Sweet looking bassI 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.
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Perfect number of pickups?
- Thread starter Greenman72
- Start date
I am kinda stuck here because my 2 favorite basses are a MM SR5 and a Fender Ultra Jazz V. The MM is a single pup and the Fender is a 2 pup. I do think that you need 2 pups to get a good Jazz bass tone. Where as you only need 1 to get a good p bass or MM tone. So, it all depends on the sound you are after.
I voted for two, especially on my '82 Jazz with its 70's era pickup spacing of 4" center to center. That puts the bridge pickup 0.4" closer to the bridge and gives it a brighter sound than my '65 Jazz had with its standard 3.6" center to center spacing. I can change my sound a little or a lot just by where I pluck the string. If I want darker and warmer, I can move up a bit towards the neck. If I want brighter and more percussive I can move a bit towards the bridge. If I want my Jazz to growl, I'll dig into the strings over the bridge pickup and it will growl all day long.
I voted for 3. With the Dingwall setup you get kinda P, kinda J, kinda MM in one instrument. In the studio I’d probably want the real deal, but live it’s more than close enough.
Same here. I get along best with a Jazz bass and I keep both volume knobs maxed out.
My #2 is a P-Bass
In my opinion, the answer depends on how many basses you possess.
In a single-bass scenario, two pickups can provide the versatility many players might be looking for. As in a J bass; where you can lean towards the neck for a fuller warm vibe, bridge for a modern articulated vibe, or blend them equally for a scoop.
In a multi-bass scenario, each instrument can be specialized for a different purpose. A common sample line-up:
In a single-bass scenario, two pickups can provide the versatility many players might be looking for. As in a J bass; where you can lean towards the neck for a fuller warm vibe, bridge for a modern articulated vibe, or blend them equally for a scoop.
In a multi-bass scenario, each instrument can be specialized for a different purpose. A common sample line-up:
- A P (single pickup) with flats for laid-back vintage stuff
- A StingRay (single pickup) with steel rounds for upfront modern stuff
- A J (two pickups) with nickel rounds for anything in-between
Well...
Once again... it depends. I have way more basses with 2 pickups than with one, but that's just the way things go. If you want to fill the "Rick 4003" spot in your herd? Sorry; its 2 single coils for you... And, while Gibson did make single p/u Thunderbirds, they didn't make left handed ones. They didn't make lefty T-Birds at all, until 2013; so, mine has 2...
Still, I do like my single p/u basses. Granted, they aren't as "versatile" as most of my dual p/u basses, but with so many basses? Versatile is not big on my "desirable" list. Still, it's hard to argue with the 5 position switch on my EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. That switch, and the pre-amp tone controls, make for a lot of choices. Even though I, like somebody else said, tend to set it where I like it - and leave it there. But, I do have a lot of choices...
As for my single pickup basses? Well...
- '78 Fender P-Bass. Pretty sure we all know how to make a P-Bass as versatile as it can get, so... I'll just say that mine is set up to sound like it would have come from the factory, as new; medium scale flats under the foam mute in the bridge cover. Not very "versatile", but it doesn't need to be...
- '24 G&L Kiloton lined Fretless. It wears La Bella LTFF's; it also has a bass boost switch, but... not much else. Versatility - what there is - comes from my fingers, for this bass...
-'82 Kramer "The Duke" Deluxe (or Special, depending on what you read). American and Japanese made Kramers are... well, I've had 5 of them (still have 3), and only one has matched the catalog description. And that one isn't my Duke. It has a Schaller "Twin J" pickup, like it's supposed to. It has a 3-way switch, like it's supposed to And I can use the pickup like a humbucker, or switch it to a single coil p/u, like it's supposed to. But, I can also switch it into a split coil P-Bass p/u - which it's not supposed to do. I think those guys just liked to screw around; either because they wanted to see if they could do something - or they were just... bored. Anyhow;
That little short scale, aluminum-necked, headless bass is about as versatile as it's possible for a single p/u bass to be. Granted, I do play it in the "P-Bass" position most of the time, but... I don't have to. Just laziness, I guess...
Once again... it depends. I have way more basses with 2 pickups than with one, but that's just the way things go. If you want to fill the "Rick 4003" spot in your herd? Sorry; its 2 single coils for you... And, while Gibson did make single p/u Thunderbirds, they didn't make left handed ones. They didn't make lefty T-Birds at all, until 2013; so, mine has 2...
Still, I do like my single p/u basses. Granted, they aren't as "versatile" as most of my dual p/u basses, but with so many basses? Versatile is not big on my "desirable" list. Still, it's hard to argue with the 5 position switch on my EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. That switch, and the pre-amp tone controls, make for a lot of choices. Even though I, like somebody else said, tend to set it where I like it - and leave it there. But, I do have a lot of choices...
As for my single pickup basses? Well...
- '78 Fender P-Bass. Pretty sure we all know how to make a P-Bass as versatile as it can get, so... I'll just say that mine is set up to sound like it would have come from the factory, as new; medium scale flats under the foam mute in the bridge cover. Not very "versatile", but it doesn't need to be...
- '24 G&L Kiloton lined Fretless. It wears La Bella LTFF's; it also has a bass boost switch, but... not much else. Versatility - what there is - comes from my fingers, for this bass...
-'82 Kramer "The Duke" Deluxe (or Special, depending on what you read). American and Japanese made Kramers are... well, I've had 5 of them (still have 3), and only one has matched the catalog description. And that one isn't my Duke. It has a Schaller "Twin J" pickup, like it's supposed to. It has a 3-way switch, like it's supposed to And I can use the pickup like a humbucker, or switch it to a single coil p/u, like it's supposed to. But, I can also switch it into a split coil P-Bass p/u - which it's not supposed to do. I think those guys just liked to screw around; either because they wanted to see if they could do something - or they were just... bored. Anyhow;
That little short scale, aluminum-necked, headless bass is about as versatile as it's possible for a single p/u bass to be. Granted, I do play it in the "P-Bass" position most of the time, but... I don't have to. Just laziness, I guess...
Big picture...whatever works your you, works for you.
Personally, I prefer two pickups over one. I, briefly, owned a Squier Mikey Way Mustang...the one with the big humbucker in place of a split-coil...and I found it to be too "monochromatic", so that was a "lesson learned" moment for me. That being said, I have a three pickup Jazz-Stingray-Jaguar hybrid in mind, chiefly inspired by the Fender Jino Jazz.
I have all the parts and electronics, I just need to figure out where the additional routing will go before I start cutting. As for how it will turn out? We'll have to wait and see.
Personally, I prefer two pickups over one. I, briefly, owned a Squier Mikey Way Mustang...the one with the big humbucker in place of a split-coil...and I found it to be too "monochromatic", so that was a "lesson learned" moment for me. That being said, I have a three pickup Jazz-Stingray-Jaguar hybrid in mind, chiefly inspired by the Fender Jino Jazz.
I have all the parts and electronics, I just need to figure out where the additional routing will go before I start cutting. As for how it will turn out? We'll have to wait and see.
I voted two.
With the neck pickup I can get the"beefy grind"
With the bridge I can get the "Jaco burp"
With the neck pickup I can get the"beefy grind"
With the bridge I can get the "Jaco burp"
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I've never felt that my P basses are ever lacking in tone. Thats also what I gig with 99% of the time. But my favorite bass tone is my 02 Am. Deluxe P bass with the Humbucker in the bridge. That would be my ideal bass pickup setup, so I suppose 2 pickups is my choice. Though I have never felt restricted with just my P pickups.
