy's bass!!

#42
JIO said:
I was prepared to not like it, but after seeing/hearing the vid it's pretty cool. Great range for various pu placement. I like how you hear the change while moving the pu's as a open note rings. Talk about "tone dialing"!

Here's the cavity visuals solution - matt black body. [sorted!]
Click to expand...

Changing an open note tone is the one thing it can do other basses can't, but I'm not surprised this isn't popular. Every so often someone reinvents it! It's always the same problem: it's just too much hassle for too little tonal difference. I think my three pickup modulus give me enough tonal variation plus not only can you choose pickups with switches but also you can choose series or parallel. So which is quick and easy when playing? flipping a couple mini switches or sliding your pickups all over the place?

Most basses don't even do three pickups and I think for similar reasons the Bootsy row of pickups basses never impress anyone for the same reason. Lots of nice flashy show, but not much practicality.
 
#44
I love the idea of easily (re)moveable/sliding pickups on a bass. I don't like the execution on this particular model, not only for the aesthetic, but that cavity could get filthy too. Dirty holes. ;)

One of my favorite designs was likely something I saw here (can't find it with a quick google), the pickup was a 'window wiper' style that moved on a pivot, not only changing the position of the pickup but the relative angle too. In theory it seemed great, I only saw pictures, but it was beautiful.
 
#46
MoBe said:
I reckon there`s a reason why the movable pickup design doesn`t sell,it`s not worth the trouble compared to what you can do with electronic sound shaping.
Click to expand...

Sliding pickups make tonal changes that would be extremely difficult to achieve with EQ.

More likely it's because most people find the large route a sliding pickup needs is visually unappealing. Add to that the probability that if you haven't experienced what a sliding pickup does you don't really understand what a powerful tone shaping tool it can be. Speaking from hands on experience with the Westone Rail the elusive "sweet spot" can change with different strings and even with changes in pickup height.

I wonder how often the few people who use sliding pickups move them once they've found a position that works? I remember moving it fairly often almost as a HPF to trim out low end mush in different rooms. Once I'd found the basic tone I liked though the adjustments were generally less than half an inch just kinda dancing around the "sweet spot".
 
#47
I got to try out a Dan Armstrong London bass with the sliding pickup once and was amazed by the different tones you could get out of it. It was a single pickup that could slide the entire length of the body from bridge to fretboard IIRC. Still kick myself for not buying it because I havent seen one since.
 
#48
Wow, I didn't know Warwick did sliding pickup basses. I've been working on an idea like this for over a year. I finally got the basic setup finished to where it sounds AWESOME. Getting ready to put the finish on it. I'm like you guys. What kind of paint make it not look like a gaping hole in the middle? Haha any ideas? (solid colors, metal flake, flat black??) I'll start a thread soon with some pics and more info. Thought about building a few and maybe selling them.
 
#49
KeithAlanK said:
The Gibson Grabber had a more elegant implementation of this idea, but it's single pickup covered much less range.

This is important, and bears watching.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.

The durability and tension adjustment of the Grabber pickup is top notch, but it needed at least double the range for useful tone variation. Catch 22 because the mechanism that made the Grabber PU so durable relied on sliders that limited the travel.

I always thought Gibson should have experimented more with side rails for their Grabber pickup.
 
#52
Those of you saying the tonal variation is minimal havent spent enough time with a 60s and 70s placement pickup. The difference in tone is very apparent and more so when the bridge pickup is solo'd. I think a lot of people don't like the looks and probably just don't care about having the different tones in one bass when they can just buy more basses, (this is talkbass) I would rather have all I need in one bass and play only that bass.
 
#54
At first I thought I liked the idea, but as I sit here thinking about it, I dont really think I would. I feel I would be constantly moving them and ultimately never be satisfied anyway,lol. My main player is an active Fender Jazz 4 string with many, many tone variations that I hardly ever need to tweak...or want to. I admit Id like to play with it for a week and experiment, it may change my mind,lol. And I agree that open cavity needs to go back to the drawing board. And I keep asking myself "whats the REAL reason for it not being popular?" Id have to guess....its just a hassle? But Im always open minded.
 
#56
+1 to everyone pointing out that pickup position cannot really be emulated with EQ, unless you have a separate output/EQ per string. Then you can do it, sort of. Every pickup position causes specific peaks and dips in the frequency response that depend of the tuning of the string. Since each string is tuned differently it will be affected differently by the pickup position.
 
#57
IME the main reason they don't catch on is because many if not most bassists aren't into learning new things. Here on TB for example the propensity to shout down what isn't clearly understood seems to grow on a regular basis. IN THE RIGHT HANDS pickup placement can definitely matter. But that may not be obvious to someone who obscures the sound of their instrument with effects or their technique. So of course the same applies to everyone.
:hmm:

I've played Mike Pope's Viceroy and the difference in 60's and 70's position is pretty blatant. It's a nice feature if you want both vibes and is close to effortless to repeatably set.
 
#59
From 1985...
p21.jpg
 

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