Distance from Bridge to Pickup

Distance between pickup and bridge makes a massive difference in sound for sure


Years ago I had an Agile 8 string that was essentially just one of their six string basses converted to a guitar, and the bridge pickup was far as fuck from the bridge


That guitar always sounded dull to me
 
Even the slightest distance makes a noticeable difference. I have a partscaster that I’m always tinkering with. I usually get my pick guards from Warmoth (I have a stack of them). I wanted a neon yellow color and had to source a pick guard elsewhere. It had the cut set slightly closer to the bridge….,made the pickup rub the back of the pickup route.

With a Sunset Strip in both it and the Warmoth…….the one closer to the bridge was spankier and had less low mid clutter. I preferred it but grew tired of the color…..lol.
 
LPMojoGL said:
Was just talking with @scottosan when he pointed something out, that I never considered.

Different guitars have a different distance from where the string breaks on a bridge to the middle of the closest pole piece on the bridge pickup.

Curious, I measured all of my guitars.

My finding are as follows:
Gibson LP, 335 and Explorer = 1 1/8"

1 Strat and Fender CS Tele = 1 1/2"
CV 70s Squier Strat = 1 1/8" ???

24 fret Suhr Modern and Jackson Soloist = 1 3/8"

And get this, Gibson SG = 7/8" !!!

Mind blown.

Some things make sense now.
Especially this - a Burstbucker 3 (and many other bridge pups) sounded thin and trebly in my SG. That same BB3 sounded perfect in my LP, replacing a Seth Lover.
A Motor City Detroiter, screws (accidentally) rotated towards neck side, ended up being the pup that made the SG sound as thick as my other Gibsons. Now I'm thinking all all SGs should have bridge pups mounted with screws towards the neck! Also, that SG nails the tone on VHs 1984 more than any other guitar I've had. Could this be why?

Maybe it's not the maple cap that gives LPs a bit more bite than Strats and Charvels. Could it be that it's just the bridge pup is closer to the bridge?

I knew that the neck pup on 24 fret guitars was closer to the bridge vs other guitars, making them more bright. I never thought about pup distance to bridge in any other case.
Now I'm wondering if muddy neck or bright bridge pups aren't that way because of the wood or the pup, but maybe just where they're located.

Is this old news? Did Scott just enlighten me about something that everyone else already knew?
Click to expand...
Great post…. I mounted a bridge pup backwards in the neck position once…sounded fine. I had a reason for doing it but can’t remember….been years ago… probably because it was the only thing I had to put in there after getting a new bridge pup….
 
DanTravis62 said:
This is one of those stupidly simple things that drives me nuts about LP copies. There have been precious few who get this right.
Click to expand...
I’m not going to call anyone out cause I respect the company but even some of the small boutique builders haven’t gotten this right. I asked one of them if I could adjust the bridge pickup placement if I did a special order and was denied. Fuckin WHY? Also, PRS - you wanna make the 594 an LP killer…fix the pickup placement otherwise you’re wasting time
 
This is one of the first things I look at. It’s also the main reason Kiesel guitars sound like shit to me, the pickup is way too far from the bridge.
 
Didn´t ESP try to revive that sliding pickup thing? I could swear I saw Lynch do ads for it, but maybe I´m just retroactively putting him in every old ad at this point 😄
 
pickups don't matter:


fricker-fu.jpg




/S
 
70 Mach 1 said:
yup. never did think about that
so what are we going to do now, bring calipers with us to GC :hys:
Click to expand...
This is exactly what Scott said after I measured my guitars at home, that I'll be taking a ruler with me to GC from now on.
Truly changed my life. Lol
 
LPMojoGL said:
This is exactly what Scott said after I measured my guitars at home, that I'll be taking a ruler with me to GC from now on.
Truly changed my life. Lol
Click to expand...
i know its individual preference but what's his optimum distance/spacing
 
I’ve noticed the spacing on different guitars. I’m probably wrong in my thinking, but assumed each builder measured that for what they wanted the guitar to sound like, part of their design. But after reading this thread maybe some don’t put too much thought into it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top