Pickups Position Help Needed

[alysum]

Hello,

I couldn't find a tutorial on the site nor a suitable response in the search engine; I believe there should be something pinned about this !

I'm looking for recommendations on where the pickups should be positioned on the body. In my case I will have a neck P90 and a motherbucker quad on the bridge.

I've read that there is no official position for them, that it all depends on the sounds you're looking for with the closer to the bridge = more attack and harmonics ? and closer to the neck = more clear sounds ?

There must be some rules of thumbs for positioning them

By the way my neck will be a 21 fret one, I'd be looking for lots of harmonics with the bridge pickup

Cheers,

[GregP]

I think you're overcomplicating the issue. Just look at some pictures, eyeball where you want it (on your full-size drawing) and give'er. You'll find that most people will just put the P90 right up against the neck, and about a centimetre gap between a humbucker mounting ring and a bridge (assuming hardtail or trem-style bridge) or the high-e side of a TOM. I don't see any reason to get more scientific than looking at a few photos and taking it from there.

Greg

[WezV]

too close to the bridge can be a problem because of the very restricted string movement at that point. I aim to have the polepeice of the pickup at least 3/4" away from the saddle.

As for the neck pickup - just put it as far away from the bridge pickup as possible for the greatest tonal variation between the two. Some people claim that the neck pickup on 21/22 fret guitars sound better than 24 fret guitars because they have the pickup on the harmonic node (24TH FRET). I think its more likely that it is just the increased tonal variation from having that extra distance between the pickups that they find appealing.

In theory it is actually a mistake to put a pickup on a harmonic node because this is another point where the string is not really moving, but pickups are not narrow or accurate enough to just sense that bit so i dont think it really matters

[alysum]

ok thanks I'll take it easy then

[j. pierce]

In theory it is actually a mistake to put a pickup on a harmonic node because this is another point where the string is not really moving, but pickups are not narrow or accurate enough to just sense that bit so i dont think it really matters

Wouldn't the benefits/drawbacks of placing a pickup under a harmonic node only matter when playing open strings? (I.E., once you fret a string, don't all those harmonic spots move?)

[ihocky2]

That's another reason why it is only in theory.

[WezV]

exactly!!!

......but the number of times i have heard it said!!!!!!!!

Just another of those guitarshop myths we like to debunk

[Logical Frank]

On my last build I put the p90 in the neck so the top of the pickup is about a centimeter from the neck (approximately where a tele neck pickup is). It sounds fantastic there but I suppose I don't have much of a basis of comparison. Be wary of putting the bridge pickup too close to the bridge. When in doubt, move it further away. If it's too close to the bridge, the low strings will sound tinny and awful.