Perfect number of pickups?

[Avezzano]

one, bridge position. The simpler, the better.

 

[fretno]

The One.

 

[DCErik]

Apparently it's 3.

 

[gt96g]

For me it's not the number of pickups but number of coils. I like Jazz basses, Music Man stingray style instruments, Rick's, and I have a I style Spector on order. I like what two coils does in all it's forms.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Trick question.
Easy answer;
1 for a P
2 for a J

 

[Greenman72]

What’s the perfect number of polls to create on a music forum?

Just one more.

 

[Jefenator]

It's been said that having one great setting is better than 16 iffy ones.
Having tried both concepts, I agree 1000%... except it's not that simple.
What if it were possible to have 2 or 3 great settings? (And by "great" I mean I usually like them even better than the P-bass.) Without a bunch of less useful configurations to distract? That's what the J-bass is all about for me.
Implementation will always matter. A bad set of 2 pickups can be a drag – but that goes for the single as well.

 

[Mike Vee]

One. Stingray or P is all that’s needed.

 

[OneNut]

My perfect number and actual p/u, the SCPB.

"To each his own."
View attachment 7133778

A thing of utter beauty. I want this in a short scale.

 

[Pings Bass]

However many come on the instrument with the right number of strings and the right neck (usually two, as it turns out).

 

[dune]

Right now I'm really into active, splitable 'buckers in 60's jazz position wired VVT.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

I voted 2, but 95% use 1.......not sure that makes sense.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

What's the "perfect" number of pickups on the "perfect" bass?

Depends. If that one pickup has Series, Parallel and "Filter" options and a flexible three-band EQ, then one pickup can be "great".

One pickup that has none of those options also can be "great", but it is so in a more limited number of scenarios.

Translation: Even with Precision Basses, I'll always choose one that has the Jazz Pickup in the bridge (Precision Bass Special P/J) for tone sculpting possibilities for the song, moment, and room I'm playing in, no matter whether that's an active or passive Precision Bass.

 

[mapleglo]

I voted carrots because it depends. I very much enjoy a P sound, but I also love a Ric sound. So yeah, it depends.

 

[OMpZoNE]

For me, a J-style single-coil neck pickup and a humbucker dual-coil bridge pickup are perfect.
Yes, lakland 55-94, I love that pickup configuration.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I voted 2, because nobody really "needs" more, but I recently built a three pickup Lemmy 4004LK clone, and having the third pickup does add some useable tone options. The difference between any two adjacent pickups is fairly subtle, but more pronounced bridge vs. neck than it would be on most two pickup basses, if that makes sense. As far as switching them, I used a 6-position Freeway switch, and it works amazingly well. These are just three standard Ric Hi-Gains, so no fancy coil switching or series/parallel, it's just being used as a pickup selector. It can be wired a bunch of different ways, I picked one of the options that allowed all three on simultaneously, which is a nice fat sound. I've never actually owned a single pickup bass.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Not sure about pickup quantity, but the “perfect” number of pickguard screws is like 12 or something

 

[Fuzzbass]

Pickups make a tonal difference, but IMO the player is far more important than the bass for tone. For example I will not hesitate to slap on a P-bass: fussy bassists might react in horror, but no one in the audience will care.


I've preferred single-pickup basses for decades (P and MM), but my collection is now split 5/6 for one/two pickups so I voted carrots. (On my two pickup basses I usually stick with the neck pickup soloed, but my Zon sounds best with both full on).

 

[PizzaBall]

I voted for one, but truth be told, I've often daydreamed of a bass where from the bridge to the neck is just lipstick pickups with no space in between.

 

[MrAB4003]

2 is just enough for me