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Where to put my Flattop?

Posted by Jo Fjelstrom on June 10, 2015 at 6:56pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I'm finishing up my first build, and it's a pretty straightforward neck-through with the neck made of white oak. It's 12 x 9 x 2. The neck is attached all the way on the top, glued on.

I've made it to 25 inch scale and have my bridge position all figured out. I'm just not sure where to put my Zeilhofer Flattop!


I could swear I saw something on here that gave advice of where to put a Flattop in regards to your scale length, but I can't find it anywhere.

I'm thinking I could just stick it on a couple of inches lower than where the box meets the fretboard (which doesn't overlap the box), but I don't want to drill that little hole in the wrong place!

Any suggestions? Heeelp meee, please!

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Replies

  • Jo Fjelstrom June 13, 2015 at 1:07am

    Thank you all so much for your advice and support! I've just done a bit of final gluing, and tomorrow I'll finish the proper intonation of the bridge. I'm just about done with my first build!

  • Slowpaw Steve T June 12, 2015 at 2:07am

    a little bit of masking tape on the underside of the flatpup can be useful as a temporary mounting, like others say trebly near the bridge and warmer near the neck - it's your personal choice :-)

    306456573?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024btw try the new mini flatpup - it's a little biter! ;-)

  • JL June 11, 2015 at 10:17am

    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/location-location-locati...

  • Bad Finger (Eric) June 11, 2015 at 7:43am

    I like to position my flatpups around the theoretical 26th fret area, but how this lands compared to the box artwork makes a difference for appearance.  I will push them forward or backward to they look appealing in the design as well.  Positioning the flatpup on an area of the soundboard that is free to move adds richness to the tone compared to mounting near the box edge.

    Test different positions with a little blue painter's tape to secure the pickup temporarily and see where you like the sound.  Don't worry about grounding the strings/bridge for your initial tests.  You can save that until you are ready to fasten the pickup to the box.  

    One thing with flatpups. . . they are going to sound and look great wherever you put them on the guitar.  :)

  • Elmar Zeilhofer June 11, 2015 at 6:57am

    hi, the advantage of the Flatpup pickup is that you can try different positions before you decide where to fix it. There's no right or wrong.

    What counts for other pickups is also valid for the Flatpup - closer to the neck sounds fuller and warm, back at the bridge gives more treble and a bit of spice.

  • ChickenboneJohn June 11, 2015 at 6:13am

    There's no consistent  "sweet spot",  it's a false idea.   You can find positions along the vibrating string where you might get a nice sound or "sweet spot", and folk will have all sorts of theories about positioning the pickup on the harmonic node or in between the harmonic nodes...but as soon as you start to put your fingers on the fretboard or stop the string with a slide, all those positions move as you play up and down the fretboard.  Nearer the bridge will give a more cutting, trebley sound, nearer the neck gives a fatter more mellow sound.

  • John Sawyer June 11, 2015 at 1:15am

    Keep in mind that really near the bridge will have a lower volume as the strings don't move as much...  A couple of people here did some studies on location, but I generally use the TLAR method...  

    Put it on and exclaim:  That Looks About Right...  I'll get more scientific on my next build, but a larger pickup area covers a lot of mistakes...  

  • Jo Fjelstrom June 10, 2015 at 11:28pm

    I did find the information I had lost. It was written on a piece of paper without reference to where I got it. One idea was that in finding the right place for your mag pickup, you can tie a paper clip to a piece of string and hold the paper clip next to a string with the bottom of the paper clip at the level of the string. If the pickup is pulling on the paper clip, you've got the strings too close. I guess that would mean to move it to where it just stops pulling.

    The other idea was that "The 'sweet spot' for mag pickups tends to be 12.5~15% of the scale length measured from the bridge."

    Again, I don't know where I got that because I tend to take notes off YouTube stuff, or things people talk about here . . . 

    I've noticed different places for the Zeilhofer Flattops, from really close to the top of the box (where the fretboard ends if it doesn't overlap), or even really really close to the bridge. On YouTube videos, both ways have sounded very nice.

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