Reverse P Bass routing

line6man

Epic Member
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Does Warmoth do reverse P-Bass pickup routes?

Is there an extra charge?

What are the pro's and con's of a reversed P?
I heard that they have a more balanced sound...
 
Reverse P, sure no problem.  Pricing?  Call to double check.

I presume you mean in the bridge position.  I've never personally played one, so I don't know.
 
Hmm I have never seen a bass like this but am interested by the idea...
I googled it but couldn't come up with anything - do any basses offer this stock? I would love to try it out.
 
I honestly don't think I could hear any difference in a pickup being moved 3/4 of an inch, which is basically what you have when you flip-flop a P-Bass pickup. And I'm certain that the "being different is everything!" crowd would disagree with me vociferously.
 
I don't think it would make a huge difference, but I could see it being something.
I don't remember what the model is right now and am too sleepy to look it up, but there is some Gibson bass with one pickup, but you can slide the pickup from a "neck" to a "bridge" position (kind of). IIRC, it only moves about the width of the one pickup, but the sound difference descent.

 
Well, the only bass that i know of that has a reverse P would be these cheap Ibanez basses,
http://www.ibanez.com/bass/guitar.aspx?m=GSR200

I mostly hear about custom jobs and such.
 
Micahbell and RLW,

Think about the Stratocasters bridge pickup.
Jimi Hendrix played backwards, which is the equivalent of reversing the angle...

So in theory, flipping a P bass pickup should have the same sort of difference, however the P is closer to the neck than a strats bridge pickup, so who knows.
 
sounds like voodoo to me, but go fer it if you want :icon_scratch:
 
line6man said:
Jimi Hendrix played backwards, which is the equivalent of reversing the angle...
I have never thought about the tone difference this would make until you just mentioned it.
However, I have never played with the same setup that Hendrix played but with the regular pup position, so that doesn't help too much.
 
Spector does as well...

SpectorNS2BlkCherrycollage1TN.jpg


One idea for my next build was a Thunderbird body with dual (neck and bridge) reverse p-bass pickups.
 
Yamaha did a bass with a reverse P a few years ago, I can't remember the model  BB something.
FWIW  I'm a lefty and through necessity I played a re-strung righty P bass once upon a time. Didn't sound any different to me   :dontknow:
 
willyk said:
FWIW  I'm a lefty and through necessity I played a re-strung righty P bass once upon a time. Didn't sound any different to me  :don't know:
+1
 
  :sign13:Fender Mark Hoppus signature jbass, maybe 2012/13? Model.  Not a cheap bass.  Think about it, in theory should beef up g d and brighten e a, even if ever so slightly, for better tone balance.  Maybe most people can't hear difference, but maybe with two identical basses, one standard, one reverse, same amps/etc etc/ tested simultaneously, we will hear a possible advantage.  I'm gonna build one on theory with volume and tone shaper pots.
 
Ibanez's 4-string Soundgears used to have a reverse P, and Warwick's Buzzard basses have a regular P in the middle with a reverse P at the bridge.

I think it sounds a bit more balanced/"better", but either way it'll sound P-bassy.

Reverse P pickups would look good with the T-bird's shape, but Warmoth can't do them anymore.
 
Warwick does a reverse P on their Streamer LX basses.  I've seen it on Sadowskys as well.
Not sure if the tone is affected in any significant way, but it is sure a comfortable place to rest your thumb!
 
Here's what Sadowsky has to say about the reversed-P pickup, specificallly about 5-strings but may apply.

Our Vintage P/J 5-string is essentially a Vintage 5 with P-style neck pickup. There are two configurations of these pickups: One is a standard-P configuration with traditional P tones, and the other is a reversed-P pickup that provides a tighter B-string sound and also improves the "pop" on the G-string when the bass is in the "combination pickup setting." We recommend our passive tone control on these basses for the ultimate in P-bass-style tone offerings.

http://www.sadowsky.com/instruments/nyc_basses.html


Reversed P pickups were really common in the 80's but seem less common now.  The traditional Steinberger pickups were reversed-p magnet shape encased in a guitar-humbucker sized housing, for example. 

I have a Warmoth P-bass with a regular P in the P position and a reverse-P in an EMG-35 shaped housing in the bridge, and I'm not sure I could really tell you by ear if it were swapped out for another shape. http://www.warmoth.com/Gallery/GalleryItem.aspx?id=5775

http://www.warmoth.com/Gallery/GalleryItem.aspx?id=5775
 
One of the Warwick Buzzard models had dual PBass picks mirrored (one reversed).  You can google search for Entwistle Buzzard images and see one.  There must have been some reason for this since Entwistle designed it.  He was always experimenting to create the perfect tone.
 
Holy necropost, Batman!

In the seven years since posting, I've seen nothing but love for the reversed P configuration, and concluded that it is an under-appreciated choice.
 
Roco Prestia from Tower of Power was the first to do it and he claimed it was a bit tighter and punchier in the reverse configuration.

s1-full-1753649.jpg



I remember him talking about it at Bass Day 1998. Here's a link to a video from that day to hear his early reverse-P-Bass - https://youtu.be/04P5_AGMu3M
 
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