Question Why is the bridge single coil angled?

[adouglas]

I think I know the reason for this, but from time to time I like to check my tenuous hold on reality.

So:

Why is the bridge single-coil pickup on the Big Al SSS (and various SSS guitars, most notably the Str*t) angled?

Discuss.

 

[p5string]

Most likely to get a little more high end bite.

 

[zEch1]

bit more highs on the higher strings and bit more lows on the lower strings! same thing on a F****r P where one half of the split coil is closer to the neck and the other one closer to the bridge. and yes, it is realy as easy as it sounds

 

[Jim C]

I had always assumed it was about tonal balance between high strings and low, yet Spector switches the relationship of the split pup on some of their instruments

I suspect that with active EQ there are more variables at play

 

[MadMatt]

Why is the bridge single-coil pickup on the Big Al SSS (and various SSS guitars, most notably the Str*t) angled?

Being in a mischievous mood I will speculate that it simply looked better that way

 

[oli@bass]

Probably because we generally play further down on the neck for the lower strings and higher up on the neck for the higher strings. Thus a slanted pickup would sort of balance the pickup spot for the fretted string length.

Other than that, I always felt that it's slanted in the wrong direction... I'd assume that to balance the harmonic spectrum of strings the fat ones would need more higher harmonics and the thin ones would need more root note.

 

[zEch1]

Other than that, I always felt that it's slanted in the wrong direction... I'd assume that to balance the harmonic spectrum of strings the fat ones would need more higher harmonics and the thin ones would need more root note.

Guess that's why a certain German company reversed the position of their split coil compared to the classic position.

AFAIK that was also an important part of J.Hendrix unique sound. Since he turned a normal St**t upside down to play it left handed he had his E string where the G shoud be and so on. Therefore had longer lower strings and shorter higher strings and also the angled splitcoil reversed.

sry for non MM off topic talk btw!

 

[Jim C]

AFAIK that was also an important part of J.Hendrix unique sound. Since he turned a normal St**t upside down to play it left handed he had his E string where the G shoud be and so on. Therefore had longer lower strings and shorter higher strings and also the angled splitcoil reversed.

Wow, so obvious although I never had considered it
The again, he probably could get his sound on any guitar being from another planet and all

 

[RocketRalf]

You need more fundamental from the low strings (the root of the chord) and more harmonics from the high strings to cut trough, I think.

 

[oli@bass]

You need more fundamental from the low strings (the root of the chord) and more harmonics from the high strings to cut trough, I think.

So that would make sens for playing chords one a guitar, but not playing lines on a bass.

 

[cellkirk74]

I am in for harmonics too.

 

[adouglas]

My own concept of this also relates to harmonics.

When a string is plucked, the whole harmonic series is set off all at the same time. When we draw this on paper we often just show a single mode of vibration... here's a drawing of a string with several harmonic modes represented separately.

In reality it's a much more complicated motion because all of the harmonics are represented at once.

You can filter out harmonics by touching the string at the various harmonic nodes (i.e. you can filter out the base vibration by touching the string at the 12th fret, leaving only the first harmonic and the even-numbered ones above it, and so on).

If you put the pickup close to the end of the string, you get a similar effect (I think). The closer to the bridge you are, the lower-order harmonics are not as well represented because the pickup can't "see" them. Hence the thinner, more trebly sound of bridge pickups, even though the note being played is the same.

By angling the pickup, the treble side is primarily "seeing" a higher-order harmonic than the bass side. So you get more prominent higher-harmonic overtones on the treble side than on the bass side.

Does that make sense to anyone but me?

 

[Duarte]

It is parallel with the pickguard.

 

[adouglas]

It is parallel with the pickguard.

I thought the pickguard was parallel with the pickup. I stand corrected.

 

[MadMatt]

Yup! Makes perfect sense to me. Thanks for the great explanation.

 

[Duarte]

I thought the pickguard was parallel with the pickup. I stand corrected.

If that was the case, then the single H model would be a bit off!

 

[oli@bass]

By angling the pickup, the treble side is primarily "seeing" a higher-order harmonic than the bass side. So you get more prominent higher-harmonic overtones on the treble side than on the bass side.

Does that make sense to anyone but me?

Yes. Your explanation is more or less what I tried to say as well. However, the question remains is: Why? Why make the bass strings sound duller and the treble strings sound brighter? Especially since the bass strings are sounding duller by nature due to their higher mass... the "Strat" pickup angle is expanding the difference between the strings, while I'd try to equalize their difference.

 

[mynan]

Yes. Your explanation is more or less what I tried to say as well. However, the question remains is: Why? Why make the bass strings sound duller and the treble strings sound brighter? Especially since the bass strings are sounding duller by nature due to their higher mass... the "Strat" pickup angle is expanding the difference between the strings, while I'd try to equalize their difference.

Maybe being that close to the bridge, the bass strings would be too thin-sounding if they were as close to the bridge as the treble strings. Maybe the treble strings gain something (brightness, twang, whatever) by being that close to the bridge.

 

[bovinehost]

Dudley said, "....it changes the harmonic content of what the pickup "sees". Typically it's angled to make the low strings fatter and the high strings brighter."

He also asked rhetorically why dogs performed a certain action....but perhaps that isn't relevant.

 

[JayDawg]

He also asked rhetorically why dogs performed a certain action....but perhaps that isn't relevant.

My guess is because they can...

Someone was asking me the other day if there are any plans for a future HH model?