• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Humcancelling or Single Coil Jazz Pick-ups & Why

Humcancelling or Single Coil Jazz Pick-ups & Why

  • Humcancelling

    Votes: 82 56.9%

  • Single Coil

    Votes: 62 43.1%
  • Total voters
    144
#101
SGD Lutherie said:
And both have humbuckers. :D And boy, the QPs are about as far from the MM pickups as you can get. The MMs are very under wound and the QPs are very over wound.
Click to expand...

I wasn't thinking technically at all back then. I saw my Stingray as a perfected Precision bass (which is what Leo meant it to be), and it was great and all, but it made me wonder about how awesome a perfected Jazz would be. I did try a Jazz Deluxe, but.....well, it's way too tame for me. So I just made my own Jazz, one that stood out more in the mix like my Ray, also filled out the low end, but wasn't so over-the-top on the low end as my Sabre was. I tried 5 or 6 different Jazz sets, and the QP's just sounded right to me. The EMG pre won out over an Aguilar OBP-1, which surprised me a bit. Last year I tried an Audere pre it it, and didn't like it as much as the EMG, either. I have thought about that Stingray preamp you make, however......
 
#103
SGD Lutherie said:
D and E are the same pickups.
The reason it's a "narrow", is because the standard Sidewinders are soapbar pickups, and are wider. The aperture on both is similar, though the narrow has a 1/6" thick blade, and the wide has an 1/8" thick blade.

The narrow version just had to be shrunk down to fit into the Jazz cover.

I'm currently redesigning these pickups. I wanted to get a little more output out of them, as they were on the low side. In my first redesign I felt they got too dark sounding, although some people might like that, if you want a thick tone from a Jazz bass.

Now I'm redesigning them using neodymium magnets, which should give me more power than with the ceramics I was using. My plan is to get that tone of the bridge pickup, but a little louder.
Click to expand...

I did forget to mention sidewinders. To me they really seem to be "the" answer! I've always LOVED the tone of your sidewinder clips!

Unfortunately my Jazz Pickup GAS has exceed current technology! I keep putting off getting Norstrand pickups to replace the nasty stacked coils in my Jazz Deluxe V, hoping to get sidewinders. But I see that your development is still not quite there, and even worse I presume that getting 5 string versions are even further off. And of course Q-tuners have shut down their production of anything like this for the duration as well. I'm just hoping SOMEBODY gets all the kinks worked out of a sidewinder design and make some that fit a Fender V.
 
#105
bassbenj said:
I did forget to mention sidewinders. To me they really seem to be "the" answer! I've always LOVED the tone of your sidewinder clips!

Unfortunately my Jazz Pickup GAS has exceed current technology! I keep putting off getting Norstrand pickups to replace the nasty stacked coils in my Jazz Deluxe V, hoping to get sidewinders. But I see that your development is still not quite there, and even worse I presume that getting 5 string versions are even further off. And of course Q-tuners have shut down their production of anything like this for the duration as well. I'm just hoping SOMEBODY gets all the kinks worked out of a sidewinder design and make some that fit a Fender V.
Click to expand...

I just stopped production on the Jazz sidewinder while I have some parts custom made. I'm hoping to have them back on line soon. There's a good chance that the Jazz sidewinders might also get neo magnets soon, as that's something I have been working on in my spare time (it's hard to do R&D while also filling orders. It's Saturday and I'm still working!)

As far as the five string versions; I just need the pickup covers. I have some suppliers lined up, so I'm hoping to have those available soon. I had one of my suppliers in the States pretty much go out of business, so now I have to source my parts from Asia.

I also think Sidewinders are the way to go if you want to retain the extended top end you get from single coils. Narrow aperture humbuckers can get very close, but lose a little of the air on top. I find them still plenty bright, but if you are looking for glassy highs, they don't quite get there. Their ceiling is lower.

Sidewinders eliminate the upper harmonic cancelation, as well as the midrange bump you get with humbuckers. Then it's just a matter of tuning the pickup so it resembles a Jazz pickup. My sidewinders are really more closely related to Lane Poor pickups, but tweaked to sound warmer and fuller. I wasn't trying to sound like a Fender pickup.

That said, I have been working up designs that use alnico rod magnets for Strats (I'm going to start offering a few guitar pickup models at some point), so I can extend that to Jazz pickups as well.
 
#106
I prefer single coil pups JB "Suhr and SD Antiquity 2" I think that they have a much more open sound and is much more dynamic.
The dual-coil humbucking designs that I've tried are pale sounding and not responsive att all!
But i still hate the hum!
 
#107
SGD Lutherie said:
I just stopped production on the Jazz sidewinder while I have some parts custom made. I'm hoping to have them back on line soon. There's a good chance that the Jazz sidewinders might also get neo magnets soon, as that's something I have been working on in my spare time (it's hard to do R&D while also filling orders. It's Saturday and I'm still working!)
Click to expand...

Do you know if Joe Bardens are Neodymium? I just tried a set of J's at the luthier's, and it sounds very open and clear, full range-ish.
 
#109
I use this thing on my vintage 61 Jazz Bass
Invalid Link Removed
This thing does the work properly without destroying the tone and feel "dynamics" of those amazing original pickups!
I have tried almost every hum canceling pickup JB pickup made and every one sucked compered to the orginals!
 
#112
basswave said:
Nothing sounds like single coils...Thats all I use in my Js and have no issues.
Click to expand...

No issue except single coil hum, you mean.

I love the sound of single coils and hate hum and I also don't like to spend money like a drunken sailor on pickups.

And humcancelling J's mostly do not sound like single coils.

But that said, I will say I just installed Fender SCNs in my MIM Deluxe V and I love the tone. It's as close to a real solution as I've seen so far. And doesn't break the bank either.

But the previous "noiseless" jazz pups I had were really nasty in the tone department but were totally hum-free.

Mostly it's like people have said. If you love single coil tone, you either have to live with hum, or you have to keep listening to hum-cancelling pickups until you find one that you can live with.

Note too that the single coil hum your bass picks up comes from the gear around it (power supplies, lighting controllers etc.) Thus, in many situations where you are far enough away from these sources, you actually may not experience any hum. However, in a bad venue, it can be a nightmare.
 
#113
I agree that hum-cancelling or 'noiseless' J-Bass pups don't sound the same as a true single coil; it is a different design after all. But I really don't have a problem with it. I treat it as being just another voice with its own unique character. In some instances I actually the prefer the sound over true single coils. For example: I have 3 J-Bass styled instruments. They all have different pups in them, and all have their own voice, minus the hum/buzz. I like how they all sound, nothing wrong with variety IMO. And from a gigging/recording standpoint a lot of the musicians and clients I work with and for view having pickups that perform with little or no hum/buzz as being kinda mandatory. But then that's just my professional situation. But I also have to admit to being kinda of lazy too. Being a endless tinkerer who often does their own electronics and modding I don't particularly like messing around with shielding and conductive paint...:-)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back