Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

[J E C]

I am curios about peoples thoughts on the placement of a full size humbucker in the bridge position. I have dun comparative measurements of various different instruments off of face on pictures, (No this is not the most accurate method but it can be used to great affect.) and have concluded that there appears to be no standard that I was able to ascertain. So what sort of measurements do you guys use/have for 25.5" scale? Say from the nut or the 12th fret to the center of the PU or the center of one of the coils?
Thanks, John

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

I don't think there's really a definitive placement for a bridge pickup. It's just wherever you find the pickup to sound best. Companies have their standard placement for sure, but if you're building one yourself, then there's no real place that it has to be in.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

I set up a movable pickup jig in a swimming pool routed body once. Its an interesting and practical way to try different placements and see what potentially could work.

 

[J E C]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

That's a good idea Kramersteen. I don't have anything at the moment that I could do that with. It would help give an idea. I have come up with measurements of between 10 7/16" to 10 3/4" from the 12th fret to the center of the neck side coil. I will have to go into GC with a tape measure and note pad and actually measure some real guitars and report back.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

That's a good idea Kramersteen. I don't have anything at the moment that I could do that with. It would help give an idea. I have come up with measurements of between 10 7/16" to 10 3/4" from the 12th fret to the center of the neck side coil. I will have to go into GC with a tape measure and note pad and actually measure some real guitars and report back.

And like I said, it's not a sure science still It's just wherever the sweet spot for the pickup is in the guitar.

 

[J E C]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

Yep, got that Johnny. Just trying to come up with an idea as to were the most common spot/spots may be. Trying to put my best foot forward as it were, since I haven't used the combination of woods that I am using in this build, and it has been many years since I have dun any building. Thanks man.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

Yep, got that Johnny. Just trying to come up with an idea as to were the most common spot/spots may be. Trying to put my best foot forward as it were, since I haven't used the combination of woods that I am using in this build, and it has been many years since I have dun any building. Thanks man.

I got cha. I've never had a chance to mess with that. I love experimenting with things and finding the best fits for things, so I could see myself in the same position soon.

This does remind me of this bass that I stumbled upon out of nowhere. http://www.spaltinstruments.com/instruments/vviper/ I would have endless amounts of fun with that thing.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

I got cha. I've never had a chance to mess with that. I love experimenting with things and finding the best fits for things, so I could see myself in the same position soon.

This does remind me of this bass that I stumbled upon out of nowhere. http://www.spaltinstruments.com/instruments/vviper/ I would have endless amounts of fun with that thing.

Ive seen some that run on rails and whatever, But mostly i just like this idea.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

Ive seen some that run on rails and whatever, But mostly i just like this idea.

That's just a guitar that I would have so much fun with. I love the labels on the different circuits.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

That's just a guitar that I would have so much fun with. I love the labels on the different circuits.

All the pickups should rotate like that not just the neck. Shame it looks a bit dicky haha.

Actually that would be an easy mod to try.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

This is an important measurement on a guitar and can drastically alter its tone. I've owned guitars I never got along with due to the pickup being too close to the bridge making them too bright. For picking the distance on my own brand of guitars I not only measured a ton of my favorite guitars but I hacked up a strat humbucker guard and scrap body with a huge route and slots instead of mounting screw holes letting me slide the pickup forward and back to find the sweet spot. I don't remember all the measurements since it was around 2 years ago that I did the measuring and testing.

There really is no dead set perfect measurement since like all things guitar related it's subjective and it's even something people mod and request different on guitars. Just saw a video with Jake E Lee where he mentions asking for the bridge pickup to be farther from the bridge than usual to be a bit warmer. Lynch's famous tiger guitar has had the bridge route widened so he can shift the pickup closer to the bridge to make it brighter.

The other thing to consider when looking at pictures is this measurement usually won't change within a brand but due to the bridge used it may look different from guitar to guitar within a brand. A Floyd will make the pickup look closer since the saddles are actually a far distance from the edge of the trem compared to a hardtail that is a short distance from the saddles to the edge of its baseplate.

If you look at these 3 Suhrs with 3 different bridges you'll think the route moves if you judge it off the edge of the bridge. However if you look at where the string breaks over the saddle which is roughly in line with the edge of the tone knob (as a visual reference) you'll see they're all in the same distance from that important point.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

All the pickups should rotate like that not just the neck. Shame it looks a bit dicky haha.

Actually that would be an easy mod to try.

It'd be easier if it was just two single coils. The ones closer to the bridge look a little cramped. I'd love to build one with two P-90's.

 

[J E C]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

Ya, I did noticed the difference in the perceived placement depending on the design of the bridge. Things like that can really throw you off some times, that's why it is always good the take measurements. I have thought it would be cool to have a PU mounted in such a way that you could easily and quickly move it as you were playing, like switching to a different PU.

 

[J E C]

Re: Bridge HB placement for 25.5" scale ?

Spent a little time at a GC yesterday and took some measurements. I was expecting to get some flack about it but it seemed that they could have cared less. Would like to have measured more but I didn't want to push my luck by asking them to get down a bunch I couldn't reach. They didn't have any Jems or JS Ibanezs.
All measurements are from the 12th fret to the center of the neck coil and should be within a 32nd of an inch. I did not keep track of construction type or materials or the model of most items. Would have been a good idea. I was tired and HOPPED UP ON COFFEE BIG TIME. Need more sleep and a lot less coffee! LOL

10 9/16"
Fender Strat
Fender Squire Strat

10 5/8"
EVH
an Ibanez
Jackson Strat
a Jackson

10 3/4"
an Ibanez
Yamaha Pacifica
an LTD
Dean Dave Mustaine V
MusicMan AX10
my Alder bodied test bed

10 15/16"
an LTD 7 string
a Jackson

11"
2 different Schecters

11 1/8"
a Fender Tele

If any one would like to add to this list...Please by all means be my guest.