Slanting pickups?

[rapfohl09]

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if someone could explaing to me the point of slanting pickups? It always seems to be the bridge pickup, but Ive seen neck pickups slanted too.

 

[rockskate4x]

Bridge Humbuckers will be slanted if they have classic pole piece spacing but are trying to match with a floyd rose or a fender bridge. That's the way that Van Halen did it anyhow... other than this particular case, I don't know why strats and tele's have their bridge singles slanted, or why any neck pickup would be slanted. My best guess for those would be that the tone is more complex with different lengths of each string being picked up... or that it just looks cool.

 

[GP]

If you pick really close to the bridge, have you ever noticed how trebly it sounds?  The low E string is supposed to be a bassy sounding string.  Move the pickup on that side out from the bridge a bit...bassy.  Leave it in close to the bridge....not so much.

 

[dbw]

I think rs4x is right about humbuckers... it was done a lot in the 80's when people first started making superstrats and there were no F-spaced humbuckers.

As for single coils... there are lots of theories but I think it's just done because Leo Fender did it that way.  Possibly he tried it straight and decided to slant it to adjust the tone... or maybe he thought it looked cool.  Whatever the reason, everyone still does it...

 

[rockskate4x]

I think it's cooler when they are slanted the opposite direction that Leo put it. It's like automatic compression cuz the bassy strings sound more trebly and the trebly strings sound more bassy.

 

[neuftone]

I think it's cooler when they are slanted the opposite direction that Leo put it. It's like automatic compression cuz the bassy strings sound more trebly and the trebly strings sound more bassy.

I agree...on tele's I find myself hanging around on the lower strings on the bridge pickup and on the high strings with the neck pickup.  With neck or middle pickups the high strings have a bell-like shimmer and the low strings start to "flab out" a bit, and on the bridge pickup the high strings start to get harsh while the lower strings are crisp and clear.  So I would lean towards reverse slanted pickups, myself, for tonal reasons.

 

[uOpt]

The effect on sound is very small. I did a test run on a guitar with a pickguard that had have the bridge pickup slanted or unslanted. Very small difference, no change in character. I'd say do what looks best.

 

[roboboss]

Could it be that the bridge was a little narrow for the pole pieces and Leo angled them for better alignment? I really don't know, just speculating.

 

[uOpt]

Could it be that the bridge was a little narrow for the pole pieces and Leo angled them for better alignment? I really don't know, just speculating.

No, if that way the motive he would have angled neck and middle more than bridge since the strings are closer together towards the neck.

 

[roboboss]

uOPT I see what you mean. I was thinking more along the lines of a Tele.

 

[rapfohl09]

Thanks guys, but I have one more question and its pretty similar so ill just throw it in here. Has anyone else seen more pickups like the RG twangbucker? I love that thing, but was just wondering if there were more out there?

 

[Keyser Soze]

It's all done for tone manipulation.  Close to the bridge the strings do not have a wide amplitude resulting in lower output from a pickup (as compared to the same pickup mounted further from the brisge.)  The heavier the string the greater the problem and even more so for wound strings.  This is why Leo slanted bridge pickups starting with the esquire.

Although what he actually did was move the treble side 'closer' to the bridge because he found that he could get better treble response that way.  Early electric guitars and guitar amps were rather dark overall.  In the early days much of what was being done was don in a search for brighter tone.

Then there is the effect of moving the pickups in relation to the various harmonic nodes - this can subtly alter the output, sometimes less subtly when using a humbucker or any other large coil pickup - those that have a big string 'window' and so are more apt to experience phased cancellation at the higher frequencies.

Some guitars, and even some early pickup designs, have sliders to allow the player to move the pickup around under the strings.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I just slanted my pickups. I didn't like it.  My JB sounds way better when it's up against the strings almost buzzin!  :icon_tongue:

 

[rockskate4x]

not THAT kinda slanting, wanna... we're talking about the way strat bridge are slanted... like left or right instead of up or down.... :laughing7:

 

[uOpt]

The sound difference is very small. In this case going by looks is the way to go.

 

[T.L.]

If it's a humbucker, I like it to be straight (not slanted).  With Teles and Strats that have single coils, you get more of the classic "twang" when the bridge pickup is slanted...