Pickup postion and response to playing technique

[Mr. Foxen]

Pretty much been playing precision basses, sometimes with a second pickup I use just for bottom, but I've had a jazz an been playing with the pickup balance for sounds. I do find I'm knob twiddling for tone change in adition to moving my fingers. But it did make the question occur to me, which pickup position (of the typical ones) do you find gives the most ynamic range of tones according to how you alter you playing (as in where and how you pluck/attack a note). I think I dig the bridge position pickup, when it is a P style, I don't rate a single jazz pickup so much, maybe just because it is lower output, but between the two jazz pickups there is stuff I like. I'm mentally speccing out a Wishbass.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Mr. Foxen

[Ou7shined]

Most dynamic? Musicman. Single most useful? Humbucker in P position. Heaven? Both.

[GarethFlatlands]

A pickup close to the bridge will give you a tighter sound but not as much dynamic response as one closer to the middle point between bridge and fretboard. It also depends where you play the string in terms of right hand response. I play a Warwick with 2 single coils around 1/4 of the way between bridge and neck and I like the sound when my rick hand is around halfway to 3/4 from bridge to neck but it's all personal choice.

[Mr. Foxen]

Where along the length of the string is main consideration for me. I know that on neck mudbucker stuff, even plucking right at the bridge makes no much odds, no so sure as to the effect of more bridgeward pickups.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1354003' date='Aug 28 2011, 12:01 AM']Most dynamic? Musicman. Single most useful? Humbucker in P position. Heaven? Both. [/quote]

This, for what ever reason the musicman pickup "sweetspot" is the best I find at sensing the different tibres.

P position can be good but I find less so when digging in at the bridge.

[geoffbyrne]

Depends on the pickups.

My Yamaha BB415 has a P/J pairing, but the J is as powerful as the P. Solo'd it stands on itself, whereas on a standard P/J the J usually sounds weaker than the P.

I use all combinations. Using the P for the MoTown stuff & the J for the rock & the combo for everything else.

I suggest you give a Yammy a go & see if you like it.

G.

[chris_b]

As a Precision player for most of my life my hand naturally falls over the pickup. I've tried playing near the bridge but it doesn't feel or sound right to me. I've been playing 2 pickup basses for the last 20 years and I don't think I could go back to 1 pickup. I need the extra tone that 2 pickups bring.

The Lakland J/MM layout sounds pretty good to me and covers most tones I could ever imagine needing, but my passive PJ is also working well to my ear.

I'm finding that I'm playing with much less force these days and I prefer the cleaner sound that I'm getting.

[Lfalex v1.1]

The "Musicman" sweet-spot is responsive to playing position and dynamics, but the [i]overall[/i] response is determined by all the usual variables...

There are significant additions to this layout on many basses to give extra flexibility.
It's no coincidence that the 'Ray was among the first commercially available active basses, or that coil switching appeared on the Sterling, plus 3-Band EQs, piezo pick-ups and differing magnet materials (depending on model)

I particularly like the (sadly discontinued) Warwick take on the Musicman - The Fortress Masterman. Captures much of the MM sound and blends it with the typical Warwick tone. Chuck in the ability to pan between the two coils an add bass & treble controls for each half of the pick-up (one per coil) and that's one flexible set-up that builds on a solid core tone.

The Vigier Passion is another interesting one. Two single coils. One close to the bridge, and one in the mid position.Gives a kind of halfway-house between MM and Jazz.

Two I'd like to try out of curiosity-

HB/P/JJ (An Attitude with a JJ at the bridge)
J/MM/J (An urge with an MM instead of a P, but I'd have the humbucker a little further back than the P should be)

[stingrayPete1977]

This is why the unlearned think an MM is a one trick pony, fact is they rely on pup configurations for what should be technique changes [u]complimented[/u] by pup choice.[u][/u]

[Lfalex v1.1]

Can't the "unlearned" get their tone any way they want to, then?

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1354299' date='Aug 28 2011, 01:20 PM']Can't the "unlearned" get their tone any way they want to, then?[/quote]
Yes but they will get a [i]lot[/i] less

Im not the best player by a million miles but even on an acoustic bass I can get quite a varied sound from almost honky jazz back pup to thumpy old school, Play up the neck or right near the bridge etc. I see so many people saying they cant play such a bass because of the thumb resting place being in the wrong place or whatever, I think a lot of these people want to dial [i]all[/i] the tone from which pup they use rather than using it to compliment the rh technique. Im not a big P bass fan but the guys that play them well will have more tones available to them than a guy playing a fancy active jazz with 1000 switching options but use exactly the same rh technique no matter which they use.

Im not the first and I wont be the last to say its all in the fingers

What Im trying to say is the pup is just there as a means of amplifying what your playing after that its just details IMHO, I can make all configurations sound terrible if that helps

Edited August 28, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[henry norton]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1353991' date='Aug 27 2011, 11:43 PM']Pretty much been playing precision basses, sometimes with a second pickup I use just for bottom, but I've had a jazz an been playing with the pickup balance for sounds. I do find I'm knob twiddling for tone change in adition to moving my fingers. But it did make the question occur to me, which pickup position (of the typical ones) do you find gives the most ynamic range of tones according to how you alter you playing (as in where and how you pluck/attack a note). I think I dig the bridge position pickup, when it is a P style, I don't rate a single jazz pickup so much, maybe just because it is lower output, but between the two jazz pickups there is stuff I like. I'm mentally speccing out a Wishbass.[/quote]
I think it's easy to get mixed up with tone and timbre. Pickup position changes timbre more than tone, otherwise known as the quality of the note, harmonics etc. Electronics generally just affect tone, generally.

Sweet spots are sweet for a reason and I would say you could get more out of a MM position than say a Mudbucker or a Jazz bridge, but the Precision split coil isn't that far off the MM sweet spot so there probably isn't much in it. The fact that the MM has always come with more control over the 'tone' probably means some players don't work so hard to get it right with their fingers (edit: although obviously StingrayPete does!). I've owned P, J and SR basses and still go back to a split coil Precision when I need to sharpen up my technique.

Edited August 28, 2011 by henry norton

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1354285' date='Aug 28 2011, 01:03 PM']This is why the unlearned think an MM is a one trick pony, fact is they rely on pup configurations for what should be technique changes [u]complimented[/u] by pup choice.[u][/u][/quote]

+1

I think it looks cooler to changed technique than spend precious seconds turning knobs.
I'm not deluded in thinking that I can achieve anything by playing different, but for me it's much easy to get a more sifter tone by playing softer with fingers up at the neck than cutting treble for example.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1354500' date='Aug 28 2011, 05:03 PM']I think it's easy to get mixed up with tone and timbre. Pickup position changes timbre more than tone, otherwise known as the quality of the note, harmonics etc. Electronics generally just affect tone, generally.[/quote]

I've always considered 'tone' to mean timbre, just electric musicians using the wrong words, along with using tab instead of notation, and tone actually means a note or interval (as in tuning down a tone).

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1355223' date='Aug 29 2011, 01:48 PM']+1

I think it looks cooler to changed technique than spend precious seconds turning knobs.
I'm not deluded in thinking that I can achieve anything by playing different, but for me it's much easy to get a more sifter tone by playing softer with fingers up at the neck than cutting treble for example.[/quote]

You are one of the learned then, how's it feel?

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1355233' date='Aug 29 2011, 02:01 PM']I've always considered 'tone' to mean timbre, just electric musicians using the wrong words, along with using tab instead of notation, and tone actually means a note or interval (as in tuning down a tone).[/quote]
Should I rename the tone knob on my stereo to pitch?

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1355223' date='Aug 29 2011, 01:48 PM']... for me it's much easy to get a more sifter tone by playing softer with fingers up at the neck than cutting treble for example.[/quote]
I do this too. I don't think it is a conscious choice though, it's just something that has developed over the years.