Hi all, my first post.
I have built 3-strign and 4 string CBG and I am beyond hooked.
So my question is about pickups. How important is it to use a match string to pole. My first CBG was with an old 6-poll humbuker and it seems work just fine. But now that I have to buy some pickups I have a chance to be more specific.
And an extension to that question is what about the lipstick style. Those don't appear to specify polls.
BTW I have little technical knowledge about pickups, incase that is not already obvious.
And as long as you reading this if you have recommendation of pickups I would appreciate. I want to keep thing as inexpensive as possible but I don't want to buy crap.
Replies
If the visual appearance bothers you you can buy no hole pickup covers off eBay or pickups with only 3 or 4 poles (CB Gitty sells some https://www.cbgitty.com/search.php?search_query=3+pole+pickup)
WOW..... I really want to thank everyone for all this valuable information. This is a great board.
Don't forget about the under saddle piezo stealthy cheap if you cant make a slotted bridge buy one they are only a few bucks heck you don't have to even do that you can do like pick said with a piezo rod like this! bottom left
If you like cheap and simple, with good tone, buy P-bass pickups, the OEM import style are $9 at the GFS website. Thats 2 pickups for $9 + shipping. Plenty of other good options as well.
I used the set that CBGitty sells because GFS was out of stock on theirs, probably the same pickups made by Artec. I wired mine as singles to a 4-way Tele switch fo Both pups in parallel or series. Great little pickups.
Fender Bass guitars have the strings run between the poles without balance issues, but then those bass strings vibrate a lot more than regular guitar strings.
You still have a magnetic field that will detect vibration and send it to the coil along with body/neck/hardware vibrations even if the string isn't directly over the pole. I've always heard talk about string balance/unbalance and string fallout while bending the strings, but I've never experienced either while playing or noticed a significant change related to these issues. Yet;)
i offer a simplified answer .
lining the poles up to the 3 strings on a cbg really does not make too much of a difference in sound .. the mag field radiates outwards , strings will still be picked up even in-between the poles . and 3 strings usually ride within the mid hot spot of a 6 pole pup anyway .
Some folks figure the slanted pup looks better and aligns them better, , and seems to match more visually . or may sound better closer over the poles . (another reason for the slanted pup is trying to get deeper tones on one side , and brighter on the other . (ie: closer to the neck will give a deeper tone .. for bass side closer to the bridge will be brighter on treble side .) or vise versa.
ps .. you can also hide the pickup inside under the lid .. if it's thin wood .. it will radiate right through the lid and still work . this saves artwork and vintage boxes too.
but .. either way i would still also recommend a covered pup , or a no pole humbucker.
I've never seen how a lipstick pickup is made. As far as strings over poles go. People angle the pickups so the strings go over the poles. But those who are builders can say more on how important it is.
If your looking for good quality try Fender pickups. You can get them through ebay for 100 to 120 a new set. Used for a lot cheaper. Up to $40 a pickup for original new Fenders. Buy a set of three and you have one pickup for three guitars.
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