Bass Pickup Positions, and Combinations - Bass With 5 Pickups

[@carpediemarts705]

5 pickups = 5 places to put my thumb.

[@Skelterbane69]

Floating thumb gang disagrees

[@jwaj]

Pick gang

[@Ampher03]

@@Skelterbane69 pickups as ramps gang agrees with Carpe

[@petrmoczek]

5 string = a thumbrest on B string anywhere you want

[@Bradyjohnson391]

@@jwajI wish I could play with a pick

[@electronicornpartypus3948]

This is one of the most unique, informative and well-executed bass videos I've ever seen. Thank you.

[@mikedeeez]

Many thanks!!

[@oscarsantos2608]

You bet! 👌

[@BunchyMutt]

@@mikedeeez SUCH a valuable video. Many thanks. I love the full punchiness of the second-from-neck pickup. Is there any way you could measure the distance from the nut to the center of that pickup?

[@mikedeeez]

@@BunchyMutt Thanks! Sure thing. From the EDGE of the nut (i.e. the side closest to the 1st fret), the distance to the centerline of that pickup is 29-1/8".

[@BunchyMutt]

@@mikedeeez awesome, many thanks! Can't wait to translate that to a few different builds and scale lengths

[@wszystkojedno696]

No one asked, everybody waited. Thank you!

[@patrickhunter]

Dude this is seriously so awesome! Hahaha

[@TheDD1255]

Hi dude, love your content btw.

[@ts4gv]

It’s absolutely shocking how few basses with wild pickup configs like this there are. There’s definitely a market for this kind of thing.

[@svenjansen2134]

Ask your local guitar guy.

[@LayneStaley999]

In this bass, there are precision, jazz, and stingray basses in one

[@gingerjam2192]

And clavinet 03:44

[@marvinrockon]

And Rickenbacker, and Warwick's, and some Dingwalls, and B.C. Rich's. Most of them out there in fact.

[@Ampher03]

@@gingerjam2192 the clav thing is so cool. Thst alone makes me want a bass with that position

[@Mark-vv1dy]

@@Ampher03Some Alembics have that pickup position. The Stanley Clarke signature model definitely does, and Zach Smith uses it a lot in his stuff with Pinback and Three Mile Pilot. It can sound super guitar-like because Alembic pickups can get so clear with the filter turned up. "Good To Sea" is a good example.

[@jacobsmith1877]

Also Alembic and Warwick

[@mostyles328]

It’s amazing to hear a Precision, Jazz, Stingray, Rick, PJ in one bass. Leo definitely knew that not all pickup placements are desirable. I think I could get sounds anyone would want with 2 quad coil MM at the bridge and neck with only a few switches. Great video Man!

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! Completely agree; even after trying dozens of settings on this bass, the "classic" Leo pickup setups are often still the best ones for most cases. (2) quad-coil MMs is a great idea - you could get lots of flexibility. Nice.

[@juliorolandi6694]

Yes! like the Peavey T-40, I'm just starting to learn bass on a PJ, but I already want to build a P bass with the Peavey T-40 configuration or similar, I will call it the P40

[@300ampeg]

Great "one-stop" video that helped with pick-up placement for a bass mod project I've got coming up.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! Best of luck!

[@Melkor0410]

Hey man. Would be cool if you could show us a wiring schematic for this.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks! At the moment the wiring diagram is kind of in bits and pieces, but I'm going to try to put it all together, I'll let you know if I do. I may even make a video of it if I can get time.

[@mikedeeez]

Just posted it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ml7cqpqvp8d0hac

[@BassAdvisor]

This video will be really helpful for all the bassists in the coming years. The double inverted split coil sounds really good!

[@M_EvoBass]

I think you've just answered every begginers first big question, you know the one that keeps you awake when you start learning to play 😂 Brilliantly done sir 👏

[@matthiazH]

best video to watch for those that will make a custom bass

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!!

[@Vossst]

Instantly one of my favourite bass videos. Every luthier should watch this. Funny, but the classic split coil is still my favourite. I know it was mentioned but I do wish the pickups continued up closer to the neck. (Fingers crossed for a sequel.)

[@rdc9966]

Boy you were killing that liquid sunshine Parliament 🤘🏿🤘🏿🤘🏿 keeping it funky

[@dr.riccardo3575]

This would actually make for a good session bass. Having that much versatility in one instrument would be really practical for session musicians

[@TonyPuleo1]

I think pickup position is the most overlooked aspect in bass guitar design. Great job, 😎🤙🏽💥

[@mikedeeez]

Many thanks!!

[@YoLiekSeup]

This is great. Glad someone finally did something like this!

[@shreddinger]

When I hear any two pickups that are next to each other I can't help but think abt nolly Love it!

[@perrysar5954]

I thought thus guy was nuts but he recorded a very intelligent video with great playing and graphics...CONGRATS!

[@bassplayer9432]

Great comparison - Thumbs up for taking the time to do this!

[@InternationalBassStation]

Haha, man , when all 5 are on, there's a clear reason why you don't just throw pickups in any old position. Phase issues like crazy, almost no high end coming out at all. This is a great experiment. I appreciate the effort!

[@vince8081]

Seriously instructive, the 5 pickups at the same time sound so massive !!! Love that.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!!

[@hetschhog]

Awesome experiment.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks for the comment!! It's an honor, I have been a huge fan of your Stingray magnet/EQ and Stingray vs. Sterling videos for years! Great videos - cheers.

[@maoa-cdh1389]

All combinations render a unique and amazing sound! As a simple man I can’t accept this… I would spent hours switching all over back and forth not deciding which would be the best! 🤯 Great experiment! 🧪

[@willyjgonzalez6560]

This was awesome! But man I recognized the sound of the jazz bass configuration without looking at the screen! Same for the Precision! Iconic placement/sound!😅

[@krzychood]

Such an underrated video, I feel like especially on bass, pickup positioning makes such a huge difference. Thank you for this, great video!

[@juliangramajo7010]

the "streamer" position sounded awesome to me

[@ricardog.s2505]

Finally, the legendary bass guitar final boss, the JJJJJ Bass

[@CaribbeanPhotoGuy]

Well executed and rather scientific. Well done

[@richardgudino7630]

Thank you so much for this, you've saved much time and expense to help me realize that I am, after all, a precision pup man.

[@WilDBeestMF]

This is about the coolest bass I've ever seen with reference to electronics. Holy cow.

[@Igormeister]

Because SCIENCE! ✊ Well played, my good Sir. Kudos ❤

[@georgesmith5005]

Wow that's a lot of tone I like what I'm hearing👍🏿 🎸🎵🔊👍🏿

[@danielirvine7468]

The amount of work you had to put in to this video is amazing Well done on the vid very impressed Will watch with again with headphones later Thanks for the time you spent doing this

[@kazoss024]

6:18 the best tone ever, that warwick-ish tone

[@bass186]

Thank you so much for this... I really digged the streamer config with mics 2 and 4.

[@nomadenview]

Big respect for your hard work.... 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@mikedeeez]

Many thanks!

[@TheLastCrankers]

Finally! A question that noone asked, but was curious of the answer.

[@bertrandmajorik6589]

BASS player here, WHAT A MANIAC!!!!! And I thought I was coucou !!! All 5 sounds monstrous !!!

[@PS-fg3hp]

This is priceless info for builders and those looking for "their" sound. Time for the Bass With 10 pickups. (to approx basses with humbuckers close to the neck and double HB basses)

[@PS-fg3hp]

That second pickup (from the neck) sounded hotter than the rest. U noticed that?

[@StuntcatTV]

Wow, that's amazing. I bet some studio musicians would kill for a bass like this one

[@Gerry926]

I'm giving a "like" because you're out of your mind... and I dig it!!

[@mikedeeez]

Ha, thanks!!

[@bigwave1827]

And I thought I was crazy to have put 3 Bartolini single coils on my 5 strings !!! Congratulations Mike for your experiment: the tonal palette is varied with a number of combinations. You did an incredible job in wiring! Mythical!

[@mikedeeez]

Many thanks!! Hey, the 3 Bartolinis sounds awesome too, nice! What kind of bass?

[@bigwave1827]

@@mikedeeez Thanks! It must be said that the Bartolini have a beautiful sound. Being able to combine them, alternating and mixing them both in series and in parallel, is fun. The bass is a 5 strings of lutherie but I didn't like his hand made pickups. I had to do a total and radical restyling .. Your work is incredible: unimaginable to have all these sounds in one instrument! I'm shooting your video to all the bass players I know!

[@mikedeeez]

@@bigwave1827 You rock, thanks!! Wow, your bass sounds sweet. Happy playing!

[@slando7033]

I love the sound of all the pickups on that sounded way better than I thought

[@BarefacedAudio]

This is excellent - and sounds like I expect, which is reassuring! I’ve always felt that pickup position was bizarrely overlooked considering what a fuss people make about pickup type, and had long been planning to make some videos explaining/demoing this. Great work!

[@mikedeeez]

Wow, thank you!! Very much appreciate the comment; it's seriously an honor. I think I have watched/liked every single one of your videos, and Barefaced are literally my only bass and guitar cabs (I'm up to 5 BF cabs, and counting!). Nothing but respect for you and your products! 🙏 I totally agree about pickup position. It seems like this really forms the vast majority of the basic "character" of the sound. Yes, many other factors like pickup construction do modify the sound to greater or lesser degrees, but (for example) a pickup right near the neck will simply never sound the same as a pickup near the bridge because the basic harmonic content is so different. My theory as to why there are tons of video comparisons of pickup types is just that there are tons of PRODUCTS available to compare. Manufacturers can offer lots of different pickup variations as aftermarket mods because it's sell-able - which is fine, and yes, pickup construction definitely makes some difference. But you can't really "sell" pickup positions, other than saying your instrument gets the pickups right where "classic guitar X" has them - and that's really not very sexy marketing. 😄 And modding the position in an existing instrument is obviously quite a bit more difficult than just dropping in a replacement pickup. But it sure makes way more difference, at least in my experience!

[@BarefacedAudio]

@@mikedeeez well there’s a surprise, I wasn’t expecting you to know who we are let alone be such a well-equipped Barefaced owner! 🙌 Would you be up for me borrowing some of this video to make my own video talking about what you’ve done and what you’re showing, obviously directing viewers back to you for the full version?

[@mikedeeez]

@@BarefacedAudio Thanks for asking! Absolutely yes - please feel free to! Just happy to share the knowledge, and having anything in a Barefaced video would be a complete honor. And many thanks again for all your help via emails guiding me to the right BF cabs over the last couple of years! 👍 Cheers At some point I'd like to do a video featuring the BF cabs - it's in the queue of planned videos. It'll be a complimentary plug for BF for sure.

[@gambleriver]

Without a doubt, this is one of the best ideas and well executed demonstrations I've ever seen on the entire Tube of Yous, and you Sir are truly a Scholar and a Gentleman. In the immortal words of Skinny Pete: "Yo, church bro!!" Complete, utter and pure respect (with a healthy dose of I'm-not-worthy full two hand bowing). Killer idea, killer demo!!! Thank you!!!

[@mikedeeez]

You are very welcome!! My pleasure.

[@McOuroborosBurger]

This video is gonna blow up

[@UncommonSense.]

Stick that in a Jazz and I'm all over it. Great job.

[@theraditz]

Woow I loved this experiment! My favorites are P and MM St

[@chrisbardolph]

I like the Streamer position. Just aggressive enough but still some fullness. I’m about to do something similar with a double Musicman pickup setting.

[@mikedeeez]

Sounds awesome, good luck with the build!

[@MuddButters]

Definitely a cool and well constructed video.

[@vangelis.gavalakis]

Thank you for all the work you put into this and for sharing.

[@diegoalejo15]

beautiful experiment! thanks! my quick conclusion is 2 pickups combinations provide the best sounds, and any of those combinations are great.

[@diegoalejo15]

I mean all of those combinations are great

[@ovortron72]

That’s a crazy demo.

[@arnlmndza]

Thanks for this. Seems like you just did what Leo previously did, which is good for us as we hear those combinations for ourselves.

[@cuneytsonmez]

What an effort?!? After this, I'm waiting for the version which contains a pickup per fret.

[@redmodpedals9100]

that's great, thanks! The difference is HUGE even for few cms

[@stevepethel6843]

Love that idea of all equal pickups compared to placement

[@a-bass-player]

Great project!

[@leighcoulson2148]

Great. Best for me was the P, J and PJ, which shows (to me) why these pickup positions are popular.

[@rainbowslushy223]

All 5 with a pick sounds amazing

[@MrTfuzz]

reverse p bass neck and bridge fully open in series sounds amazing to me..sir..you just made up my mind for me about what I'm going to do with the extra pickups I have laying around..time to get out my tools..I need this setup in my life..great stuff!

[@The_Man_in_the_Black_Hat]

I like the sound of all 5 pickups. It looks like you have room for 3 more. Do it!

[@iancheyne2672]

Fascinating...and very enlightening...thanks!😀

[@LukeLendrum]

Found you with that 2eq vs 3eq video which was phenomenal work when I was deciding whether to buy a Stingray special. This video is on a whole nother level. This is a genius experiment and deserves a million views. Keep doing what you're doing.

[@mikedeeez]

My pleasure - many thanks!! Rock on! 🤘🤘

[@barondavis5692]

Wow, what a great post. Likes like you put some serious time into making the bass then editing the video. Thanks.

[@setaylw]

Not only do I love basses with multiple pickups but I also love that you played some Parliament and some Whatnauts in the demo!

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! YES!! Funk on! 🤘🤘

[@quaz18]

very interesting and love the animation showing the positions. now you just need like 2-5 more starting at the neck and meeting the others in the middle.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! Ha, yes, I kind of regret not doing that now. Just 5 pickups seemed crazy to me when I built it, but now I kind of wish I had gone all the way to the neck!

[@LaFritePerreGoat]

@@mikedeeez boosty collins style i would love that

[@Ampher03]

@@mikedeeez slap would’ve been a pain tho

[@avital2166]

I'm a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant I believe it has made life much easier for a lot of people And especially for me Thank you so much for the hard work I really appreciate it🙏🙏🙏🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@mikedeeez]

You're welcome, my pleasure!!

[@keeprocking3620]

The man, the legend. Hats off, my dude

[@justcallmed933]

wow, what a frankenstein bass :D anyway thanks for the video, definitely the best explanation i've seen

[@DrexWiln]

Really perfect bass! Suitable for most styles of music

[@thomas.thomas]

Most? ^^

[@stevebadachmusic]

absolute mad lad! i love it. very cool experiment. that's a lot of magnets pulling on the strings.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! You're right, and I also thought it might sound really "dead" because of all of the magnets. But when I play it, honestly I can't really tell a difference from any other bass. I think I've seen other videos where people did experiments with "magnet pull", and the results seemed to be that it actually wasn't a huge deal? But who knows - I'm sure everyone's personal experience may vary!

[@vladimirvojinovic4026]

Great demo. Thank you.

[@johnsausage]

What a gem of a video! ♥ The only thing I miss are these combinations (from left (bridge) to right (neck)) 1: off, 2: J, 3: off, 4+5: Reverse PJ 1: off, 2: off, 3: off, 4: J, 5: J (parallel) 1: off, 2: off, 3: J, 4: off, 5: J (parallel) You could also do even more of a crazy mode by putting in 3 pickups and putting them on rails! 🤩♥

[@Ampher03]

This is something I’ve always wanted to see. Thank you

[@lartensgrill6106]

Great video! Double P for the win!

[@DevilsFourString]

Would love to hear the 2nd and 3rd pickups from the neck together, as well as reverse p/j. Also, this bass needs a pickup in the rice neck position, since we're going this far anyway. Great experiment, great video, great work all around.

[@rodrigodepierola]

We need moooooooooore pickups even close to the neck. Seriously, great video and some sound combinations were really crazy. The bridge pickup alone is uselss as a bass pickup but in a combo with the neck one it gave the sound an interesting tone.

[@Just-Michael]

That pickup closest to the bridge is such a cool sound and I think it would be a cool mod for a Passive or Jazz bass to blend in for more twang.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks! Totally agreed.

[@devlintaylor9520]

Slap with that pickup kinda gets close to a clavinet sound

[@paringatai]

This is a cool video man....thanks very much....very inspirational

[@THAvidinc]

This was a really cool video, great experiment. One other thing to mention though is that the same model pickup in the bridge and neck positions aren't actually the exact same for most companies; the bridge pickup is usually overwound to compensate for the tighter vibration at the bridge end of the strings, i.e. smaller wave amplitude which leads to a weaker signal, to keep the bridge and neck outputs balanced. So that's another factor if you bought all pickups for 1 position.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! You are absolutely right; that is a great point. I was actually surprised to find out that according to Dimarzio's website, both the neck and bridge Area J models supposedly have the same resistance (7.80 Kohm), although I'm not sure if that's true; I should have tested them. I agree it seems much more common to have the bridge pickup overwound. And even if they do have the same resistance, I'm not sure that this literally means they have the same output. So yes, I totally agree that there may be a slight difference. I wish I could have gone with all 5 the same, but the string spacing wouldn't have matched. :(

[@lltoolbox]

That was super fun to see. Such a cool demo.

[@sixtyninerrr69]

thanks for this epic inventive idea!

[@fysy9989]

I love this video, well done!

[@HansyPants184]

Closest to bridge almost sounds like a Rhodes at times. Super cool!

[@stanfie1d]

This is awesome! I like to mess with pickup wirings in my guitars, but I have never moded their location due to obvious difficulties. And the pickup placing is very important for basses

[@NtWarlock]

One of the best video i've seen. Interesting, useful and well made. I'm mainly interested in the "rick" and "mm" sound, which we don't normally hear on a jazz bass. you should make more of these basses and sell them!

[@presentrlb]

Check out Fender's signature Flea bass.

[@eds6889]

Thanks for this video. I have two PJazz style basses with the reverse P configuration so I wish you had have recorded that one as well as I swear by that setup and don’t play any others anymore. Great comparison video and I wouldn’t mind borrowing that bass for a few experiments myself.

[@mikedeeez]

Thanks!! I agree, I wish I had done that configuration, as well as some others. Unfortunately I just ran out of time - too many combinations to try! You're totally right, "J / reverse P" sounds great on a lot of basses, thanks for the suggestion! Cheers

[@reidnoble457]

When the leftmost and rightmost pickups are on together it almost sounds like a Danelectro 58/59-- the wide space between the pickups gives it that same hollowness. Love this idea!

[@NickThunnda]

Beautiful experiment👍

[@palafunk]

Awesome !!! really cool video !! thanks for share

[@mikesmusicden]

Great video; thank you for taking the time to make the mod and the video!

[@raytar84]

One of the greatest bass video on YT. Thx!

[@mikedeeez]

Many thanks!! 🙏

[@basslinephunk3441]

NICE DUDE! Parliament-Funkadelic great choice of bassline. 👍🏽

[@whatsupn3rds832]

Yes! Great video!

[@arrakian]

🙌🏾Shout-out for the Motor Booty 🤩

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Awesome work! Taking the mystery out of pickup technobabble.

[@flambr]

Wow, just wow

[@jpdabass]

Really cool! Excelent video, thanks a lot!