Single-Coil Precision vs. Spilt-Coil Precision?

[mojomike001]

I have three Prima 51' P single coils. He's a great guy, and does some cheap custom work. He wound my pickups to 10k, one is RWRP and all are using 1/4" magnets. It was a totally custom order and it came in at Seymour Duncan prices.

I'd love to have an excuse to order more pickups from that guy.

That is so true. It almost gives me an excuse to build another bass that I really don't need. It's a custom wound at no more than mass produced prices.

 

[bobyoung53]

All humbucking pickups work the same way. One coil is reverse phase and has reverse magnet polarity. This causes noise from each pickup to cancel out since the noise part of the signal from each coil has opposite peaks and troughs from the other.

The Split P pickup doesn't have two coils sensing one string but it's still humbucking. It's one coil per string but two coils total. One is RWRP with respect to the other, and that bucks the hum.

A jazz bass has two coils in a humbucking configuration. Notice when you have both pickups at full volume there is a mid scoop.

Two coils sensing the same string at different points can cause phase cancellation or loss of highs depending on how it's wired. This doesn't happen with a P pickup because there is one coil per string.

Also the Split coil retains a narrower aperture, or length of string it senses, as compared to a two coil per string design. Compare a Musicman humbucker width to one coil of a P pickup. Figure two coils together are sensing a wider area of string than one half of a P pickup.

A wider aperture means more mid content and typically a less crisp tone.

The Split P pickup is balancing several things at once to get the tone it has though. Notice one coil in a P pickup is wider than any Jazz bass pickup, but it's not as wide as a MusicMan humbucker made with two coils stacked side by side.

One other thing to note is that J bass pickups are wired in parallel, and the P coils are in series.

Precision pickups are only humbucking by the way they're wired, they are single coil pickups with only one coil each but wound in opposite polarity to each other. they are humbucking they way they are wired together in series to make one pickup out of two but singly they are only single coil pickups, P basses are bassier because they are wired in series.
Fender jazz pickups are also single coil pickups and wound in opposite polarity like a P bass but are two complete pickups. They are humbucking only when both are on at full volume.
I don't think I'd make much money being a tech writer.

 

[Alexander]

My Masterbuilt Fender P55 is my favorite bass by a good stretch. Sounds fat, but with good definition and a perfect balance between warm and bright. I also had a CS59 and the two were definitely more alike sounding than different. The 55 was lighter and I greatly preferred the neck profile, though so the 59 went. I've never gotten any hum out of that bass either, even under stage lights...

 

[Antisyzygy]

Precision pickups are only humbucking by the way they're wired, they are single coil pickups with only one coil each but wound in opposite polarity to each other. they are humbucking they way they are wired together in series to make one pickup out of two but singly they are only single coil pickups, P basses are bassier because they are wired in series.
Fender jazz pickups are also single coil pickups and wound in opposite polarity like a P bass but are two complete pickups. They are humbucking only when both are on at full volume.
I don't think I'd make much money being a tech writer.

I mean the P pickup is two distinct pickups too. Sometimes cigar box guitar builders use half of a P pickup for their single coil pickup on 4 strings.

The P pickup isn't usually called a "humbucker" because we reserve that word for two full coils per string in a humbucking configuration, but the P pickup does "buck the hum". Sometimes we call it a split coil humbucker I suppose, but either way it is humbucking.

MusicMan Stingray humbuckers are actually wired in parallel like Jazz bass pickups. The Jazz bass just adds a volume control for each coil.

 

[okabass]

Wilton Felder recorded The Jackson Fives' "I Want You Back" using a Telecaster Bass, essentially a reproduction of the pre-54 Precision and its single coil PUP. There was a long discussion on TB about that track with many people whose ears I trust asserting it HAD to be a pick rather than fingers. I got an email via The Crusaders' management company from Mr. Felder saying "Always fingers, never a pick". The point being that the characteristic attack one gets from the single coil is quite different from the split coil.

I've been using La bella "Jamerson" flats lately, and big part of that "pick sound" comes from FW strings and possible ashtraymute

 

[Alexis Duntov]

Split Ps have a pronounced bottom with a bit of a mid to upper mid bump. They're thick and drive a bit more. They have a higher impedance than most single coils.

Single coil P pickups sound more hollow by comparison. The attack is more pronounced and they're somewhat scooped sounding with more presence than a split P.

The Split P pickup is sensing a wider area of string. The single coil is getting a crisper sound from the narrower sensing area.

That's to my ear at least.

That’s a good description. From five years ago.

 

[Paul New]

I have always thought that single coil and split coil Precisions sound more similar than different. The common denominator is pickup location.

I hear a difference but couldn’t tell you exactly what it is. I think you’re right that they are very similar.

I prefer the SC and that reminds me, I NEED a SC P Bass!