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Big Singles in the Studio

bareass

bareass

Apr 30, 2007
379
36
Windsor Ontario, Canada
#1
hey all,
i"m about to pull the trigger on some pickups.

but i would like to know what kind of experience people have had with big singles in the studio. is the hum too much?

i'm building a bass that will likey have 2 of these (or big splits) in the sweet spot and another at the neck... all bended.
 
#3
Whether or not the hum would be "too much" is entirely dependent on the environment in which you are playing. If you are around sources of 60Hz hum such as transformers, CRT monitors or fluorescent lighting, you will have more hum.

If you are concerned, ask the recording engineer how the studio has typically been for single coil players.
 
#6
so there are no devices or anything that can cancel, or lessen a hum?

i'm just thinking, if i'm playing a show in a pit, or bar, or studio and i get a buzz from something, would that bass be unusable, i know if i don't single the pick up i can drop the buzz a bunch.

i guess i would just have to carry a double coil back up!
 
#8
Kwesi said:
As far as dealing with it in the studio, people have been recording on singlecoil basses for about 50 years now so I think you should be OK even without the Hum Debugger.
Click to expand...

+1.
Not just basses though, Strats and Teles are on millions of recordings as well.

If you show up to a studio with a single coil-equipped instrument, it's their job to take care of 60Hz hum, and you're certainly not going to be the first time they have had to deal with it.
 
#12
The hum debugger works great for a live impossible situation. I had a hard time at Buddy Guy's in Chicago with a bullet proof shielded jazz. There is a giant transformer just outside. The engineer threw one on my bass and it was gone. The rub: One note, I think it was the B, 2nd fret on A string, was out of phase and was completely gone! It changes the sound a pinch but got me out of a jam.
 
#13
James Simonson said:
The hum debugger works great for a live impossible situation. I had a hard time at Buddy Guy's in Chicago with a bullet proof shielded jazz. There is a giant transformer just outside. The engineer threw one on my bass and it was gone. The rub: One note, I think it was the B, 2nd fret on A string, was out of phase and was completely gone! It changes the sound a pinch but got me out of a jam.
Click to expand...

That's because it's at ~60Hz, which is right around the frequency of 60-cycle hum. You may have noticed that the 4th fret on the G-string is a little weak too.
 
#17
bareass said:
hey all,
i"m about to pull the trigger on some pickups.

but i would like to know what kind of experience people have had with big singles in the studio. is the hum too much?

i'm building a bass that will likey have 2 of these (or big splits) in the sweet spot and another at the neck... all bended.
Click to expand...

2 close together and a third one will not humcan each others... I don't know how good of an idea is to place two BS close together.... but you never know, right?

The BSp have been improved from the first generation and they sound VERY close to the BS.

M
 
#18
i have the fat stacks, yet run them often in "single coil" mode.

as long as you're not running just one pickup or moreso to one pickup, and allowing both pickups to be used at full volume, they humcancel each other out regardless.

besides, even w/ my strats, most competent engineers will run a noise gate to taste.
 

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