How do you space your bass? (Pups from strings, that is.)

[Artie]

What kind of distance do you all shoot for between your pups and strings, on a bass. And in my specific instance, QP's on a P-Bass with DR 40-100's Pure Blues.

Thanks;
Artie

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: How do you space your bass? (Pups from strings, that is.)

Like with most pickups, let your ears be the guide. You can have them anywhere that you think they sound good.

Just remember that with a P-Bass pickup (and a Mustang Bass pickup), you tilt the coils for string-to-string balance, you don't run them parallel to the top of the bass. One of several reasons I prefer P pickups over J pickups. String balance is awful on J Basses.

 

[Artie]

Re: How do you space your bass? (Pups from strings, that is.)

Part of the problem is, these fit so tight into the pickguard that they won't "slide" up and down. Makes them hard to adjust. I suppose I could "buff" a little plastic off the pup holes.

Edit: Although, I just thought. The P-bass design allows me to rotate the pickguard out of the way while the pups and strings are still in place. I could tweak the pickup height and then screw the pickguard back down.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: How do you space your bass? (Pups from strings, that is.)

That's too bad. I would just scrape the insides of your pickup routs in the guard with an X-Acto knife.

Yes, you can pull the guard of a P Bass without pulling the pickups...but you shouldn't have to just for a height adjustment. I'd just enlarge the cutout, myself.

 

[Artie]

Re: How do you space your bass? (Pups from strings, that is.)

Yeah. That probably makes more sense. The QP's are just a smidgen larger than the stock pups. Like paper-thickness larger.