movable bridge pickup?

[surface54]

why dont they make this?
a device were you can move your bridge pickup back or fowards and you can clamp and set it were you like? i know the guitar wood would need to be hollowed out more where the pickups are.

then you can really focus a better djenty tone the more back you are, and dial in a warmer heavy power chord sound the more you go up.

like a 1 inch back or forwards movablilty design.
is there a standard guitar manufacturer's use to measure how far the pickups are from the string bridge?
just a random thought through my head today.

[JaySwear]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

I think the old Gibson EB used to allow this. Maybe another model, can't remember now...

[ImmortalSix]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

I think the old Gibson EB used to allow this. Maybe another model, can't remember now...

Gibson Grabber

[JaySwear]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

Yes! Thank you, the Grabber. You saved me from a whole lot of headache and wondering as I sit here at work.

[blueman335]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

There's also string nodes to factor in when positioning a PU. Just moving it backwards and forwards isn't all that's going on. You're changing where the nodes (low vibration spots) are. An HB in the middle doesn't sound anything like it does in the bridge or neck, nor does it sound like cross between them, which is why HHH guitars never caught on. I just don't think there's any demand for movable PU's in the first place, and tonewise, you may be in for disappointment after going to all that trouble. Plus, a movable PU would have to sit on some kind of rail system, which may not be the best thing for transferring vibarions from the body wood to the PU.

If you want in-between PU tones, wire your guitar for independent volume controls (I do that to all of mine) and you can blend bridge and neck, and get gradations of bright to dark. Much simpler way to get basically the same thing. Let your volume pots mix in whatever amount of either PU you want. Like blending colors on a pallette. 'Move' each of them volume-wise, instead of physically across the front of the guitar. Having that available (by just switching which lugs the wires go to) is a much simpler way, which makes a movable bridge PU seem like an overly complex solution to a simple problem, and why you don't see them.

[surface54]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

i had no doubts disappointment could be in this picture

[GuitarDoc]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

But, you don't know til you ask. Finding out the facts can/should never be disappointing.

Everything you experience in life can be a success, depending on what you learn from it.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

Sorry for the "lecture". Fatherly instincts, you know.

[richard parker]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

I remember a Strat style guitar with a single HB that could be slid from bridge to neck position. Didn't catch on. We're happy to move our pups up and down to get the right tone, why not back and forward as well ?

[surface54]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

Everything you experience in life can be a success, depending on what you learn from it.

i really like this quote! ive already pasted it on my fb page.

[surface54]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

though i must reask

is there a standard guitar manufacturer's use to set/measure how far the pickups are from the string bridge?

[FuseG4]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

though i must reask

is there a standard guitar manufacturer's use to set/measure how far the pickups are from the string bridge?

yeah there are a few standards, but I don't know the measurements. It has to do with the nodes that form from spots where the fundamental notes and the harmonics cancel out along the string length, or something like that, AFAIK

[crusty philtrum]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

There was a Dan Armstrong guitar in the 70s with a moveable pickup, and there was the Cort Rail bass with a sliding pickup in the 80s.

[ericmeyer4]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

Lindsey Buckinham's guitar has the pickup that pivots. I always thought that was a cool design.

[jeremy]

Re: movable bridge pickup?

i made a test guitar a while ago that you could move the pup. it does cool things but wasnt all that practical.