Vintage Pickups: Long pole? Short pole? None?

[(billydlight)]

I disagree. I think the flat poles sound great!

[(jps)]

I disagree. I think the flat poles sound great!

+10000000000000!

[(mrsparkle)]

Interesting. What I'm really curious about is the change that occurred in the mid 60s, when they made the poles shorter on the underside of the neck pickup, so that they don't have to route the body in a weak point. That's why some of the earlier 60s guitars have bad neck angles, because of that structural weakness -- they've collapsed over time. And yet the earlier pickups supposedly sound better, which is what the original post was asking about. Anybody know exactly when that change occurred?

I can tell you that my '67 360 has a short-pole neck pickup, and a long-pole on the bridge. From day one I thought this was the norm, reasoning that the longer magnets on the bridge PU were intended to help equalize the volume between the bridge and neck PUs. Not until these very helpful online forums came to be did I learn that this was yet another "Rickanomaly". Is there no end to these inconsistencies from Santa Ana? A part of me hopes there isn't - keeps things interesting!

jh

[(apossibleworld)]

I disagree. I think the flat poles sound great!

I never said otherwise! They're all classic sounds.

[(wints)]

More reading and possibly insight here...


viewtopic.php?p=391452#p391452
viewtopic.php?p=446537#p446537

[(chucksimms)]

Thanks for posting those links. I did a search and didn't get those. Very informative.

[(wints)]

[(sys700)]

Between May and August of 66.

[(dnaist)]

Someone earlier in this thread cited a guitar with 2 long pole pups in June '66. My 360/12 was built August '66 and has a short pole neck pup. That narrows it down a bit more.

[(jps)]

I disagree. I think the flat poles sound great!

+10000000000000!

I am going to reiterate this:

Short pole toasters sound amazing in the neck position on basses.

[(iiipopes)]

I recently sold a late 66 short pole pickup 12-string for this very reason. The long pole pickups sound more aggressive and louder.

(sigh) And the short pole tone with the same number of windings is exactly what I like in a neck pickup, also, in both guitar and bass.

[(jps)]

Here is a recording of a short pole toaster wound to 3.598 KΩ, in the neck position on a 4004L.

1230.MP3

Bass Noodle No. 1230 Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2016 All rights reserved.

(2.1 MiB) Downloaded 24 times

Stock RIC strings, played with a pick, not too aggressively. 4004L SPC > Strymon Flint > Radial ProD2 > Marantz PMD661.

[(crstory)]

Very nice recording. Sounds great!