Pickup Placement

[malmsteen]

Im going to be routering the slot for my pickup soon and i was wondering how far away from the nut it should be. Im only putting in one so i want to make sure it gives a good sound. Im looking for a good classic rock sound. Any help would be appreciated. Oh, and its a 24.625 scale.

Ps: I've finished my neck (except the side dots) and it looks really good. I put in the tuning pegs just to see what it would look like and it looks really sleak. I dont have a picture yet but im going to try and get one.

[Southpa]

Heres a great site I just stumbled on the other day. Shows exact positioning of pickups on many well known guitars. Distances are rated in % points ie. distance/scale length X 100. The site also has the most wiring schematics I've ever seen in one place.

http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~dgb/index_e.htm

If you are in tune with reading frequency response, this cool site might help you narrow down your positioning for the best results.

http://www.till.com/articles/PickupRespons...Demo/index.html

[Hotrock]

In Melvin Hiscocks book. He says that if you measure from the nut to the third fret (where there is a harmonic point), this distance is equal to the distance that the bridge pickup should be from the bridge. Also, another good point is where the 24th fret would be.

Oh and by the way, I'm in the process of building my first guitar too, so don't take this info as actually correct until someone on here with more brains has confirmed it! I've said it before......I don't like responsability.

[fidgec94]

i think its on ed roman's site, he's says that gibsons can have a muddy sound and this is because the neck pickup is right in the place of a would-be 24th fret. So he thinks its bad to have a pickup at that harmonic point???? Im confused

[Hotrock]

Well that all depends if you listen to Ed Roman the guitar builder or Kaj Adams the bloke thats doing his first guitar and a wobbly workmate in the spare room. You choose

[MikeB]

im on my first build from scratch, using only 1 pickup, and was wondering about placement too, havent got anything yet, so im gonna check those sites.

cya

mike

[Saber]

Here is a post that discussed in detail about these infamous harmonic nodes:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...ic=2297&hl=node

[DannoG]

I'd listen to Kaj Adams over Ed Roman. Mostly because Hotrock is telling what he learned from Hiscock's very good book, but also because Kaj isn't trying to sell anything.

I think the harmonic is actually between the second and third frets, about 2/3 of the way towards the third. A small shift in placement can vary tone quite a bit. But there is certainly no right and wrong here.

[guitar_ed]

Hi All,

A suggestion for first time builders: Don't try to re-invent the wheel. It may be boring and un-original, but I gotta figure that the folks at Fender and Gibson and Gretsch and PRS, et al, have been over this ground before. They have made more mistakes than you can imagine.

If you use their measurements and placements, the odds of anything going wrong are pretty damn low.

Guitar Ed

One old & tired guy giving advice that is worth what you paid for it. Nothing.

[erikbojerik]

On a Fender strat, the neck pickup is near the position of the (would-be) 24th fret.

The middle pickup is half-way between the neck pup and the bridge.

The bridge pup is half-way between the middle pup and the bridge.

All for reasons of fundamental open-string harmonics.