variable pickup position idea

[Phaedrus]

Hey! It's been a while, but seeing this video I thought you guys might like the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=192&v=D5cYVgSJ3To

For those asking what is it- this dude made a guitar where the pickup is mounted on a rail, so its position can be changed mid-playing.
Never seen such a thing before, and wondered if any of you guys did. Anyway, If (or rather, when) I'll be making another guitar- seriously thinking about doing the same.

 

[line6man]

 

[Cagey]

Gibson made a bass guitar called a "Grabber" back in the mid '70s that did that trick. Not quite as fancy or with as much range as that unit has, but the same idea. Never caught on. I suspect it didn't have as much range as one might expect, so it ended up as more a gimmick than anything else. The one in the video you linked looks like it could be quite influential on tone, although for what pickups cost, I'm not sure what the advantage would be, given that you have to add the mechanicals and risk work-hardening the connecting wire to where it would fail early.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

I can see the value in variable positions much more on a bass, since it can be a little tough to get the best spots to pickup natural harmonics and overtones.  And there's a lot of real estate between the end of the neck and the bridge on a bass.  I'm a little surprised the Grabber thing hasn't been at least a little more common.

For a guitar, though, there's so much less space there, so why not just get 3 pickups?

 

[fdesalvo]

Yeah, this is an old concept that never really panned out.

 

[drewfx]

When Ibanez was working with Bob Weir in the mid 70's on what became his signature model 2681 guitar, they played around with a sliding middle PU for awhile. But it seems Bob fairly quickly decided he liked one particular position and it was abandoned:

Couldn't find a good picture, but the story is here:

http://dozin.com/bobs/guitars/Ibanez/guitar.html

 

[stratamania]

I remember seeing the idea before but don't recall the model names.

 

[line6man]

I can see the value in variable positions much more on a bass, since it can be a little tough to get the best spots to pickup natural harmonics and overtones.  And there's a lot of real estate between the end of the neck and the bridge on a bass.  I'm a little surprised the Grabber thing hasn't been at least a little more common.

As it turns out, it's a total waste of time. That's why it hasn't caught on.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

In the design stage of a guitar it would be useful to find the "sweet" spot for the pickups, beyond that it's all gimmick for the masses.