JB bridge placement?

[joho1701]

I had hot rails put at my mustang bridge couple of months back but was never happy with the single coil, too trebly. I brought it in today to route for a JB full size at the bridge. Luthier was talking to me about placing it closer to the bridge where there would be a difference between having more harmonics and less mid-rangy. He had a plastic square that he used to show me the placement. Not really sure what he meant to be honest, but I agreed to have it closer to the bridge. I noticed the pickups on my old yamahas and PRS seem to be about 3/4" from the actual bridge. And most pictures I see online on mustangs with humbuckers as well. The JB is a big job and I don't want to make a mistake. I know I'm dumb about these things and won't know the difference unless I can actually hear it, but can anyone help straighten me out on this subject? In the past I don't recall other luthiers ever asking me about how far to place the pickup from the bridge so I wasn't sure how to respond intelligently to his train of thought.
When I am playing rhythm clean in the bridge I need the warmth, when playing rhythm dirty I like it to sound grungy and when soloing with the humbuckers I like it on the creamy side, with some bite.

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB bridge placement?

The closer to the bridge you get, the more high end and upper mids are emphasized. This means that a JB will sound like it was designed to. It doesn't mean it won't work further away, but the 'sound' of the JB was designed with the pickup in the traditional place. I'd listen to the luthier, and place it closer to the bridge. This might also help if you choose to replace the JB later.

 

[blueman335]

Re: JB bridge placement?

- The closer to the bridge you get, the more high end and upper mids are emphasized.
- This means that a JB will sound like it was designed to.

- To me, JB's 'mids' are a lot like treble, and making them brighter isn't what everyone wants to do with their JB's. Whether you call it upper mids or treble, they're pretty bright to begin with.

- Weren't JB's originally made with roughcast magnets and/or 250K pots? That was to warm them. Many guys here have done the same to their JB's to reduce the sometimes piercing high end. The OP needs to slow down and get a better idea of all this before cutting up his guitar.

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB bridge placement?

I think the initial problem of having the 'Hot Rails being too trebly'. They shouldn't be. They are hot, and full of mids, so I am not sure why they would sound the way they do. A Fender Mustang is a short scale guitar, and from the pics, any routing would be covered by the pickguard, so it should be easy to go back to stock.
However, the big thing here is...if you found the Hot Rails have too much treble, the JB is going to be a lot more.