Pickup position and magnetic fields on pickups

[jorgercrosa]

Hi! How are you guys doing?

I have searched for this on the forum with no luck, in fact not even Google was able to help me out, so I was hoping you knowledgeable people could enlighten me a bit.

I am building a sort of Bass VI project with a 30.8" scale, and I am going for a HSS config with a humbucker and 2 P90s. I am trying to place each pickup on a sweet spot for better harmonics, and I was thinking about putting the screw coil of the bridge humbucker where the 60th fret would be, the middle P90 where the 36th fret would be, and the neck pickup where the 24th fret would be. These seem like reasonable positions within my project, but I was hoping I could move them up or down a little bit without compromising the main idea, so my question is, would you guys happen to know how wide is the magnetic field over the screw coil of a humbucker and over the center of a P90? Would you be able to give an estimate on tye size of these magnetic fields?

I intend to use a Holydiver bridge, a Manhattan bridge and a Mississippi Queen neck for that matter.

Thanks!

[darkandrew]

I don't know if this going to be of any help but from my memory of doing this sort of stuff at college, magnetic fields are toroidal not spherical (ie doughnut shaped, rather than round). This should mean, if my train of thought makes sense, that the magnetic field will actually be weaker directly above the screws (the hole in the centre of the doughnut) and actually stronger off-centre. I could of course be completely wrong!

[Kiichi]

If you have not yet IŽd definetly shoot BKP a mail about this. IŽd be surprised if Tim could not help you out with some insight.

[jorgercrosa]

Thank you, guys! That actually makes a lot of sense, darkandrew! So I should reposition the pickups after all...

I thought about messaging Tim, maybe I should.

[jorgercrosa]

Well, for those of you also interested on the subject, I have found this: http://www.skguitar.com/SKGS/sk/Images/pickups/Pickup%20stuff/Magnetics.htm

Very cool to see how a P90 works for instance. I will definitely be able to place it below the 24th fret and get the best out of the 2nd fundamental harmonic area.

I was a bit surprised to see how a single coil with double rails work... The string pull in my Cobras are quite strong, so that might have something to do with it.

I was also surprised nobody jumped in to warn me about the Holydiver not being tight enough for a baritone/bass vi hehehe... Well, since this guitar will be used mostly for complex chords and clean passages, I am excited to see how the Holydiver will work, since it is so great for soloing on the bridge. I am expecting it to be a little loose, but I am hoping that the fat mids on a extended scale will work for what I have in mind.

[Kiichi]

Thanks for following up with the info for us too!

I did not even think that much about the actual pickup selection at all, but yeah, depending on how the natural tone from the wood comes out the HD might not be the exact best choice. If you can still adjuct you might want to consider the "little brother" (as some forum member called it or so) of the HD, the BD. That one is known to work brilliantly with extended scales, being one of the prime recomendations for both classic sounds and extended range metal with character.

[jorgercrosa]

Hey Kitchi! Glad you enjoyed the link I posted.

The thing is guitar building is very addictive, and currently I have more pickups than guitars... I've recently found out that what was supposed to be a Cold Sweat neck I got on a trade was a Holydiver bridge instead, so I need to find a place for it in this project, or I'll probably build another super strat just to have a place for the HD. And 14 guitars is just too many hehehe.

I do have a plan B though. The bass vi is actually one side of a double neck guitar, 28" and 30.8" scales. It is a mahogany neck through, cedar body and brazilian rosewood fretboards guitar. I have 5 humbucker slots total (bridge and neck on the 28", bridge, EBMM "sweet spot" and neck on the 30.8"), and I have the following options to try out: Miracle Man bridge, Holydiver bridge, Cold Sweat set, Mississippi Queen set and Manhattan bridge.

I also have a mistery BKP that is likely to be either a Nailbomb or an Emerald neck, based on DC readings. I would love to try a Nailbomb neck on the bridge position of my project, I think its woody character will be great paired with the Manhattan bridge and the Mississippi Queen neck.

The point is I am willing to try them all, but I am hoping the Holydiver would meet my expectations. I loved the HD on my Charvel Model 3, but I love the C-Bomb set currently on it even more hehehe.

[Dave Sloven]

How much is this instrument going to weigh?  I'm glad it doesn't have any maple in it.

[jorgercrosa]

Actually this guitar already exists, and it doesn't weight much. It is as heavy as a les paul for instance. The cedar we have in Brazil is not that heavy.

That guitar used to have H-S on the top neck and S-S-S on the bottom, but that wasn't working out for me, so I applied a walnut veneer so I can redo its pickup config. I would post picks, but I don't know how hehehehe.

[Dave Sloven]

You can upload pics to http://imgur.com/ and then post the text in the 'BB code (message boards and forums)' field into the post.  This forum automatically resizes the photos, so don't worry about that.

Like this (note Brazilian theme):

[jorgercrosa]

Like this?



I know you are into RDP and other brazilian bands hehehe... I also know you have or had a guitar with a Warpig bridge and a Mississippi Queen neck if I recall correctly, so feel free to comment on my P90s pickup choices! :-)

[jorgercrosa]

Well, that did not work hahaha
Here are the links:

http://imgur.com/Bl9mX8c
http://imgur.com/Achxalt

[Dave Sloven]

Well, that did not work hahaha
Here are the links:

You need the [ img ] &[ /img ] fields (without the spaces) and the jpg suffix for it to work.

I have a big R.D.P. tattoo on my right elbow!



But no I don't have a Mississippi Queen.

I have a Stockholm P-90 in an SG Junior and a Warpig bridge in an SG Special.

I think a Stockholm or even a Supermassive would be too hot in the neck for a Holy Diver.  A MQ though could be just right

[jorgercrosa]

I did put the [ img ] the first time, but it didn't work... Go figure.

Nice tattoo! RDP is awesome!

Thanks for the feedback on the P90s!

J.

[Dave Sloven]

It was missing the .jpg as well

Just look for the box that give the code for message boards and copy that and paste it in, works a treat each time.

Cheers and no worries!