In addition to what others have said, one major difference between the bridge position and neck position is that on the neck position the pickup sees a wider string amplitude. This is an important detail for genres such as heavy metal, where a tight, well defined rhythm is often the goal, and it's much easier to get this type of sound from the bridge position that sees short amplitudes that are easy to mute when necessary.

If you try to get this sound on the neck position, you'll find out that it doesn't sound as tight (the wider amplitude feels muddier), and when you try to get a palm muted stecatto effect, you'll discover that it's very hard to achieve using standard palm muting techniques, because the string tends to have a noticeable low end "halo" that lingers on for a moment after you apply your palm on the string. If you wnt to compensate for that, you have to find a new spot for your palm muting, a bit further away from the bridge position.

In addition to what others have said, one major difference between the bridge position and neck position is that on the neck position the pickup sees a wider string amplitude. This is an important detail for genres such as heavy metal, where a tight, well defined rhythm is often the goal, and it's much easier to get this type of sound from the bridge position that sees short amplitudes that are easy to mute when necessary.

When you try to achieve the same tight, well defined rhythm on the neck position, you'll find out that:

• The wider string amplitude feels muddy and floppy (compared to bridge position).
• It's harder to get a well defined, stecatto effect when you mute the string using standard palm muting technique that involves resting your hand on/near the bridge. Instead of a quick termination of the vibration, there's a noticeable low end "halo" that lingers on for a moment after you apply your palm to the string. This will force you to compensate by finding a new spot for palm muting, a bit further away from the bridge position.