Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

[NUNOSLASH]

I dont know much about pickups, so my question is this:

Ive seen some PUPS that are "for the neck", or "for the bridge", for example, the Jazz neck...but what happens if you put a Jazz neck on the bridge? or viceversa?? I read that the amount of wire was different cause of more string vibration on the neck, but does it makes a lot of difference? I have 2 crazy 8s, that are supposed to be for the bridge, so i dont know if its "correct" to put one on the neck...what do you think??

 

[blueman335]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

Go by the ohms, which is a measurement of resistence & output. The neck should have the lowest ohms, the bridge the most, and a middle PU somewhere in between. This keeps the volumes levels in balance, otherwise the neck PU is much louder.

As long as the bridge has a higher ohm reading, you can use anything in the neck, even a "bridge" pickup. Example: a '59B works well in a neck slot when paired with a C5.

If a neck PU is too hot though, the tone gets dark & muffled as the increased windings (and higher ohms readings) boost mids & cut treble. Look at SD's neck pickups & you'll see that most are 7,500 to 8,000 ohms. You want clarity & treble in a neck PU. Whatever PU works for you in that spot is good.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

There are some pu's that work well in both neck and bridge -- which is the way it was in the old days, there was no such thing as a "neck" or "bridge" pickup. You used the same pickup in both or all 3 positions.

These days there's more of a science to it and pickups are now specially calibrated for each position to account for the fact that there is less string vibration the closer you get to the bridge, and more the closer you get to the 12th fret.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

There are some pu's that work well in both neck and bridge -- which is the way it was in the old days, there was no such thing as a "neck" or "bridge" pickup. You used the same pickup in both or all 3 positions.

These days there's more of a science to it and pickups are now specially calibrated for each position to account for the fact that there is less string vibration the closer you get to the bridge, and more the closer you get to the 12th fret.

Exactly. So most of us prefer a pickup with more output at the bridge and less output at the neck. Lew

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

Go by the ohms, which is a measurement of resistence & output. The neck should have the lowest ohms, the bridge the most, and a middle PU somewhere in between. This keeps the volumes levels in balance, otherwise the neck PU is much louder.

As long as the bridge has a higher ohm reading, you can use anything in the neck, even a "bridge" pickup. Example: a '59B works well in a neck slot when paired with a C5.

If a neck PU is too hot though, the tone gets dark & muffled as the increased windings (and higher ohms readings) boost mids & cut treble. Look at SD's neck pickups & you'll see that most are 7,500 to 8,000 ohms. You want clarity & treble in a neck PU. Whatever PU works for you in that spot is good.

Please don't perpetuate the myth that dc resistance is equal to output. The magnet has way more to do with it.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

Please don't perpetuate the myth that dc resistance is equal to output. The magnet has way more to do with it.

Generally speaking, if all other things are equal (same magnet and same wire) a pickup with a higher DC resistance will have more wire wraped around the coil and more output.

Personally, I feel that different magnets (alnico 2 vs. alnico 4 vs. alnico 5 vs. ceramic) affects the tone more than the output.

As an example, the Duncan Custom (ceramic), Custom Custom (alnico 2), and Custom 5 (alnico 5) all have an identical number of turns of the same wire and are the same pickup except for the use of a different magnet type in each.

I don't hear any of them as having a HUGE differance in output or perceived volume, although the Custom with the ceramic magnet might be loudest and the Custom Custom with the alnico 2 magnet might have slightly less output.

But I think the diff in output is not as dramatic as the diff in overall tone.

Lew

 

[theodie]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

Generally speaking, if all other things are equal (same magnet and same wire) a pickup with a higher DC resistance will have more wire wraped around the coil and more output.

Personally, I feel that different magnets (alnico 2 vs. alnico 4 vs. alnico 5 vs. ceramic) affects the tone more than the output.

As an example, the Duncan Custom (ceramic), Custom Custom (alnico 2), and Custom 5 (alnico 5) all have an identical number of turns of the same wire and are the same pickup except for the use of a different magnet type in each.

I don't hear any of them as having a HUGE differance in output or perceived volume, although the Custom with the ceramic magnet might be loudest and the Custom Custom with the alnico 2 magnet might have slightly less output.

But I think the diff in output is slight...and the diff in overall tone is pretty dramatic.

Lew

Take Dimarzio pickups and their airbucker technology and things of that sort (whatever kind of snake oil Dimarzio is cooking up LOL). There is spacers between the poles and magnets. Even though a pickup from them may be 17K+, it might only be PAF sort of output. Resistance is a clue to how much output it could have but, it is not an indication of what it will have.

 

[NUNOSLASH]

Re: Question about bridge, neck and PUPS

thanks for the answers... but i need specific help about 2 neck Crazy 8 Pups, do you think 2 of them could co-exist on the same guitar? or the neck one would be louder??