Spacing question

green_us90 · Post by **green_us90** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:57 pm

I know the LK bass has 3ea pickups.
My Question- why are they placed where they are in relation to the scale length, to pickup different harmonics and overtones?

Also, from the nut, what are the on center measurements for each pickup?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:19 pm

There was a Lemmy bass that had 2 pickups and the 3 pickup models had different configurations ...

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:50 am

I'm really surprised that no one has modded there CII or Larado with 3 pickups 'ala Lemmy.

heinpete · Post by **heinpete** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 1:48 am

I'm not Lemmy, I don't play (like) his style, I don't like his sound, I drink different beer...
Most of all I heard one of his PUs is a dummy (sorry, I only said this about one of his PUs)?

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:09 am

It's not a p/u that's a dummy....it's the 4003 p/u surround/cover on Lemmy's personal LK that is empty.

If I was refinishing a 4004 I'd certainly add a 3rd p/u but none of mine need a refinish so I haven't done it yet. I was kicking around installing a piezo bridge for the 3rd p/u but it would run about $600 to do it the way I want and I'm not sure it would be worth it right now.

I'll measure the distances from the nut this afternoon.

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:34 am

"There was a Lemmy bass that had 2 pickups..."

This one:

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:54 am

the reality is that going from 2 to 3 pickups on bass does not improve the sound the way that going from 1 pickup to 2 pickups does ...

I have built and played 3 pickup basses ... with the right pickups in the right locations a 2 pickup bass will do pretty much what most people need a bass to do ...

Part of the Rickenbacker sound is the specific location of the bridge and neck pickups ... that is part of what makes the 4001/4003 basses sound the way they do ... that is also part of why a p-bass and a jazz bass sound the way they do ...

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:11 am

I totally disagree. I had Phantom custom-make a bass for me with 3-pickups after owning a 2-pickup one for a couple years. The 3rd pickup and the 6-way selector provided a big improvement in tone(much more punch when the middle pickup is in the circuit), not to mention a wider selection of different tones.