S
SoooRad
Well-known member
Warmoth bridge pickups on their top route bodies always look too far away from the bridges.
JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
I never hear anyone talk about it but we used to fuck with the pole pieces when I was a teenager… nobody seems to mention that anymore. Increases the output…you can dial a pup between doing that and playing with the height. Of course back then I had know idea wtf I was doing…still don’t….
B
braintheory
Well-known member
It’s a huge factor for sure. I will say my pickup opinions still always come from a place of comparing in the exact same guitar and a few different types of guitars to be more complete so that I can be confident when judging the pickup itself
rsm
Well-known member
BeZo
Well-known member
They likely figure it's preference, just like a volume and tone knob placement. Most luthiers are more concerned with the wood, and not so much about the science of it. Just use a tool to get the frets in the right spots and it's good, right? Besides, the builders like Relish or Strandberg that try to reinvent the guitar don't always go over so well, even when they do good stuff.
thegame
Well-known member
This particular factor can make or break the tone. So much so, here are the drastic measures I undertook to get the results I wanted:
Pic 1 - How the guitar came from the factory. As I'm the second owner, I wouldn't have spec'd inlays like that, just in case you're wondering. I took care of that later on lol. Note the distance from the bridge pup to the saddles. 99% of these BRJ guitars featured 25 1/2" scale lengths but this one is actually 24 5/8" (like 1970's BC Riches). I believe the factory pickup route would have lined up correctly with the usual 25 1/2" scale (the longer the scale, the more spread out everything should be before and after the mid point 12th fret), but they simply didn't take the custom ordered 24 5/8" scale into account. When I got the guitar the acoustic tone was lively and bright but not necessarily so when plugged in. Always sounded like I had the neck pup blended in a little bit. The stock pups were Duncan Distortion bridge which is a bright pup and Jazz neck. So....
Pic 2 - I took it to a luthier who routed out the cavity to bring it closer to the bridge. It travelled at least 1/4" in that direction. Glued in a wood spacer to fill the gap.
Pic 3 - He also fabricated a custom pickup ring. Compare pics 1 and 3 now. Quite a bit closer! Now it sounded like I wanted. Much tighter, focussed and crunchier!
Pic 4 - I touched up the cavity to black it out in anticipation of my next project for this guitar;
Pic 5 - I recently direct mounted the pickups and did away with the rings. Direct mounting sounds and feels, well, more direct lol! There's just something a bit more solid about it with a quicker response and a little more articulation. As the guitar has 24 frets, I never felt the need to move the neck pup.
I have absolutely no qualms about modding guitars or amps to get what I want!
Pic 1 - How the guitar came from the factory. As I'm the second owner, I wouldn't have spec'd inlays like that, just in case you're wondering. I took care of that later on lol. Note the distance from the bridge pup to the saddles. 99% of these BRJ guitars featured 25 1/2" scale lengths but this one is actually 24 5/8" (like 1970's BC Riches). I believe the factory pickup route would have lined up correctly with the usual 25 1/2" scale (the longer the scale, the more spread out everything should be before and after the mid point 12th fret), but they simply didn't take the custom ordered 24 5/8" scale into account. When I got the guitar the acoustic tone was lively and bright but not necessarily so when plugged in. Always sounded like I had the neck pup blended in a little bit. The stock pups were Duncan Distortion bridge which is a bright pup and Jazz neck. So....
Pic 2 - I took it to a luthier who routed out the cavity to bring it closer to the bridge. It travelled at least 1/4" in that direction. Glued in a wood spacer to fill the gap.
Pic 3 - He also fabricated a custom pickup ring. Compare pics 1 and 3 now. Quite a bit closer! Now it sounded like I wanted. Much tighter, focussed and crunchier!
Pic 4 - I touched up the cavity to black it out in anticipation of my next project for this guitar;
Pic 5 - I recently direct mounted the pickups and did away with the rings. Direct mounting sounds and feels, well, more direct lol! There's just something a bit more solid about it with a quicker response and a little more articulation. As the guitar has 24 frets, I never felt the need to move the neck pup.
I have absolutely no qualms about modding guitars or amps to get what I want!
mnemonic
Well-known member
You find the occasional gem
BeZo
Well-known member
I'm almost going to look at the space between the bridge and the bridge pickup as a forehead. Most normal one are close enough, but then you see this and go "Woah!"
Let's keep that covered.
BeZo
Well-known member
I measured an inch and a quarter on my LTD H400, and my Jarrett Forza was under an inch, around 3/4". Better yet, the pickup on my acoustic is under the bridge entirely, making it 0. That one should sound the best for high gain, right?
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
So it's name is Brittany?
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
BeZo
Well-known member
Just say the number. Don't post any pictures. Those are the rules.
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
With some of the pms I've received here, I wholeheartedly 2nd that motion.
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
This is one of my experiments on pickup position. I put it where it split where a bridge & middle humbucker would be. It works pretty well. I have a Dimarzio Breed in it. It balances out pretty well since the Breed is on the brighter side. It has a much thicker sound than if it were fully in the bridge position. I actually like it a lot for heavy rhythm playing.
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
Interesting!
Looks like you could squeeze a P90 in between the hb and bridge. That would give up all kinds of cool sounds. Or an old school gold foil for some gnarliness.
thegame
Well-known member
Hamer guitars used to purposely place the bridge pup closer to the neck for a "bigger" sound on some models. Yeah it's bigger obviously but also gets away from the Gibson bite the further away it is.
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
I don't get that. You can dial out the bite, but you can't dial out the mud or darkness. Well, maybe with a big treble cap, working the guitar volume.
BeZo
Well-known member
Nice!
thegame
Well-known member
Correct
That's compensating something different and won't be the same. Just pick the string in and around the general area of the bridge pup and listen to how the tone gets more midrangy and narrow the closer the pick gets to the bridge anchor point.
scottosan
Well-known member
I always bring a ruler with me guitar shopping. Seriously…….