Double P placement

Dubious Aa

Dubious Aa

May 13, 2020
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#1
If you have a double split P and a tape measure, can you help me out here?
Im building a parts bass but turning a single split P into a Double split P.
I will be routing new cavities.

What are your centers Of the pickups from the nut and from the bridge?
What make and model is it?
I have a few curiosities about this configuration.

My blank slate 34” scale
(Glarry body, my own custom pg)
2BA6424B-1F27-46B2-8B4D-4008D4A04D05.jpeg


Thanks for the help!
 
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#2
Will you do the classic P orientation or reverse P orientation? I don’t have a stock double P to measure, but when I messed with a beater bass once (with a large swim pool route), I found that dual reverse P in 70s jazz positions worked really well. I also don’t have my measurements with me, but they there’s a thread here where someone posted a link to a google file with measures from many basses. If I recall, jazz neck pickup is about 705 mm from the nut. I believe 70s spacing is 4”, or about 100 mm.
 
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#4
ThudThudThud said:
View attachment 4357263
Tried and trusted. Seems to have been successful.
Click to expand...

This!



I have also personally pondered on having a reverse P pickup cavity routed in the bridge position of my P (reverse)/J Ibanez Mikro Bass, just expanding the current bridge J pickup cavity (I realize there is going to be a bit of a gap), only having an EMG Geezer Butler P installed in my Mikro Bass currently.

Properly having the new DiMarzio Sixties P, or perhaps the Relentless P, installed in the bridge position then, and keeping the EMG Geezer Butler in the neck position.

However would you wire the bridge pickup backwards (reversing the wires compared to how you would normally wire it), to insure the pickups are not out of phase with each other when both are on, or how to go through with this?
 
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#5
NoiseNinja said:
This!



I have also personally pondered on having a reverse P pickup cavity routed in the bridge position of my P (reverse)/J Ibanez Mikro Bass, just expanding the current bridge J pickup cavity (I realize there is going to be a bit of a gap), only having an EMG Geezer Butler P installed in my Mikro Bass currently.

Properly having the new DiMarzio Sixties P, or perhaps the Relentless P, installed in the bridge position then, and keeping the EMG Geezer Butler in the neck position.

However would you wire the bridge pickup backwards (reversing the wires compared to how you would normally wire it), to insure the pickups are not out of phase with each other when both are on, or how to go through with this?
Click to expand...


Oh, im thinking a phase reverse switch on one of the 2 as well as a series parallel option.

ill be testing options of placement on a test jig i made up with a 2x6 and an ibanez neck.

for now, im just gathering info.
 
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#6
ThudThudThud said:
View attachment 4357263
Tried and trusted. Seems to have been successful.
Click to expand...

NoiseNinja said:
This!



I have also personally pondered on having a reverse P pickup cavity routed in the bridge position of my P (reverse)/J Ibanez Mikro Bass, just expanding the current bridge J pickup cavity (I realize there is going to be a bit of a gap), only having an EMG Geezer Butler P installed in my Mikro Bass currently.

Properly having the new DiMarzio Sixties P, or perhaps the Relentless P, installed in the bridge position then, and keeping the EMG Geezer Butler in the neck position.

However would you wire the bridge pickup backwards (reversing the wires compared to how you would normally wire it), to insure the pickups are not out of phase with each other when both are on, or how to go through with this?
Click to expand...


ive seen that, thanks!
Totally awesome and a great starting point for my curiosity adventure.
 
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#7
NoiseNinja said:
However would you wire the bridge pickup backwards (reversing the wires compared to how you would normally wire it), to insure the pickups are not out of phase with each other when both are on, or how to go through with this?
Click to expand...

If you reverse the wires of the bridge pickup, that will guarantee that it will be out of phase with the neck pickup. That will not make you happy.
 
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#8
ctmullins said:
If you reverse the wires of the bridge pickup, that will guarantee that it will be out of phase with the neck pickup. That will not make you happy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that.

As I guess should be pretty obvious I am not exactly all that well versed in electronics, but I guess this confusion stems from me seeming to remember that the bridge pickup of a neck/bridge pickup set normally having reversed polarity in relation to the neck pickup, which admittedly I might have gotten wrong, or polarity might not really be related to phase.

So there should be no issues, neither with both of them full on, with just wiring both P pickups exactly as you would if there was only one, except for of course in this case respectively wiring them up to a pickup selector switch, pickup blend pot or to each their own volume control (I would probably use a pickup blend pot)?
 
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#9
NoiseNinja said:
So there should be no issues, neither with both of them full on, with just wiring both P pickups exactly as you would if there was only one, except for of course in this case respectively wiring them up to a pickup selector switch, pickup blend pot or to each their own volume control (I would probably use a pickup blend pot)?
Click to expand...

Yep, that’s right!

Matched sets of neck/bridge single-coil pickups are typically wired RWRP, which stands for Reverse Wind Reverse Polarity. The Reverse Wind part is what you mentioned earlier, but the magnets must also be Reverse Polarity in order to reverse the reversed phase. So the RW flips the phase 180%, and the RP flips the phase another 180%, bringing it back to the original phase.

That’s probably not the best way to explain it….

But since a single P pickup is already hum-canceling on its own, none of that is necessary.
 
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#10
I would do them like Lee Sklar's reversed, double-P Frankenstein. Based on that screwed-in panel that is right where a typical P pickup is located, that bass appears to have the pickups at the Rickenbacker locations-which would be centered at the 24th and 36th "frets." It's easy to find without a measuring tape: just center the two coils right where the harmonic rings out. IIRC, this is around 25.5" and 29.75" from the nut on a 34" scale. For placement, one coil of the bridge pickup would be pretty much right up against the pickguard and the other pickup will be pretty much centered in the pickguard. (For reference, a P bass pickup is centered at 28.5" from the nut)
Tonally, the neck pickup will have a slightly deeper fundamental than a typical P Bass pickup tone, and the bridge pickup will have more usable low end/low mid punch vs the usual Jazz bass bridge pickup location. Then you get the cool, scooped mid tone when both pickups are blended equally.
Those are good sounding spots and compliment a typical P and J bass for tonal variety.
On an interesting note: the prototype Stingray had a reverse, split coil P bass pickup in the Stingray spot. This is pretty much where the bridge pickup is on the Sklar bass. It's a great, punchy sounding spot. (also for reference, the Stingray pickup is centered at 30.5" from the nut)
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#12
bigtone23 said:
I would do them like Lee Sklar's reversed, double-P Frankenstein. Based on that screwed-in panel that is right where a typical P pickup is located, that bass appears to have the pickups at the Rickenbacker locations-which would be centered at the 24th and 36th "frets." It's easy to find without a measuring tape: just center the two coils right where the harmonic rings out. IIRC, this is around 25.5" and 29.75" from the nut on a 34" scale. For placement, one coil of the bridge pickup would be pretty much right up against the pickguard and the other pickup will be pretty much centered in the pickguard. (For reference, a P bass pickup is centered at 28.5" from the nut)
Tonally, the neck pickup will have a slightly deeper fundamental than a typical P Bass pickup tone, and the bridge pickup will have more usable low end/low mid punch vs the usual Jazz bass bridge pickup location. Then you get the cool, scooped mid tone when both pickups are blended equally.
Those are good sounding spots and compliment a typical P and J bass for tonal variety.
On an interesting note: the prototype Stingray had a reverse, split coil P bass pickup in the Stingray spot. This is pretty much where the bridge pickup is on the Sklar bass. It's a great, punchy sounding spot. (also for reference, the Stingray pickup is centered at 30.5" from the nut)
View attachment 4358117
Click to expand...
Great info, thanks!
The stingray spot definitely has me interested for this. I know i like how my stingray knockoff sounds with the split P I added
(When there were strings on it)
D23C07F7-F990-4624-BCAC-404C369B1FC2.jpeg
 
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#20
I'd do a pickup with a different tonal signature, so something like the SCPB - maybe an EMG FT or FTC? I recently read that's what pickups are in a bunch of Chapman Sticks...
 
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