… aren't very common. If they reduce or eliminate single-coil hum, why don't all Jazz basses have them? Is it a tone thing? I don't know enough to even guess. Thanks!
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Basses with dummy coils …
- Thread starter Green Knight
- Start date
Audere used to sell preamps with a dummy coil hum cancellation circuit. They seem to have dropped that option; likely due to lack of demand. A shame, because that circuit design aspect makes complete sense, allowing use of single coil pickups without hum issues.
We are apparently back to a situation where the Alembic Series I and II are the only single coil pickup circuits with hum cancellation.
We are apparently back to a situation where the Alembic Series I and II are the only single coil pickup circuits with hum cancellation.
Dummy coils aren't on many guitars or basses because there is a noiseless version of every pickup form factor out there and that is a much more convenient solution to the singlecoil hum problem than dummy coils. Why redesign your body and develop a circuit when you can just pick a noiseless pickup and at most just have to deepen your pickup routs?
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I always thought noiseless Jazz pickups were just humbuckers in disguise. Are there dummy coils in their casements like on some old Yamahas? If so, is it still single coil or does the dummy coil change the tone?
Like, IF there's a surefire way to cancel hum that retains the tone of the single coils, why isn't it standard? Do they affect output in any negative way?
This guy explains it pretty well, albeit with strong opinion. He's calls them "stacked humbuckers".
"There's no such thing as a noiseless single coil."
Best way I've heard of is proper shielding, which many manufacturers don't bother with. The Rickenbacker thread has several posts detailing the work some Ric owners have done shielding their basses with foil tape, with various results.
Music Man did this with several of their (now discontinued) models - I think they still do it with some of their guitars.
If you search around this forum, I remember somebody took their HS StingRay, and moved the dummy coil from hidden below the pickguard, to mounted through the guard like the other pickups, and wired it so that it was useable.
If you search around this forum, I remember somebody took their HS StingRay, and moved the dummy coil from hidden below the pickguard, to mounted through the guard like the other pickups, and wired it so that it was useable.
So wait. Are Alembic Series basses not truly single coil either? Does their dummy coil sap part of the audio signal?
The answer is pretty simple. The issue is not big enough that enough people would be willing to pay for a dummy coil.
If I'm not mistaken, Series I & II pickups are true single coils.
Bones
Bones
Alembic Series 1 and 2 pickups are indeed single coil. When you look at any of them, it looks like three pickups to the uninitiated, when actually the smaller coil in the center IS the hum-canceller.
Here's a USA TODAY explanation of Series pickups/electronics from the FAQ Section on The Alembic Club, the Alembic users forum at www.alembic.com. The poster is Mica Wickersham, the GM of Alembic and daughter of Susan and Ron Wickersham, the founders.
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In this second post, MW discusses the upgrade they introduced to combat noise in a world that's more complex noise-wise since their original inception in the 70's. To give you an idea why Alembics are what they are, she discussed her dad built a small coil in his workshop, and a Faraday cage to double check his work and fine tune the system in the bass after the upgrade is finished as a final checkout.
As a single coil system, the Alembic Series set will never be beaten or exceeded, and the field adjustability if need be is one more reason why there is simply nothing like these.
Session ace and James Taylor bandleader Jimmy Johnson relates that his are usually silent, but even he met a Waterloo: He'd get called to small recording studio in SoCal on a second floor. Right on the other side of the studio wall was a telephone pole with many electric services coming off it, and a transformer. He said he could find one spot, point exactly in a certain direction, and freeze, otherwise the noise was going to get him. Otherwise, never a peep.
Here's a USA TODAY explanation of Series pickups/electronics from the FAQ Section on The Alembic Club, the Alembic users forum at www.alembic.com. The poster is Mica Wickersham, the GM of Alembic and daughter of Susan and Ron Wickersham, the founders.
Link Removed
Link Removed
In this second post, MW discusses the upgrade they introduced to combat noise in a world that's more complex noise-wise since their original inception in the 70's. To give you an idea why Alembics are what they are, she discussed her dad built a small coil in his workshop, and a Faraday cage to double check his work and fine tune the system in the bass after the upgrade is finished as a final checkout.
As a single coil system, the Alembic Series set will never be beaten or exceeded, and the field adjustability if need be is one more reason why there is simply nothing like these.
Session ace and James Taylor bandleader Jimmy Johnson relates that his are usually silent, but even he met a Waterloo: He'd get called to small recording studio in SoCal on a second floor. Right on the other side of the studio wall was a telephone pole with many electric services coming off it, and a transformer. He said he could find one spot, point exactly in a certain direction, and freeze, otherwise the noise was going to get him. Otherwise, never a peep.
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Alembic Series One close-up: The smaller coil in the center of the two pickups IS the hum-cancelling coil, makes no sound of its own.
Alembic Series One close-up: The smaller coil in the center of the two pickups IS the hum-cancelling coil, makes no sound of its own.
Music Man did include cancellers in early StingRay Five to handle any issues with the single humbucker in single coil mode, but long since abandoned it for a different shielding strategy that they think is effective enough. Also, for a while Lindy Fralin brokered a system for Strats that employed a hum canceller, but quit carrying it quite a few years ago.
I'm sure there's some more I didn't know about.
I'm sure there's some more I didn't know about.
- May 16, 2009
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- Disclosures
- Former Manager, Bass San Diego
Unless I'm woefully mistaken, the FBass pickups like you find in a BN5 have a dummy coil housed beneath each single that can be tapped in and out with a P/P knob. You hear the tone round off a bit and output drop a touch (it's been a good while since I've played one 
), but I always figured it was more of an ace up the sleeve to deploy in a really hummy room. Another reason I love FBass.
), but I always figured it was more of an ace up the sleeve to deploy in a really hummy room. Another reason I love FBass.
Then there are the side-by-side humbuckers in a single coil size...
I have two basses, one with Carvin stacked humbuckers, and one with the DiMarzio DP149 Ultra Jazz.
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