Rather strange Idea

[Switch hitter]

I was pondering pickup placement the other day, and I came up with an idea. Similar to the gibson grabber, but only individual pole pieces slid instead of the whole pickup. Is this idea possible or has somebody accomplished this already?

[picker]

I was pondering pickup placement the other day, and I came up with an idea. Similar to the gibson grabber, but only individual pole pieces slid instead of the whole pickup. Is this idea possible or has somebody accomplished this already?

 

How do you slide the pole pieces back & forth without moving the coil too?

[Norwegia]

Would this actually change the tone? I don't think you'd be able to move the poles enough to change the coil. I guess if you were able to hook the poles up to the coil with some wires and have them working up to par. Maybe have a slider system so you could move the poles anywhere with the actual coil in a compartment under the slider in the body.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Each pole piece or pair of pole pieces would need to be its own mini pickup.

 

What would you hope to accomplish tonally if this were possible? What would be the musical application of being able to do this?

 

Peace.

--s-uu

 

[Switch hitter]

*shrugs* fine adjustments for the pickup placement. Like maybe having the E string pickup an inch closer to the neck than the A string, Switching between a J bass pickup configuration and a P bass configuration on the fly, or more extreme cases like having the E and A strings much closer to the neck for a more deep rhythm sound and the D and G string closer to the bridge for solo work.

[jlrush]

I haven't ever played a Grabber. Does sliding the pickup change the tone any? More than different finger placement?

[WCriley]

In order for a pickup to work, the coil needs to be inside the magnetic field of pole piece. You'd need a separate coil for each polepiece.

 

But the idea of having the E/A strings closer to the neck and the D/G strings closer to the bridge could be accomplished with a P-style pup. You might need to add some wire between the two halves to space them very far apart, but it's definitely do-able.

 

Let me know how it sounds, if you try this.

[jeremy c]

Check this builder's web page.

 

He's got a separate pickup for each string. Put them all on sliders, and you've got yourself the invention you want. The only problem is that the pickups are too big to slide by each other. But this guy is onto something.

 

Now it's time to start winding your own pickups so that they will be the right size.

 

How about this idea: use four jazz bass pickups, but put them parallel to the strings (one under each string) instead of perpendicular.

[Norwegia]

Having some wire lead down to another coil to stimulate their magnetic field wouldn't work? I'm far from an expert, but having wires carrying down the same amount of current to the actual pickup theoretically work? It might not be wise at all tonally, but it could be an engineering project if someone so desired.

[The Geoff]

 

Now it's time to start winding your own pickups so that they will be the right size.

 

How about this idea: use four jazz bass pickups, but put them parallel to the strings (one under each string) instead of perpendicular.

 

If you used DiMarzio J's or Ultrasounds, since they are made up of 2 half-sized coils, you could switch them in or out giving 2 positions on each pickup plus the whole thing.

 

G.

[WCriley]

How about this idea: use four jazz bass pickups, but put them parallel to the strings (one under each string) instead of perpendicular.

 

Now that's an interesting idea. Each pickup would be sensing several inches of the string length, giving a very full sound. And since each string would be interacting with the magnet field of 4 pole pieces, it should be very loud. Hmm...I need to buy another project bass.

 

Another interesting thought for having the pole pieces for each string at different places in relationship to the bridge/neck would be something like the diagonal pickup Gibson tried in the 40s. It was long with widely spaced pole pieces, then mounted at a 45 degree angle.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Throw a few more switches onto this bass and you can likely accomplish a similar goal.

 

:-}

 

Peace.

--Dub $$

[Switch hitter]

He's got a separate pickup for each string. Put them all on sliders, and you've got yourself the invention you want. The only problem is that the pickups are too big to slide by each other. But this guy is onto something.

 

Now it's time to start winding your own pickups so that they will be the right size.

 

Hey Thanks Jeremy, This is just what I was looking for!

[jcadmus]

Since we're coming up with weird ideas, how about a variable scale-length bass with a telescoping neck?

 

The neck would slide in and out of the body incrementally to allow anything from a 30-inch to a 35-inch scale.

[rizzo9247]

http://www.syncobass.com/?gclid=CPvZqPTak6ICFRY75Qodv1gojg

[Switch hitter]

I remember seeing this online once, but could never find it again. It was a prototype steinberger bass that had a knob on the top that could lower the frets to make the bass fretless. Awesome Idea, but I heard it was absolute crap for tone.

[WCriley]

The idea of individual pickups for each string is interesting, but would be a risky investment without having trustworthy feedback on how they sound.

 

Rick Turner designed a skinny-string guitar with a pivoting pickup, allowing the p-up to be adjusted to any angle relative to the bridge/neck. Does anyone know how well it worked or if its ever been tried on a bass guitar?

 

Another interesting, but complex, possibility for 4-string bass is to use 2 complete P-style p-ups in both positions, but with the coils split. Then the individual coils could be switched or blended to taste. This would allow for both traditional and new sounds, with the downside being the extra switches/knobs.

 

I primarily play 6-string bass and would like to be able to take some of the twang out of the upper registers without losing the bite I like in the lower registers . Theres only so much Im able to do with my (limited, but improving) right hand technique, and compromising with EQ leaves both registers ummcompromised. So Ive been thinking about doing the opposite of what Switch hitter mentioned at the beginning of this thread. Id have the low string p-ups closer to the bridge and the high string p-ups closer to the neck.

 

So far Ive come up with 3 ways of doing this.

Ive started by adjusting the p-ups so that the C string side of the neck p-up is closer to the strings than the B string side, and have the opposite slant on the bridge p-up.

Another idea Ive had is to use a pickup thats long enough to be placed diagonally under the strings, with the B string end closer to the bridge than the other end. The problem is that no one makes a pickup like that, so Id need to build it myself or have it custom made. It would probably take me years of trial and error to be able to build a p-up that sounds halfway decent. And I dont want to spend big bucks having it custom built, only to find out the whole idea sucks.

Along the same lines, Im also thinking about trying 3 individual P-bass coils, mounted similar to a reversed P-bass configuration. This might be my next experiment.

 

Heres my idea for experimenting with different p-up placement without a lot of routing and/or filling the body:

Start with a cheap used bass. Then shim the bridge and neck high enough to give me clearance under the strings to mount the pickups on the top of the body (or pickguard) with double sided tape while I test different configurations. Ive also considered making a moveable jig to mount p-ups over the strings while testing, but that would interfere with plucking position.

[jcadmus]

Okay, then maybe a bass with a body you can make wider or narrower...nah, forget it.

[jeremy c]

I have seen guitar builders test pickups by placing them ABOVE the strings.

 

Lane Poor had some sort of slider thing mounted above the strings and he would put a pickup on there and slide it back and forth to find the sweet spot.

 

The pickup was the same distance from strings as it would be if it were in the usual place under the strings, but the instrument did not have to be routed differently. (In this case, it was only a test instrument anyway, so that wouldn't have mattered). He could connect new pickups with alligator clips and it was a pretty good system for testing.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Another idea I've had is to use a pickup that's long enough to be placed diagonally under the strings, with the B string end closer to the bridge than the other end.

 

There are builders that already do this -- most notably, Dingwall. However, there are also Ritter basses that have angled pickups (although those basses are hella expensive). I'm sure there are more, but I can't conjure the names to mind right now.

 

Also, there are a few pickup makers who wind pickups for basses with 7 or more strings that would probably work fine on an angle for a 6-string bass, and maybe not be so much more expensive than a set of pickups for a 6-string.

 

And, depending on how much angle you want, there may be some pickups suitable for 6-string basses that are long enough to work well also at an angle.

 

Anyway, your idea is not new to put the pickups on a diagonal, so I bet there is some kind of reasonable, reasonably priced option out there that might work for you.

 

Peace.

--SW

 

[WCriley]

Thanks for the info, sir. I only knew about Gibson's diagonal p-ups from the 40s.

 

If I decide to explore this idea, I'll look into it.

[picker]

Rick Turner designed a skinny-string guitar with a pivoting pickup, allowing the p-up to be adjusted to any angle relative to the bridge/neck. Does anyone know how well it worked or if its ever been tried on a bass guitar?

 

I think Rick Turner made a bass with one himself. Don't know anything more about it.

[Wally Malone]

I remember a jam session I sat in on some years ago following Paul Jackson. He had a bass at that time where he was able to adjust each string separately. It was a treat to follow him and I played my best that day and even received a compliment from him. I believe that was in the 70's. It seems that even if people believe they're coming up with new ideas in technology there is a good chance that it was done before.

 

Wally

[itu]

More strange ideas, Bartolini has (had) pick-ups that are individually coiled.

 

While you think about sound, try a different approach:

http://www.neuserbasses.com/claudia.html

[The Geoff]

Rick Turner designed a skinny-string guitar with a pivoting pickup, allowing the p-up to be adjusted to any angle relative to the bridge/neck. Does anyone know how well it worked or if its ever been tried on a bass guitar?

 

I think Rick Turner made a bass with one himself. Don't know anything more about it.

 

Lindsey Buckingham had a guitar made for him where the pickup was set into what appeared to be the soundhole, and it could revolve for different effects - I have no idea who built it, but I have it in a book somewhere in a box in the garage......

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/LindseyBuckingham.JPG/220px-LindseyBuckingham.JPG