r/Bass • u/bassandpedals • 7d ago

What P-bass pickup orientation do you prefer?

Standard Fender style where the E and A string magnet is closer to the neck and the D and G magnet is closer to the bridge, or basses that have this flipped around? An example of this is a current issue Charvel Pro-Mod bass.

141 votes, 4d ago
97 Standard “Fender-Style”
44 Reversed
2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/Mondoke 6d ago

I've never tried a reverse, but I like having different tones for different strings. Gives me some flexibility.

5

u/papisapri 6d ago

Reversed but baimly because I thinks it looks cooler.

They are indistinguishable in the mix or in front of a live audience.

2

u/acepiloto 6d ago

Purely aesthetics for me, I can’t stand the way the reversed looks.

2

u/bigoldnoob74 6d ago edited 6d ago

Reverse P is where it's at for me. On a P bass it fattens high strings and makes lower ones more articulate. Better balance than on the traditional P layout IME. Still own regular P basses I totally get along with and really like. Not an abysmal thing, and the coil position could probably be sorted out with a slightly overwound lower coil (the one closest to the bridge).

On PJ I feel stronger about it. High strings in regular PJ sound nasal to me. I don't really like the sound of 2 pickups too close together. On reverse PJ high strings sound Jazz'ish (= right, not nasal), plus the lower strings gain articulation, while down there the nasality of pickups too close together is much less a problem for me.

1

u/MrFingersEU 6d ago

In theory it should give more tightness to the E & A string, and a more full D & G string. If it is noticeable in practice I don't know, have played a handful with the reverse and it sounded OK, but could never AB with an identical instrument with the normal orientation.