Single pickup placement

[AshStrat]

I am getting ready to start my first Warmoth build and have a question.  I would like to do a single pickup (P90) Jazzmaster build.  Does placement of the p90 make a difference if it is in the neck, middle or bridge position?  I like the sound of a neck p90 pickup but if I put that in the bridge position will it not sound the same as if it were in the neck position?
Thanks.

 

[stratamania]

No it won't sound the same. Moved closer to the bridge it will sound more trebly. Even if you just move where you pick this also happens.

So no a neck pickup moved to a bridge position will no longer sound the same.

 

[TroubledTreble]

Submitted for your consideration.....

The placement of the pickup will give the pickup it's tone. That is, the pickup is "translating" what it senses. If it's strings doing a "big" vibration as in the neck position or "small" vibrations in the bridge position. The strings vibrate less at the bridge since it's close to where it is anchored down. This is why bridge pickups typically have more winds, to compensate for the smaller string movement.

So it comes down to what you like the most, neck tone or bridge tone... If I had to chose I would chose neck because I like the smoother tone. BUT! there is a third option.... There is a sweet spot that will provide a very nice tone. It it somewhere between the bridge and middle pickup area. A little on the middle side. If it were a compass direction I would call it middle by middle bridge. It is a great spot to put one pickup.

There is a Jazzmaster build over on Offset Guitar Forum where someone did just this and it is fantastic. I can't find the link at the moment unfortunately..                                   

 

[mrpinter]

If you primarily were a traditional jazz player, I'd recommend a neck position for a single pickup P90 placement. But if you play different styles, or even just rock or pop stylings, I'd suggest the bridge position. The reason: you can use your tone control to get mellower, reduced-treble tones, but you can't add treble to an already bassy and low-treble tone. I actually had a neck only guitar built for me once, and I ended up adding a bridge pickup to it after a short while, for this reason. It just wasn't versatile enough.

 

[DustyCat]

When I first started playing electric I would take advantage of the knows more so than after years of practicing unplugge. I still have the bad habit of putting my guitar down with the volume knob wide open...I'll have to work on that...

Tone down for Slash/Clapton like woman tone, but it has to be a joint effort I feel. If the band is not expecting it, it's easy to get lost in the maelstrom. That's why you read those advertisements about "cutting through the mix."

I read somewhere that even Mr. Evh was disagreeable as to adding a tone knob on one of his signature series opting to split the difference with a second volume knob instead. Lately it's been "No more heroes" from Apocalyptic Love that's gotten me back into turning knobs, but generally speaking there was a time when Iwould try to avoid cutting frequencies, and at one point I had my sights set on a single pickup guitar (maybe to make the electric guitar more acoustic in nature, you don't see too many violins with tone knows etc.)

It's good to listen, which is what I was the sound engineers would do at live shows. Everything up at 10.all.of.the.time.
Poor Slash trying to add flare on Anastasia with a double guitar, half acoustic half electric. Well sorry bro, but theres nowhere to go because the energy and volume at peaked even when the song calls for bringing the dynamics real low.

Sorry for the rant, not exactly a bullseye response, but close enough I suppose.

I'd be interested in trying this new sweet spot pickup placement.

 

[swarfrat]

If it were a compass direction I would call it middle by middle bridge. It is a great spot to put one pickup.

I've wondered just out of curiousity if that might not be a better position for a single pickup guitar. Not that I need more beef, but too close to the bridge, the treble gets a little clanky.

 

[TBurst Std]

Just look to original Music Man basses. 1 pup in the sweet spot.

 

[JD0x0]

Middle! use pick placement and onboard filters to control the tone. Mid position seems to be the best for this.

 

[mrpinter]

The middle pickup position for a single pickup guitar would seem to be an ideal compromise - but simple logic doesn't include enough data in the equation. I think that the middle position actually doesn't emulate either the neck OR bridge positions accurately enough to pass for those sounds. It's just not going to have the mellowness of the neck, or the bite of the bridge. I say it's better to have at least one good sound than a range that doesn't quite make it tonally. The bridge pickup with the treble rolled off with a tone control will at least get rid of that "treble clanky-ness" (and I also maintain that with a really good bridge pickup the treble won't be "clanky" or unpleasant at all - I greatly increased the usability of my bridge position pickups by choosing to spend a bit more on hand wound pickups from a small company I discovered - PM me for details if you want)

 

[anorakDan]

Is your heart absolutely set on a Jazzmaster?

If not, you might consider this. Go with a top routed Strat with a universal pickup rout. Then you can buy 3 different pickguards, each routed for a single pickup of your choice in each position. Sure there's some fiddling about with the change-outs, but you can set up one pickguard/pickup position set-up and try it out for a week or two. If you can't live with one, try another until you get it right.

Having said that, the other question I have is what kind of music do you play? If it's jazz, tradition calls for the neck position for a single pickup guitar. If it's more rock, then single pickups in the bridge position might work better.

Myself, I have been a devoted fan of the Gibson solidbody single bridge position pickup guitar since I had an SG Jr in my rock and roll days.

 

[ChristopherG]

What Dan said. If you do go the suggested Strat route then run the ground wire from the bridge to a simple screw down terminal that way swapping out pick-guards becomes a solder-less operation.

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth doesn't offer it, but it would be very easy to route for a universal pickup route on a Jazzmaster. Actually, you almost wouldn't have to route it. Get it routed for 3 humbuckers so it looks like this...

...and you could chisel out a universal route in a matter of minutes. Then, you could do like AnorakDan said and play games with different pickguards.

 

[stratamania]

You could even mount the pickup on rails, so you could slide it back and forth.

They've been done before, but it seems some are trying to do this as a new idea via a Kickstarter campaign.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, Gibson did it about 100 years ago with the "Grabber" bass...

...but apparently they were the only ones who thought it was a good idea. You didn't see anybody else doing it.

I remember when I was a teenager the local music store had one, but it stayed on the wall for a pretty long time.

 

[amigarobbo]

I'd be worried about the cables getting stressed and snapping in the Gibson. I don't know if that's actually a warranted worry or not.


Also:

Ooh, they did guitars as well,

 

[Cagey]

I suspect that pickup didn't get moved nearly as often as the marketing weenies anticipated. I'll bet users found a "sweet spot" and pretty much left it there. Could be why the idea never caught on. Unnecessary complication.

 

[stratamania]

I remember the Gibson Grabber now you mention it. But the guitar I was thinking of was from around the same time but so far I don't recall what it was called.

 

[JD0x0]

Yeah, Gibson did it about 100 years ago with the "Grabber" bass...

...but apparently they were the only ones who thought it was a good idea. You didn't see anybody else doing it.

I remember when I was a teenager the local music store had one, but it stayed on the wall for a pretty long time.

Saw a show a few weeks ago with one of these basses. Seemed to notice the pickup being moved a little, for different songs.