Answer me this: Single coil vs Humcancelling

rojo412 · #1 01-30-2011, 12:54 PM

Here's the question:

Why would one choose the SINGLE COIL over the HUMCANCELLING and vice versa?

I know that they are different and how they are different as far as construction goes, I'm not stupid.

Here's a good example:
I see a lot of people changing out their Sadowsky HCs for the SCs. Are they doing this for more of a CLASSIC tone (mellower and closer to the 60s vibe) or more of a snappy/bright tone?

Everyone seems to make both styles of the pickups. Nordstrand, for example does a LOT with both styles. Fralin does it. Sadowsky, obviously.

So if you side-by-side a Nordstrand SC vs a Nordstrand HC, what's the audible difference?

MarkusBass · #2 01-30-2011, 12:58 PM

Single coils generally have more mid range character...more bite.

plangentmusic · #3 01-30-2011, 01:01 PM

I always went with HB's. I hate noise. It made sense.

Then...

...I played a few J's with singles and I was hooked.

They have so much more character. The tone is fuller without sounding "EQ'd"

rojo412 · #4 01-30-2011, 01:26 PM

So if you like the scooped, EQ'd, modernish tone... the HC is your buddy.

If you prefer the balance and flatness of a more vintage, natural voiced pickup, the SC is where you should be.

Yes?

Also, is there anyone who blurs the line better than others? In other words, whose Humcancelling pickups sound most like a single, and whose singles are more scoopy-modern?

plangentmusic · #5 01-30-2011, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rojo412

So if you like the scooped, EQ'd, modernish tone... the HC is your buddy.

If you prefer the balance and flatness of a more vintage, natural voiced pickup, the SC is where you should be.

Yes?

Also, is there anyone who blurs the line better than others? In other words, whose Humcancelling pickups sound most like a single, and whose singles are more scoopy-modern?

You can always scoop with EQ, but you can't give a pu a character that isn't inherent to the sound.

Some of the newer single coil pu's are a little less noisy than the vintage.

Now there's also the active vs passive debate which goes hand in hand with this.

Ragnor · #6 01-30-2011, 01:38 PM

Fender sells so-called 'noiseless jazz pickups'.
My guess is that it are actually pickups with dummycoils inside. Anyway, they sound like singlecoils but cancel hum like a humbucker, or at least that's what the brochure says. Haven't heard them yet.

KingRazor · #7 01-30-2011, 01:55 PM

Nordstrand makes some hum-cancelling pickups that are supposed to be voiced very, very similar to vintage single coils. Called the NJ4SVs. I haven't compared them but I'd say those probably "blur the line".

rojo412 · #8 01-30-2011, 02:02 PM

I have the Fender SCN (Samarium Cobalt Noiseless) in my Jazz Dlx and I love them! But with no basis of the same thing in SC version, I wouldn't know.

What I can say is that they are quiet (no hum) and that they use a 2 lead wiring that is the same as SC (no series/parallel wiring can be done to them).
I think they are stacked humbuckers, as opposed to the split. AKA, 2 pickups become one by way of stacking one on top of the other, as opposed to a P-style pickup side-by-side in 1 housing.
The Sadowsky Pickups I have are like that.

prd004 · #9 01-30-2011, 02:07 PM

I think we go with single coils for the classic J-Bass sound, and only consider noise cancelling if sound becomes an issue.

I know Mike Lull puts the Fralin noise cancelling pups on his P-J basses in the bridge position and this make sense, it would probably be noisy as all get up if it were a true single coil!

I have regular sigle coil Fralins on my Jazz and love them! Noise isn't really an issue as I use both pups most of the time