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Best place to place pickups on a bass?


K_J
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Unless one is playing only 'open' strings, the 'sweet spot' and 'string node' positions will change as the string length gets shortened. There is no one spot for every note, so it's a matter of best compromise. One option is to provide for a movable pick-up (s'been done before, on sliding rails...). If you're building from scratch, I'd suggest doing a 'plank' mock-up, and moving a pick-up around until you find the spot that pleases most for the styles of music to be played. Shouldn't be too difficult; worth a shot..? B|

Hope this helps.

Edited by Dad3353
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It's entirely dependent on your taste. I've found that an important part of the sound I love and use is having a specific type of pickup roughly half an inch away from the end of a 20 fret fingerboard. The same thing an inch away doesn't work the same for me. Put 24 frets on it and I'm knackered. However if you asked Jaco, he'd tell you something entirely different.

Dad3353's suggestion is a very good one.

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2 hours ago, 4000 said:

It's entirely dependent on your taste. I've found that an important part of the sound I love and use is having a specific type of pickup roughly half an inch away from the end of a 20 fret fingerboard. The same thing an inch away doesn't work the same for me. Put 24 frets on it and I'm knackered. However if you asked Jaco, he'd tell you something entirely different.

Dad3353's suggestion is a very good one.

I wouldn't bother asking Jaco as he's unlikely to reply....😉

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If you wear a glove to pluck, why not sew a pup into the palm - then you can learn to move up and down the neck to always be on the 'sweet spot', and subtle shifts in intensity will be possible too. Shouldn't be too difficult to master.

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On 08/11/2018 at 12:41, Dad3353 said:

Unless one is playing only 'open' strings, the 'sweet spot' and 'string node' positions will change as the string length gets shortened. There is no one spot for every note, so it's a matter of best compromise. One option is to provide for a movable pick-up (s'been done before, on sliding rails...). If you're building from scratch, I'd suggest doing a 'plank' mock-up, and moving a pick-up around until you find the spot that pleases most for the styles of music to be played. Shouldn't be too difficult; worth a shot..? B|

Hope this helps.

What some folk have done, to do this, is get a cheap bass and rout out the body for almost the whole of the space under the strings. You can then move the pups anywhere and find what you like.

@Dad3353, already knows this, but it's useful to quote it so you know what I'm on about)

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Saw Paul Reed Smith discussing pickup placement based upon where the octave harmonics were. That’s why he preferred the sound of the McCarty and Custom 22 guitars - the neck pickup sat where the 24th fret would be.

but that’s a preference thing, and not “correct” nor “incorrect”.

Also, it was a free bar when he was talking so I don’t remember what his science was about.

Although he did talk about pushing almost finished guitars through a band saw if they had ugly tops or “faults” in the Wood.

I facetiously asked why they didn’t just put a solid finish on it instead, or donate to local music charities rather than bin off a nearly finished guitar.

He smiled politely and answered succinctly. I don’t remember what his reasons were.

He’s not as dull as Bob Taylor...but not far off.

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On 09/11/2018 at 12:04, NHM said:

If you wear a glove to pluck, why not sew a pup into the palm - then you can learn to move up and down the neck to always be on the 'sweet spot', and subtle shifts in intensity will be possible too. Shouldn't be too difficult to master.

I don't think the RSPCA would approve...

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8 hours ago, Grangur said:

What some folk have done, to do this, is get a cheap bass and rout out the body for almost the whole of the space under the strings. You can then move the pups anywhere and find what you like.

@Dad3353, already knows this, but it's useful to quote it so you know what I'm on about)

 

I did that on an old OLP (Stingray style) bass. It was an interesting exercise that ultimately turned fruitless: I liked the sound with the pickup right where it was originally. A Precision pickup at the Stingray pickup position sounded really good too. Of course, that's just for my taste.

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