Which is the front pickup?

vale · March 2017

neck pickup is front.

since the bridge is a kind of fixed starting point for the string (like a backstop), the further you move away from that the more fronter you are.

& if 'fronter' wasn't a word already then i call it mine.

Voxman · March 2017

vale said: hi

neck pickup is front.

since the bridge is a kind of fixed starting point for the string (like a backstop), the further you move away from that the more fronter you are.

& if 'fronter' wasn't a word already then i call it mine.

Thats reverse logic. The bridge pickup is the first pickup in the chain followed by all other pickups. Its the brightest and most powerful. Its at the front of your tone, thereafter tone becomes mellower with less attack...hence Gibson refers to the bridge pup as lead, and neck as rhythm. Lead means in front...so that pup is the front pup and neck is back/rear pup.

I dont dispute the naming convention, and I dont know who started it, but I merely maintain its illogical and wrong. As I said before, bridge, middle and neck are the only descriptors that are clear and understood by everyone.

jellyroll · March 2017

robgilmo said:

If you were loading boxes (of guitars to stay on topic) into a van through the back doors and someone said put the big boxes up at the back as you both looked into the van through its back doors, what would you do? Put the big ones in first or last?

Presumably, it's a pickup truck?

Jeremiah · March 2017

It seems more obvious when you compare it to the names of other things on the guitar.

The tailpiece is at one end of the strings and the headstock is at the other. Near to the tail = rear, near to the head = front.

vale · March 2017

robgilmo said:

If you were loading boxes (of guitars to stay on topic) into a van through the back doors and someone said put the big boxes up at the back as you both looked into the van through its back doors, what would you do? Put the big ones in first or last?

does it have sliding doors in the side? & is the motor at the back or front?

Bridgehouse · March 2017

vale said:

robgilmo said:

If you were loading boxes (of guitars to stay on topic) into a van through the back doors and someone said put the big boxes up at the back as you both looked into the van through its back doors, what would you do? Put the big ones in first or last?

does it have sliding doors in the side? & is the motor at the back or front?

Wtf? A guitar with sliding doors and a motor? You been looking at those dodgy 60s English guitars on eBay again @vale?

Voxman · March 2017

Jeremiah said:

It seems more obvious when you compare it to the names of other things on the guitar.

The tailpiece is at one end of the strings and the headstock is at the other. Near to the tail = rear, near to the head = front.

I know, but its still illogical. There are other illogical guitar part names eg why are tuners called machine heads and why is a nut called a nut?

Brize · March 2017

mrkb said:

They should name all pickups either Rhythm or Lead as Gibson do, as that's much more logical.................doh!

Rhythm and Treble on the toggle switch, which is even more illogical!

Fez · March 2017

Voxman said:

Jeremiah said:

It seems more obvious when you compare it to the names of other things on the guitar.

The tailpiece is at one end of the strings and the headstock is at the other. Near to the tail = rear, near to the head = front.

I know, but its still illogical. There are other illogical guitar part names eg why are tuners called machine heads and why is a nut called a nut?

Then some people call it the Top Nut why? there's only one.

revsorg · March 2017

I feel the same way about this as I feel about apostrophes. So unsure about their use that I take extravagant measures to avoid them.

Also, which is offside and which is nearside?

vale · March 2017

& why is top E at the bottom?

Bridgehouse · March 2017

It all makes perfect sense to me.

Just off now to change the splange grommet on my furglewurst.

andyp · March 2017

I'd never really thought about this before but only recently noticed people referring to front or back pickups. But, when I think about it I've heard it loads and the bridge being the back is the only way I could ever imagine it. The tail piece is the back by definition right? That's the bridge end of the guitar... tails are at the back end. The headstock being the back makes absolutely no sense to me, I've never heard that before. Anyway, I refer to bridge and neck.

SteveRobinson · March 2017

revsorg said:

Also, which is offside and which is nearside?

Nearside is closest to the kerb. Offside is a little understood rule in football.

Strat_a_tat_tat · March 2017

To me... this front and back thing seems like an arbitrary convention that some long-forgotten geezer decided upon waaay back in time... and, for some reason, it stuck. Some of the theories why this is the front pickup and this is the back seem like attempts to apply logic - after the convention was coined. Naming the pickups... bridge pickup... middle pickup... neck pickup... is far less ambiguous and doesn't need some convoluted theory to explain what it means (unless you've got a 4 pickup guitar).

The guitar world is full of this stuff...

Why did Leo Fender call it a tremolo arm... when it controls vibrato - not tremolo?

jellyroll · March 2017

Strat_a_tat_tat said:
The guitar world is full of this stuff...
Why did Leo Fender call it a tremolo arm... when it controls vibrato - not tremolo?

Because there were marketing difficulties in calling it a vibrator?

Strat_a_tat_tat · March 2017

jellyroll said:

Strat_a_tat_tat said:
The guitar world is full of this stuff...
Why did Leo Fender call it a tremolo arm... when it controls vibrato - not tremolo?

Because there were marketing difficulties in calling it a vibrator?

Nah... I'm not so sure about that. Calling it a vibrator arm could've been a cost-free way of widening the object's potential market - by about 50%.

Sassafras · March 2017

The only inescapable conclusion I can draw from this thread is that you've all got way too much time on your hands.

Strat_a_tat_tat · March 2017

Sassafras said:

The only inescapable conclusion I can draw from this thread is that you've all got way too much time on your hands.

Totally correct... and may I be the first to welcome you to our little club.

robgilmo · March 2017

We could end the confusion now by calling things Bill , or Allen, or Kevin, that would work,

Howdy, Stranger!

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Which is the front pickup?

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