humbuckers vs single coil

[spade2you]

I'm a convert..

I'm a convert. I like to be able to convert my pickups at will. My last bass has series/parallel/split for each pickup. I like.

 

[jlepre]

BOTH!
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[ggunn]

I'm not sure where you got that generalization?
As other have stated, the beauty of the soapbar case is that it can house just about any kind of pickup.
Single coils, double coils, split coils, quad coils, whatever.

Maybe for bass it is different, but in the guitar world, the term usually refers to a pickup with a wide format single coil design (like a P-90), not just any pickup with an aspect ratio of about 2:1 or 3:1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P90-SD-soapbar3.jpg

 

[Brad Johnson]

Maybe for bass it is different, but in the guitar world, the term usually refers to a pickup with a wide format single coil design (like a P-90), not just any pickup with an aspect ratio of about 2:1 or 3:1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P90-SD-soapbar3.jpg

Plenty of bass soapbar info on Wiki too.

"Soapbar" Pickups are so-named due to their resemblance to a bar of soap and originally referred to the Gibson P-90 guitar pickup. The term is also used to describe any pickup with a rectangular shape and no visible pole pieces; most of the pickups falling into this category are humbucking. They are commonly found in basses designed for the rock and metal genres, such as Gibson, ESP Guitars, and Schecter. 'Soapbar pickups' are also called 'extended housing' "

 

[spade2you]

term is also used to describe any pickup with a rectangular shape and no visible pole pieces; most of the pickups falling into this category are humbucking. They are commonly found in basses designed for the rock and metal genres,

Hmmmmm, my basses are the best basses for metal?

 

[Brad Johnson]

Hmmmmm, my basses are the best basses for metal?

Yes.

God bless Wiki.

 

[yellofury]

Both but not necessarily on one bass

I own both a Jazz and a Stingray type bass
I love them both for their different sounds

 

[Spleenface92]

I like my P bass with it's single humbucker.

 

[timbledum]

Guitar - single coil

Bass - Humbucker

I prefer the tone from my Gibson SG bass humbuckers over my Precision, its warmer and more full, having said that, the Precision pick ups have a large range of sound in the tone pot and are louder than the Gibbo !

This!

 

[line6man]

I like my P bass with it's single humbucker.

I don't think I would call a P pickup a humbucker.

Yes, it's humcancelling, but the strings are only sensed by one coil.
It's a split coil.

 

[bassbenj]

I like my P bass with it's single humbucker.

I trust everyone has noted that a P-bass pickup (and J "Noiseless" pickups) buck hum but are actually like single coils in that they sense only one location on each string. P-bass pickups are offset and the "noiseless" are side by side. So in a way they have the features of both.

 

[ggunn]

Plenty of bass soapbar info on Wiki too.

"Soapbar" Pickups are so-named due to their resemblance to a bar of soap and originally referred to the Gibson P-90 guitar pickup. The term is also used to describe any pickup with a rectangular shape and no visible pole pieces; most of the pickups falling into this category are humbucking. They are commonly found in basses designed for the rock and metal genres, such as Gibson, ESP Guitars, and Schecter. 'Soapbar pickups' are also called 'extended housing' "

That's the thing about colloquialisms, innit? I am relatively new to the world of bass (about 7 years), but I've been playing guitar since Hector was a pup. On the guitar side of the tracks I've never heard the term "soapbar" to mean anything other than wide format single coil pickups like the P-90 with visible pole pieces down the center line.

Live and learn, I guess...

BTW, the invention of the P bass pickup was an elegant stroke of genius, IMO. It combines hum canceling dual coils with mostly single point access to the strings. Brilliant!

 

[Brad Johnson]

That's the thing about colloquialisms, innit? I am relatively new to the world of bass (about 7 years), but I've been playing guitar since Hector was a pup. On the guitar side of the tracks I've never heard the term "soapbar" to mean anything other than wide format single coil pickups like the P-90 with visible pole pieces down the center line.

Live and learn, I guess...

BTW, the invention of the P bass pickup was an elegant stroke of genius, IMO. It combines hum canceling dual coils with mostly single point access to the strings. Brilliant!

I still remember Hi A (Bartolinis) soapbars from back in the 70's. I think the first time I saw them was on Jeff Berlin's bass.

 

[Stealth]

Both indeed.

 

[shackled]

Beautiful bass!

I prefer 'buckers because they sound dark and a little muddy. I also think the tone rings a little longer...

 

[Nic.]

I trust everyone has noted that a P-bass pickup (and J "Noiseless" pickups) buck hum but are actually like single coils in that they sense only one location on each string. P-bass pickups are offset and the "noiseless" are side by side. So in a way they have the features of both.

So the tone of a P is not because of phasing, but because of the placement....?

 

[bassbenj]

So the tone of a P is not because of phasing, but because of the placement....?

I don't know what you mean by "phasing" but you can see that a single coil pick up senses the string at one spot. That's why they have purity of tone. Of course WHERE it is placed on the string changes the tone because harmonics are different at different positions.

A humbucker in the usual configuration is like two single coil pickups side by side (in fact some actually ARE two single coil pickups) So the string is being sensed at two places a short distance apart. Now the fundamental and low harmonics move the string in such a way that both coils pretty much pick up the same signal. But high frequency harmonics change in such a short distance on the string that the two pickups may or may not sense them in phase. The result is two similar but different signals mixed that tends to fuzz and fatten the tone.

Of course a neck and bridge pickup do this too, but when they are widely spaced like that the harmonics are different enough that they tend not to interfere with each other as much when mixed. And I guess you can call all this a "phasing" effect.

A P-bass pickup on the other hand uses one single coil for two strings and another for the other two strings. Hence there is no mixing and no phasing because they are not looking at the same strings. That was a very clever idea!

Of course there is more to pickup tone than just position. The whole structure of the thing including the coils and metal parts all play a role in the final sound.

 

[Diogenes]

... Of course there is more to pickup tone than just position. The whole structure of the thing including the coils and metal parts all play a role in the final sound.

+1.

As I stated earlier my preference is usually for single coils but to take it even further I have to agree with ggunn in that the split-coil P is a stroke of genius for the reasons alluded to. In addition I love the effect that such a wide short coil has on the tone... it adds some round meatiness. IMHO a split-coil P almost is the perfect pickup.

 

[Jefenator]

It took some trial & error. But once I got it dialed in (wood / strings / pickup) I found bliss with the original single-coil P-bass concept (with just one magnet per string). IME it's deeper, crisper and more responsive than anything else I've tried. I keep A/Bing it against a split-coil P and a J and it keeps crushing them.

YMMV.

 

[GregC]

Humbuckers, split coils and single coils all work for me in the right basses.