Pickup Positions

[Thunderbird]

Seeking the opinion of the BC masses here

 

I do a fair bit of work on peoples basses but people always seem to have a different idea of which is the front and rear pickup on a standard 2 pickup bass, I always call the bridge pickup rear but when checking with people what they require doing I always say neck or bridge it just seems easier so what say you all?

Edited November 27, 2021 by Thunderbird

[Mykesbass]

Same with top and bottom strings.

[TheGreek]

You'll eventually have to resort to "Fat" or "skinny"

[Thunderbird]

1 minute ago, Mykesbass said:

Same with top and bottom strings.

Good point forgot about that one 

[Maude]

Pickups, I've always said 'front and rear' are 'neck and bridge'. 

 

Strings used to confuse me when I was learning as when wearing the bass top to bottom is E to G, but in terms of pitch it's G to E. 

While knowing nothing about pitch, I did know which way was up, so it seemed logical that the 'top' string was the E, but it isn't. 

[Nail Soup]

I always get confused by stuff like that - top and bottom strings in instruments for example. I can also never quite get which is the inside or outside lane on a motorway, or if moving a meeting forward makes it earlier or later.

So a big “yes” from me to saying ‘neck’ and ‘bridge’!

[Mykesbass]

2 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I can also never quite get which is the inside or outside lane on a motorway, 

Nearside and offside - only got that concept a couple of years back and I'm 57!

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Same with top and bottom strings.

 

If you look down at your bass while playing it, the top strings are at the top of your vision, the bottom strings are at the bottom. 

[Owen]

11 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Nearside and offside - only got that concept a couple of years back and I'm 57!

SAME!!!!

[Reggaebass]

I always thought the E string was the bottom as it’s the lowest 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

If you look down at your bass while playing it, the top strings are at the top of your vision, the bottom strings are at the bottom. 

 

 

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, owen said:

SAME!!!!

I think of the O in offside as being like the steering wheel so it’s easy 

[Reggaebass]

I always think Nearside is nearest  the Kirb 

[Hellzero]

I only hear the terms front and rear pickup in English, elsewhere it's neck, bridge or central (sometimes mid) pickup.

 

Why not simply use this instead of confusing everybody.

 

You could also use the terms close and far which are as useless...

 

For the strings, there's also the confusion between going up and down the neck, lots of people are saying the opposite of what they are doing.

 

Notes are going from low to high, and it's written in stone (no need to argue here), so you have to use the same wording when naming your movement or placement.

 

According to this, the bottom string is the lowest and when going down the neck you are playing lower notes.

 

And don't forget those manufacturers reversing the controls on a preamp, going from high to low, which is also very confusing.

 

But people always find it hype to use their own different wording, that's how human beings are.

 

The question is : Are you counting from 1 to 10 or doing what is called a countdown ?

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Notes are going from low to high, and it's written in stone (no need to argue here), so you have to use the same wording when naming your movement or placement.

 

According to this, the bottom string is the lowest and when going down the neck you are playing lower notes.

 

 

[Hellzero]

8 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

 

Excellent misinterpretation ! Congratulations ! 👏 

 

You've won the Rocker Award.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Hellzero
Award given

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Excellent misinterpretation ! Congratulations ! 👏 

 

You've won the Rocker Award.

 

OK, so now to put it your way...

 

 

...your confident assertion merely requires up to be down and vice versa. We have to reverse our meanings on your say so? Good luck with that 😬

[Hellzero]

1 minute ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

OK, so now to put it your way...

 

 

...your confident assertion merely requires up to be down and vice versa. We have to reverse our meanings on your say so? Good luck with that 😬

Yes, that's the way you should talk. Ask a classical musician. 😉

[binky_bass]

I've never used (or really heard) the term 'front and rear' pickups to be honest, it's aways been 'neck', 'bridge' and when needed 'middle'.

 

Front and rear just allow for far too much misinterpretation! Why use a term that is subject to confusion? Why not just use a term that is finite? Human logic, or lack there of, never ceases to amaze!

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Yes, that's the way you should talk. Ask a classical musician. 😉

 

Hey, guess what? 🙄

[Thunderbird]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

I only hear the terms front and rear pickup in English, elsewhere it's neck, bridge or central (sometimes mid) pickup.

 

Why not simply use this instead of confusing everybody.

 

You could also use the terms close and far which are as useless...

 

For the strings, there's also the confusion between going up and down the neck, lots of people are saying the opposite of what they are doing.

 

Notes are going from low to high, and it's written in stone (no need to argue here), so you have to use the same wording when naming your movement or placement.

 

According to this, the bottom string is the lowest and when going down the neck you are playing lower notes.

 

And don't forget those manufacturers reversing the controls on a preamp, going from high to low, which is also very confusing.

 

But people always find it hype to use their own different wording, that's how human beings are.

 

The question is : Are you counting from 1 to 10 or doing what is called a countdown ?

Oh so true its a nightmare lol

[Cliff Edge]

20 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Nearside and offside - only got that concept a couple of years back and I'm 57!

Always annoys me when people talk about the fast lane and slow lane. They’re all the same, the outside lanes are the overtaking lanes. 
We drive on the left in this country and that’s where you should be unless overtaking. 

[Nail Soup]

4 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

Always annoys me when people talk about the fast lane and slow lane. They’re all the same, the outside lanes are the overtaking lanes. 
We drive on the left in this country and that’s where you should be unless overtaking. 

It may be inaccurate, but it's not ambiguous.  People would know what you meant even if it annoyed them 😃!

[spencer.b]

I call neck pup the front pup, bridge the back , doesn't make sense really does it!

Bottom string low E for me

[neepheid]

Seeing as I don't teach anyone and play my own stuff half the time, I don't think terminology matters as long as I know what I'm doing

 

Playing my JC or wunkay helps at least makes it unambiguous which pickup I'm using

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by neepheid