Is the pickup too close to the bridge?

[PeteGalaxie]

I’ve been looking at a couple of new guitars. One of them is the Gibson “Original Collection” Les Paul Junior. Does the pickup look too close to the bridge? Could this cause any issues? Is it a design flaw? The vintage ones aren’t that close at all. Just wondering.

 

[CB91710]

I think you're right.
It will certainly brighten the tone.
Have people been complaining that the Junior is too dark?

 

[sonar1]

Mine came yesterday (Sweetwater demo).

It sounds fine!
Nice and bright wide open (Esquire on steroids), but aggressive enough to give my Slash Standard a go.
I even turned UP the treble (and bass) on my RI ‘65 Deluxe-reverb.
Doesn’t sound shrill. A bit more beef than similar vintage and newer SG Juniors I’ve had.
Champion of sustain.

 

[endial]

2019

 

[strayedstrater]

1959 (not mine; pic from google)

The pickup was close to the bridge some years in the '50s and farther other years. The wraptail angle also changed. I don't know the timeline.

Closer to the bridge is a little brighter, but not enough to make a big difference -- certainly not enough to make it shrill or thin.

If you had both and compared them you might hear the difference, but they both sound fine.

 

[strayedstrater]

Current Custom Shop '57RI.

Sometimes it seems like Gibson messes with the specs on Gibson USA models just to push people into spending twice as much for the Custom Shop version.