Would anyone object if Gibson Moved The Pickup Closer to the Neck?

[docbop]

Well I can see why nobody plays these guitars ... why would anyone want one with the pickup where it is

and to thing they have left that misplaced pickup for decades now!

[Greentone]

Bluedawg,

I think I laughed so hard I blew a snot bubble...but nobody was looking.

[Bluedawg]

Bluedawg,

I think I laughed so hard I blew a snot bubble...but nobody was looking.

Eeewwwww ... too much information


LOL

[boatheelmusic]

Note that the L4CES has the pickup up against the fretboard, with a very similar body to the ES175.

[GNAPPI]

I always surmise that the humbucker is located where it is located for a practical reason: the ES-175 laminate top has an S-shaped dip (dished) under the fretboard and that is the closest spot which is flat enough to mount a humbucker..

Nope I don't think so. The 175 CS James Hutchins model and the 775 both have them at the neck. And... so does every guitar I know of with the same scale length.

" That is where the neck pickup on most 24 3/4" scale 22 fret Gibson's sit, "

Um, no.. not so. The ES-335, ES-330, ES-195, Midtown, ES-137, ES-135, ES-150 (DC) and probably a LOT more, so if there's a "most" other series I do not know of it.

So, would I like it in the "correct" spot? yes. Why not?

[Greentone]

Well...it was worse. When the ES175 was introduced in 1949 it was a 19-fret guitar. So, the pickup was even farther from the end of the neck back then. I guess it's a good thing the guitar acquired its 20th fret, no?

[docbop]

Why not?

Tradition that's where its been for decades, it gives the 175 a slightly brighter tone, and it established itself as one of the two "Jazz" guitars with the L5. Why mess with what's worked for decades? You can always order one with the pickup moved like the person who order the James Hutchins master build did.

[old tube]

I've just gone and measured the distance from the nut to mid-point of the humbucker / P90 on a variety of 24 3/4" scale Gibsons I currently have.

1967 ES-175 19"
1961 ES-125 19"
1960 ES-330 19"
1967 ES-335 19"
1974 Les Paul 19"

All where the 24th fret would be

[docbop]

I've just gone and measured the distance from the nut to mid-point of the humbucker / P90 on a variety of 24 3/4" scale Gibsons I currently have.

1967 ES-175 19"
1961 ES-125 19"
1960 ES-330 19"
1967 ES-335 19"
1974 Les Paul 19"

All where the 24th fret would be

So that would change the question to why didn't they put 22 frets on instead of 20.

[old tube]

So that would change the question to why didn't they put 22 frets on instead of 20.

exactly!

[Woody Sound]

Here's an ES-350:

[oldane]

So that would change the question to why didn't they put 22 frets on instead of 20.

Well, I don't play beyond the 20'th fret. And the free space between the fretboard and the PU is a nice place to pick where the pick doesn't hit neither the fretboard nor the PU. Actually, for that reason I regret not having had my Triggs Stromberg hommage made with 19 frets instead of with 20 frets. When strumming, I often hit the edge of the fretboard.

[docbop]

Well, I don't play beyond the 20'th fret. And the free space between the fretboard and the PU is a nice place to pick where the pick doesn't hit neither the fretboard nor the PU. Actually, for that reason I regret not having had my Triggs Stromberg hommage made with 19 frets instead of with 20 frets. When strumming, I often hit the edge of the fretboard.

Oldane I was just kidding around after the post that the PUP position was the same. But you illustrate a point, you want something different order a guitar that way.

[Greentone]

NICE ES350. Those old full-scale 350s are great jazz guitars.

[Jimmy Mack]

And turned around !

[pingu]

NICE ES350. Those old full-scale 350s are great jazz guitars.

damn nice !

[TheGrandWazoo]

Maybe it just sounded better there? Why did they put the one pick-up where they did on the 225 or 330?

[customxke]

Ok.. want some more internet bs? (although I think I read it in a book.. big paper thingys we had before the internet)

The 175 Neck pickup was placed further away from the fingerboard so they would not have to user a shim or a rediculously tall pickup ring.

There.. I said it.

I thought it was because the pickup wouldn't fit under the strings if it was right against the fretboard.

[Encinitastubes]

Ok.. want some more internet bs? (although I think I read it in a book.. big paper thingys we had before the internet)

The 175 Neck pickup was placed further away from the fingerboard so they would not have to user a shim or a rediculously tall pickup ring.

There.. I said it.

That's not exactly true. What is true is that if you apply principles of feng shui, having the pickup right against the neck would create a mismatch in energy when compared with the carved headstock for which Gibson is famous. People don't understand that Heritage solved the problem by flattening out the headstock, which allowed them to move the pickup closer to the neck on the 575 without disturbing the feng shui. That, my friends, is an internet fact.

[339 in june]

Yes man !
That's true !
and it has to be widespread on that forum and everywhere else in the world !


I vote this for the best post of the year !
Thanks, I had a good laugh

I just regret this Heritage headstock allusion ....

[Jabberwocky]

That's not exactly true. What is true is that if you apply principles of feng shui, having the pickup right against the neck would create a mismatch in energy when compared with the carved headstock for which Gibson is famous. People don't understand that Heritage solved the problem by flattening out the headstock, which allowed them to move the pickup closer to the neck on the 575 without disturbing the feng shui. That, my friends, is an internet fact.

The Heritage headstock allows straighter string pull. The L-4CES and ES-775 are counterexamples to the misdirected chakra hypothesis as their neck pickup butts up against the end of the fretboard.

I am gonna try turning the neck bucker of my L-4CES upside down so that the magnetic poles can better draw on the chi of the mystical 24th parallel. Om. Om. Om.