Bass Pickups (placement)

[Odin]

Im planning to build a fretless bass, and i would like to have one pup in neck position and the other at the bridge. Any reasons why theres not many basses built like that? exept for the Gibson sg and Rickenbacker..

[Lorquas]

you get extremely bassy sounds ifyou place the pickup right below the neck, and if your pickup uses pole magnets, there is a posibility that it'll sound bubbly... plus most people think it sounds like crap all together. You could go for a bridge and mid configuration like a fender jazz bass or any other bass with two pickups made really...

[erikbojerik]

Any reasons why theres not many basses built like that?

...exept for the Gibson sg and Rickenbacker..

←

...and the Fender Jazz.

...and Ken Smiths.

...and Warwicks.

...and Carl Thompsons.

...and Ritters.

...and almost all Alembics.

[Lorquas]

Any reasons why theres not many basses built like that?

...exept for the Gibson sg and Rickenbacker..

←

...and the Fender Jazz.

...and Ken Smiths.

...and Warwicks.

...and Carl Thompsons.

...and Ritters.

...and almost all Alembics.

←

Gibson SG basses and rickenbackers place the poles of thier "neck" pickup around 7 to 8 inches away from the absolute center of the string (where you get the bassiest tones)... while fender jazz bases have the back of their dipole magnet of thier "neck" pickup at almost exactly 11 inches... giving you less bass and more mids. This contributes a considerable tone change when you account that the rickenbacker's and fender's scale length only differes by .75 inches.

same thing goes with Ken Smiths.

...and Laklands.

...and Foderas.

...and MTDs.

...and Elricks.

...and Conklins.

...and ESP/LTDs.

And Odin, if you're confident you can get the sound you want out of neck and bridge pickups (you should play similar basses if you aren't sure), then go for it

Edited February 7, 2006 by Lorquas

[Odin]

..Erik, i have never seen a jazz with that pup config..? Bridge, neck (not bridge, middle)

I asked Rick Hunt at emg about it this issue. Heres his answer:

Hello

The only reason that your configuration hasn't been used before is because

of a guy named Leo Fender. Most bass builders still use Leo's

spacing/layout to this day.

Your neck pup will have a lot of warmth, and the bridge pup will be very

bright. Sounds cool!

Best Regards,

Rick Hunt

Technician

EMG Pickups, Inc.