Humbucker Distance From Nut/bridge

[Lietuvis]

So, on the V that I am building (6-string, 25"-scale, 24 frets, Mahogany/Maple neck-thru, Ebony fretboard), I am about to route the pickup cavities(for EMG-81 and EMG-85). However, I am not sure how far from the bridge the bridge humbucker should be, and how close to the end of the fretboard the neck humbucker should be. I know the distance is variable, but what would the standard distance?(like for a PRS Custom 24, my guitar is basically that, just with a t-o-m bridge, and shaped like a V) The bridge is a recessed TonePros t-o-m...

BTW, this has probably been talked about before, but I could not find a thread about it by using the search....

Thanks!

Edited January 21, 2006 by Lietuvis

[verhoevenc]

Umm.... yeah it's been talked about a bunch to my knowledge... but in my opinion everyone always gives like the run around?? Don't ask me why, they just go like "you put it where you want to" or "a bit from the bridge" hhahaha, it's like "yeah.... thanks...."

Or they send you to this java aplet that shows you the responses in diff. places.... which unless you're an electrical engineer.... did NOT help me.

Either way, bridge I can't answer, but neck, I've gotten the general consensus that you should get it up as close up onto the fretboard as you can. Have the pickup ring right against it.

Chris

[thegarehanman]

Listen, there's a few answers people can give you on this. Your knowledge about how a guitar works in general will determine which you use. Many people try to analyze the way strings act as waves to decide were they will place pickups. The idea is to avoid nodes. However, since instrument strings inevitably have many different overtones, this method really doesn't have any practical use. It truely is a case of put it where you want it. The closer the pickups are to the bridge, the more bright they'll sound, and the closer to the neck the pickups are, the more warm they'll sound. I just put my bridge pickup as close to the bridge as possible and my neck pickups as close to the fretboard as possible. In my opinion, this will give you the most tonal range.

Edited January 21, 2006 by thegarehanman

[croaticum]

thegarehanman got it!

[Lietuvis]

These are very helpful responses... I've seen a lot of people put pickups right against the bridge or fretboard, but I didn't know what scale-length their guitars had, etc.

Thank you very much!

[Mickguard]

These are very helpful responses... I've seen a lot of people put pickups right against the bridge or fretboard, but I didn't know what scale-length their guitars had, etc.

Thank you very much!

I think the neck pickup generally tries to hit the area the 24th fret would be, to get the harmonic there. You can use the StewMac calculator to figure that one out.

For the bridge...well, Gibson is pretty famous for having shifted the bridge pickup on the LP Jr.--originally the pickup was too close to the bridge, which made the bridge collapse. So they just shifted it a little closer to the neck.

[thegarehanman]

I really don't give much credit to that 24th fret concept. There are harmonics and overtones(I don't think I'm using the correct term for that) everywhere, and the harmonic is only a factor when certain notes are fretted. This is painfully close to tone voodoo, and I think I read a rant about something similar to this on ed roman's site. Maybe I'm just defending my love for 24 fret necks.

As for that bridge pickup issue with the lp jr goes... lp jr's have wraparound tom's, don't they? If that's the case, that would explain their collapsing when too near a pu route. However, you wouldn't have this issue with a stoptail and nashville(etc) tom because the pressure on the tom near the bridge pu is strictly downward.

peace,

russ

Edited January 22, 2006 by thegarehanman

[Mickguard]

As for that bridge pickup issue with the lp jr goes... lp jr's have wraparound tom's, don't they? If that's the case, that would explain their collapsing when too near a pu route. However, you wouldn't have this issue with a stoptail and nashville(etc) tom because the pressure on the tom near the bridge pu is strictly downward.

Yep. And anyway, he says he's going to recess the bridge, so that would take care of any stability issues anyway.

It's too bad you can't just test out locations for the pickup before you actually commit.

[Lietuvis]

I've got the bridge-recess routed already, and I'm going to begin routing the pup cavities today. I'll probably put some pictures in the "In Progress" section.

I guess I'll just put the neck humbucker right up against the end of the fretboard, and the bridge pickup around the same place that PRS puts theirs...

Edited January 22, 2006 by Lietuvis

[marksound]

I didn't see it mentioned, but if you're using pickup rings be sure to leave room for them.

[Lietuvis]

Yes, I will be using pickup rings. I have routed the cavities about half-way, and they are shaped almost exactly like the pickups... with just a tiny bit of left-over space. There is plenty of room for the rings.