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Humbucker with the capability to operate as a split precision pickup?

TD3691

TD3691

May 20, 2009
148
9
35
England (United Kingdom)
#1
As suggested in title, I’m after a humbucker, that is essentially 2 split coil pickups.

I want to be able to wire switches, to essentially, use it’s as;

Humbucker in neck position:
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
Split Precision Bass (series)
Split Precision Bass (parallel)
Jazz Neck Pickup

bridge humbucker
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
North Coils (Jazz)
South Coils (70’s Jazz)


Would essentially, give you, a p bass, pj bass (with ser/par mod), dual or solo humbucker (with ser/par mod), jazz bass, 70’s jazz bass.
 
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#3
For your neck pickup you want a quad-coil. Nordstrand makes one, so does bartolini, and probably others too.

BC42J_CoilsStrings.png


For the bridge a 4-conductor dual coil will let you do what you describe. Those too are made by multiple brands, more than quad-coils.

74MV5C_CoilsStrings.png
 
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#6
TD3691 said:
I should mention, I’m in the UK, which usually makes it harder to find cool stuff like you’ve mentioned.
Click to expand...
I think BassCulture, in Germany, offers similar options. They're pricey here, might be cheaper there? There's at least one quad maker in the UK, too, Wal uses them sometimes, not remembering the name though.

Edit: Sims Super-Quad Hand Wound Bass Pickups — Sims Guitar Works UK | Super-Quad Pickups, Enfield Bass Guitars, Spray Shop, Custom LEDs, Pickguards, Servicing, Repair
 
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#7
TD3691 said:
I should mention, I’m in the UK, which usually makes it harder to find cool stuff like you’ve mentioned.
Click to expand...
Bartolini and Nordstrand may well ship to the UK, the costs shouldn't be too bad cause pickups are small, though you probably have to add import fees. The technology is the same as any other pickups, coils with start and end leads, magnets, bobbins. With a little know-how you could make some, or any pickup maker could, just pot them under a standard size housing.
 
#12
TD3691 said:
As suggested in title, I’m after a humbucker, that is essentially 2 split coil pickups.

I want to be able to wire switches, to essentially, use it’s as;

Humbucker in neck position:
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
Split Precision Bass (series)
Split Precision Bass (parallel)
Jazz Neck Pickup

bridge humbucker
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
North Coils (Jazz)
South Coils (70’s Jazz)


Would essentially, give you, a p bass, pj bass (with ser/par mod), dual or solo humbucker (with ser/par mod), jazz bass, 70’s jazz bass.
Click to expand...

You'll need to find a pickup that combines the short, fat coils of the split P pickup and the tall, thin coils of the J pickup.

Good luck with that.
 
#14
Dingwall's get close to what you want. Especially with the extra toggles for series and paralell for each pickup. About as much flexibility as you could ever dream of. Their pickups are reverse P but when you have 3 pickups it covers so much tonal variance.
 
#15
TD3691 said:
As suggested in title, I’m after a humbucker, that is essentially 2 split coil pickups.

I want to be able to wire switches, to essentially, use it’s as;

Humbucker in neck position:
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
Split Precision Bass (series)
Split Precision Bass (parallel)
Jazz Neck Pickup

bridge humbucker
Humbucker (series)
Humbucker (parallel)
North Coils (Jazz)
South Coils (70’s Jazz)


Would essentially, give you, a p bass, pj bass (with ser/par mod), dual or solo humbucker (with ser/par mod), jazz bass, 70’s jazz bass.
Click to expand...
I would heavily consider reverse P as an option if you're wanting a quad coil pickup.
 
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#16
G&L MFD pickups basically do all that, with the right corresponding wiring options installed.

My L-1000 only has one MFD humbucker in the P-bass position, but the switch will give you Parallel/Single coil/OMG mode (bass boosted single coil).

The L-2000 (or 2500 for 5 string) has two MFD’s and can be wired with a switch to give you all that plus being able to do 2 single coils like the jazz bass variations you’re describing above.
 
#19
Yeah, SIMS super quad does that by design. Not sure what's internally done, tho.

Like ctmullins mentioned, there will be compromises - you cannot nail these tones with one quad pickup. The originals use very different geometry. Further, many of the sounds will be more similar than different. The two split coils and a J option on the neck pickup? They will all sound almost identical. They will sound more different if it's a wide humbucker (e.g. SimS), but if you go the soapbar route, it's gonna be very similar sounding.

That said, I think two quads make a lot of sense if you want two very different humcancelling sounds - "single coil" (two in line coils) and "dual coil" (all four coils). You could get fancy and have the option of using either of the single coil modes so you could combine the two outer coils or two inner coils for some more variety (but all just variations on the theme).
 
#20
halcyo said:
G&L MFD pickups basically do all that, with the right corresponding wiring options installed.

My L-1000 only has one MFD humbucker in the P-bass position, but the switch will give you Parallel/Single coil/OMG mode (bass boosted single coil).

The L-2000 (or 2500 for 5 string) has two MFD’s and can be wired with a switch to give you all that plus being able to do 2 single coils like the jazz bass variations you’re describing above.
Click to expand...
Incorrect. The G&L MFDs are dual coil humbuckers, not quad coils. They can’t be wired as split coils as OP is asking.
 

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