tubby.twins
Hero Member
- Messages
- 623
Currently Warmoth can route a good variety of pickup shapes at the standard "neck' and "bridge' locations for Gecko basses, as well as the "sweet spot" which is between these two locations. I own several Gecko basses with the pickup routes at these standard locations, and they sound nice. However, I definitely prefer the tone of pickups in the "sweet spot" location over the standard neck location, but don't want to lose the good punchy midrange of a pickup in the bridge location. This limitation has kept me from ordering a Gecko body with a single pickup route in the"sweet spot" location.
I've played several basses which had two pickups but they were closer together. The neck pickup was moved south (towards the bridge) by about 2-3 inches, and the bridge pickup was moved south by 1/2 to 1 inches. The exact dimensions can vary, depending on the manufacturer.
Several examples:
- Zon Legacy Elite Special
- Warwick Thumb
- Modulus Quantum "Turbo"
In just about every case, I liked the results better than the standard "neck" location, due to the sweeter midrange response at the "sweet spot" position, and the increased punch at the closer bridge position. The most noticeable effect is that the low E and B strings sound much tighter and more focused. There is still enough variation in tone between the two pickup locations to provide a usable blending between the two. In my opinion, the blended tone between two pickups sounds a lot better when the pickups are closer together.
This scheme also works exceptionally well for fretless basses, which can benefit from the increased upper-midrange response of a closer "bridge" pickup. For example, the Seymour Duncan ASB-5 bridge pickup sounds a bit dark in the standard bridge location, but if you move it about 3/4" closer to the bridge, the tone opens up quite a bit. Other bridge pickups with a "darker" tone can benefit from this as well.
It would be nice if Warmoth could fit an additional pickup cavity between their standard "sweet spot" position and the bridge. This way I wouldn't need to take a router to my bass body. (It worked out well the last time, but still... )
This obviously wouldn't work with a Kahler bridge, but with a Takeuchi or Hipshot bridge there should be enough room for an additional pickup.
I've played several basses which had two pickups but they were closer together. The neck pickup was moved south (towards the bridge) by about 2-3 inches, and the bridge pickup was moved south by 1/2 to 1 inches. The exact dimensions can vary, depending on the manufacturer.
Several examples:
- Zon Legacy Elite Special
- Warwick Thumb
- Modulus Quantum "Turbo"
In just about every case, I liked the results better than the standard "neck" location, due to the sweeter midrange response at the "sweet spot" position, and the increased punch at the closer bridge position. The most noticeable effect is that the low E and B strings sound much tighter and more focused. There is still enough variation in tone between the two pickup locations to provide a usable blending between the two. In my opinion, the blended tone between two pickups sounds a lot better when the pickups are closer together.
This scheme also works exceptionally well for fretless basses, which can benefit from the increased upper-midrange response of a closer "bridge" pickup. For example, the Seymour Duncan ASB-5 bridge pickup sounds a bit dark in the standard bridge location, but if you move it about 3/4" closer to the bridge, the tone opens up quite a bit. Other bridge pickups with a "darker" tone can benefit from this as well.
It would be nice if Warmoth could fit an additional pickup cavity between their standard "sweet spot" position and the bridge. This way I wouldn't need to take a router to my bass body. (It worked out well the last time, but still... )
This obviously wouldn't work with a Kahler bridge, but with a Takeuchi or Hipshot bridge there should be enough room for an additional pickup.
