Pickup Positions

[ezbass]

Following on from a different thread where the question was asked as to how a Bongo differs from a Stingray, I went down a pickup position rabbit hole for a number of popular basses. I've very roughly copied internet photos of various basses, some long scale, some short, some in between (Ric 4003) and sized them to be the same (or as close as I could get) between the bridge saddles and 12th fret. There were, for me at least, some surprises ('Ray, Ric, SB700 similarity for instance). I've not added lines as it would be messy, just use your eye, or a ruler for a slightly more exact comparison. This is not meant as a definitive guide as some saddle positions may have been 'wrong' and the cropping may be a tad sketchy, but I think it's there or thereabouts. Anyway, for your delectation...

 

 

[Old Horse Murphy]

Gotta love Sundays 😂 Actually it's an interesting exercise, unlike mine.

 

I spent the afternoon working out which basses from which manufacturers I've gigged with vs. which ones I've owned but never gigged. Really useful stuff!

Edited March 13, 2022 by Old Horse Murphy

[horrorshowbass]

Cheers for this, finny how close the L2000 looks to the Wal. After listening to loads of kiloton/stingray comparison videos, pickup placement plays a massive part in the overall tone.

[ezbass]

Looking at this now, I realise I’ve made, at least from my perspective, a massive omission - no T’Bird! I’ll revisit it later (fortunately, I saved the file for a change) and replace one of the Mustangs with the T’Bird. Watch this space.

Edited March 13, 2022 by ezbass

[ezbass]

As promised...

[Old Horse Murphy]

I never realised just how similar the treble pickup of the 4003 is to the Ray. 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

I never realised just how similar the treble pickup of the 4003 is to the Ray. 

That’s what what grabbed my attention too. The Aria is the same place too. 

[Vanheusen77]

Well it definitely shows why you cannot build a MM/P bass that can do both sounds accurately. The MM pickup overlaps the back P bass coil. Darn it!

[Woodinblack]

Did you rescale the short scales to match the other scales? Obviously the distance from the bridge in distance isn't important, compared to the percentage of the scale.

[LeftyJ]

Seems they're rescaled, and all are clipped at the 12th fret. Except for the Wal, which has no frets 😉

[Lfalex v1.1]

I think this clarifies some of my instrument choices;

 

I love a bass with a bridge pickup suitably close to the bridge. Suits my playing style and tonal preferences.

 

Hence my owning an SB-2 Tribute  as depicted.