I vote for optical illusion. We didn't mean to put it in a different position, so the Brown Basses should be very similar to the old way. I think maybe it's the direction of the knob... we tend to point them away from the strings these days (hurts less that way).
I'll also remind you that Stanley has played with that switch in the way for years. He's joked before that his wild circular right hand technique was developed to avoid the switch.
Your inquiry brings up another interesting topic: pickup position. You'll probably notice the Brown Bass has the neck pickup very near to the end of the fingerboard. Over the years, we've moved the neck pickup away to give more room to slap players. But the closer that pickup is to the end of the fingerboard, the bassier the tone. Mark King and Stanley Clarke both play with little room there to emphsize the sound. I guess their precise techniques allow them to play in the limited space available.
