again with this
New member
So, what is it? What makes a bridge pickup a bridge and a neck a neck? 
9ball
New member
i don't even know (lol)
but i was watching a youtube video or something of joe satriani talking about his new 24 fret guitar - the JS2400 or whatever it's called - and he was talking about why he had them put the single spaced humbucker type p/u in the neck position. he said when you move the fretboard back that far, and you put a humbucker there, you lose a bit of the tone from the neck p/u.
kind of interesting.
i've got his dimarzio p/u set in my 24 fret RG and i must admit - i prefer my EQ boost on when the neck p/u is selected.
but i was watching a youtube video or something of joe satriani talking about his new 24 fret guitar - the JS2400 or whatever it's called - and he was talking about why he had them put the single spaced humbucker type p/u in the neck position. he said when you move the fretboard back that far, and you put a humbucker there, you lose a bit of the tone from the neck p/u.
kind of interesting.
i've got his dimarzio p/u set in my 24 fret RG and i must admit - i prefer my EQ boost on when the neck p/u is selected.
H
HeimBrent
New member
It's a impedance-thing if my mind serves me correctly. The impedance of a neckpup is lower than the impedance of a bridepup.
dass101
New member
Generally speaking, neck pick-ups have lower impedance, which means they have lower output and a higher resonance frequency.
This is needed because strings vibrations have a higher amplitude towards the neck, and a high output pickup would overload quickly, and also because in the neck you most likely want to have a clearer frequency response, without a strong resonance, which is often wanted for the bridge, to give the sound more "character"
This is needed because strings vibrations have a higher amplitude towards the neck, and a high output pickup would overload quickly, and also because in the neck you most likely want to have a clearer frequency response, without a strong resonance, which is often wanted for the bridge, to give the sound more "character"
ke2
Active member
9ball":sb30ha3k said:
I think I read somewhere once that on a 22 fret guitar, you get the neck pickup where the "24th fret" harmonic is on the string(try to do a ping harmonic(???) over the pickup on a Strat)
On a 24 fretter, so much of the pickup is moved closer to the bridge that you lose the flutey, almost clarinet-ish sound?
K
kissmyace
New member
I think the neck pu on a Peavey Wolfgang is stronger than the bridge, but on most guitars its the other way around.
G
Giga
New member
ke2":3rgttzp1 said:
I have a 3 HB guitar. Playing pinch-harmonics on the middle PU is nearly impossible. I chalk that up to something like you're describing above
Giga
Vrad
Active member
Less output and slightly different EQ (I believe they're brighter).
T
Tawlks
New member
psychodave":161xpobt said:I usually prefer bridge pickups in the neck position
I've found I like the EMG 85 in the bridge and an 81 in the neck.
rupe
Active member
It's typically just an output and eq curve thing to balance the output with the bridge (based on a stronger signal from the strings the farther you move from the bridge.
dass101 mentioned lower impedance = lower output...this is often true but not always. Impedence is not a reliable measure of a pickup's output.
dass101 mentioned lower impedance = lower output...this is often true but not always. Impedence is not a reliable measure of a pickup's output.
racerevlon
Active member
It's a combination of everything everyone has already stated.
When you vibrate a piece of wire (like a guitar string) across a magnet (like a guitar pickup) an electrical/magnetic field is generated. How much electricity or the strength of the magnetic field is determined by a number of factors--size of the magnet, amount of vibration of the wire, etc.
Because the string vibrates more freely at the neck location than at the bridge location (the bridge pickup is closer to the bridge where the string anchors) more energy is generated. So, you could have a bridge pickup with 400 mV output and a neck pickup with, say 350 mV output, and they would sound like they have the same volume due to the fact that there is more energy being generated at the neck position and the pickup is "picking up" more of this energy. Thus, it doesn't take as much output to get the same signal from the neck position.
Then, factor in the math/physics of the scale of the guitar and where the natural harmonics fall, and you get into what was described in the Joe Satriani conversation with regard to getting the neck pickup in a certain position to be right under a specific harmonic. That comes from knowing that on a 25.5" scale guitar harmonic "a" will be x inches from the bridge, harmonic "b" will be y inches from the bridge, etc.
Get out a Strat, a Les Paul, and a Super-Strat with a tape measure and you'll see what they're talking about.
The Truth: There are no "Laws" stating where you can and cannot put a pickup. However, the pickup manufacturers have been doing this a while and characteristically know what sounds better where. That, said, put whatever you want wherever you want it, and if you like the sound, go for it. Typically, something as powerful as a Super Distortion would not sound good in the neck position, but Paul Gilbert used to get around this in Racer X by running a Super Distortion in both the neck and bridge positions, then wiring them in parallel to roll some of the output back and "tame" the neck position pickup.
Bottom line--feel free to experiment, and don't shy away from something just because something says it's a "neck" or "bridge" pickup. Some of the greatest discoveries not only in music but all of science came because someone did something that wasn't "recommended" or "standard."
Cheers,
When you vibrate a piece of wire (like a guitar string) across a magnet (like a guitar pickup) an electrical/magnetic field is generated. How much electricity or the strength of the magnetic field is determined by a number of factors--size of the magnet, amount of vibration of the wire, etc.
Because the string vibrates more freely at the neck location than at the bridge location (the bridge pickup is closer to the bridge where the string anchors) more energy is generated. So, you could have a bridge pickup with 400 mV output and a neck pickup with, say 350 mV output, and they would sound like they have the same volume due to the fact that there is more energy being generated at the neck position and the pickup is "picking up" more of this energy. Thus, it doesn't take as much output to get the same signal from the neck position.
Then, factor in the math/physics of the scale of the guitar and where the natural harmonics fall, and you get into what was described in the Joe Satriani conversation with regard to getting the neck pickup in a certain position to be right under a specific harmonic. That comes from knowing that on a 25.5" scale guitar harmonic "a" will be x inches from the bridge, harmonic "b" will be y inches from the bridge, etc.
Get out a Strat, a Les Paul, and a Super-Strat with a tape measure and you'll see what they're talking about.
The Truth: There are no "Laws" stating where you can and cannot put a pickup. However, the pickup manufacturers have been doing this a while and characteristically know what sounds better where. That, said, put whatever you want wherever you want it, and if you like the sound, go for it. Typically, something as powerful as a Super Distortion would not sound good in the neck position, but Paul Gilbert used to get around this in Racer X by running a Super Distortion in both the neck and bridge positions, then wiring them in parallel to roll some of the output back and "tame" the neck position pickup.
Bottom line--feel free to experiment, and don't shy away from something just because something says it's a "neck" or "bridge" pickup. Some of the greatest discoveries not only in music but all of science came because someone did something that wasn't "recommended" or "standard."
Cheers,
again with this
New member
Thanks racerevlon. good detail. bump for more input