Just a quick generic "academic" question involving Bass "Soap bar" pickups

[JaySeeDoubleYou]

Hey guys!

I had suspected, and just got confirmation that the soap bar pickups on my Yamaha TRB 5IIF are "Phantom-Coil" or "Dummy-Coil" pickups, which, of course, are pickups that have two coils, but as one of them is a dummy coil that does not directly interact with the strings, but only serves to prevent the hum, and only the one actually interacts with the strings, they are essentially glorified single coils (I do think, though, that the presence of the dummy coil serves to slightly "darken" and "beef-up" the sound over against a true single coil pickup, such as, say, a J-Bass pickup, though I think that the covered magnets that come with the "soap bar" format also serve to do the same thing.)

Anyway, the reason for my post tonight is that I know that not all soap bar pickups are designed the same, and before you say "well duh", what I mean by that is we know that all Music Man style pickups are Humbuckers. We know that all P-Bass style pickups are "split-coil" pickups, and we know that most J-style pickups are single coil (though some have dummy coils located underneath, if I'm not mistaken), but some soap bars are humbuckers (the soap bars on a Gibson Thunderbird, I -believe- are humbuckers, (confirm/deny please)), while others soap bars are "Phantom Coil" (like my Yamaha). I believe I have even heard word of soap bars that are true single coil. There doesn't seem to be a consistent standard in format with soap bar pickups like there are with the other "style" pickups.

So, at long, long last to my question: if there's not a uniformity, is there a majority? In other words, are -most- Soap bar pickups humbuckers, or are most soap bar pickups "phantom coils?" Which style are they more "known for?"

Silly question, I know, and entirely academic, but I was just curious and figured the collective talk bass brainpan would be a good place to go digging for this hot bit of trivia that I was after.

Thanks guys!

-J

[walterw]

most by far are side-by-side humbuckers.

[Samsound]

Really, anymore a soapbar is nothing more than product packaging and form factor. You can get just about anything in there.

[darkstorm]

Soapbar pups to me are the closest to guitar humbuckers sound wise. J pups are more like single coil guitar pups sound wise. P pups are inbetween. Bas humbuckers with the large exposed pole peices are to me like overly bright guitar humbuckers. Among soapbar pups the particuliar one will be able to do either a fair P pup simulation or a fair J pup similation. This along with doing their own soapbar pup voiceing. I prefer soapbar pups that do a fair P pup simulation the best and P pups as my other fave type. Yes there is a great variety in guitar humbucker sounds just as there is in bass soapbar pups but the generalization still holds imo and experience.

[SGD Lutherie]

Soapbar is only the shape. Inside the soapbar can be a humbucker, a single coil, or a split coil humbucker, which in essence is the same as a single coil. Stacked single coils hum cancel, and still sound like single coils. They may not sound like a Jazz pickup, but that's not the only tone you get from a single coil. Not every bass has to sound like a Fender.

As an example, you can get an EMG 35P, 35J or 35DC or SC. The P is a split coil, like a P bass, the J is a stacked single coil, and the DC and SC are humbuckers. All come in the same soapbar case.

Covering the magnets with a plastic cover does not make the pickup darker sounding. More wire on the coils is one thing that makes them darker sounding.

The problem with dummy coils is they still affect the inductance of the pickup, and will alter the tone. If they are active pickups, this can be overcome, such as with the EMG Jazz pickups, which are stacked humbuckers.

But here's an example. Here's are my sidewinder soapbars. They are hum canceling, and sound like real single coils. This is because the two coils sense the string in a single spot, not in two like with dual coil humbuckers.

Sidewinders

Then in the same soapbar cases, a very different sounding humbucker:

Neo Humbuckers