Soapbar Pickups *Help*

[organworthyplayer337]

I've always liked the sound of soapbar pickups and am considering putting a set in a build I'm planning.

I have a few questions and would really appreciate some help

1. Is it possible to use a set and only have 3 pots?

Since it's a Warmoth build, they'll only drill 3...

2. This may be a stupid question but do you NEED a pre-amp in there with them?

3. Which set would you recommend? I play rock, jazz, solo improv and funk. Fingerstyle 90% of the time

Thanks!!

 

[line6man]

Soapbars are a particular shape. They are not any specific kind of pickup. The term "soapbar" refers to the casing, which originated from Gibson P90 style pickups that were ivory in color, resembling actual bars of soap. A soapbar cover may house anything from single coils, to humbuckers, to split coil, to quad coils, in varying widths/apertures, with any kind of wire and magnets.

Pickups do not need to be wired into specific configurations. You may choose a setup with as few or as many pots as you want, depending on the functionality that is desired. For a bass with three pots, common choices would be volume/volume/tone, and volume/blend/tone.

It is exceptionally rare for magnetic pickups to require preamps in order to function properly. Most pickups are of an appropriate impedance and output level to be run either passive, or with a preamp, depending on the preferences of the player.

Choosing a set of pickups is impossible until you narrow down the criteria by which you are making your selection. What are your tonal goals?

 

[organworthyplayer337]

Soapbars are a particular shape. They are not any specific kind of pickup. The term "soapbar" refers to the casing, which originated from Gibson P90 style pickups that were ivory in color, resembling actual bars of soap. A soapbar cover may house anything from single coils, to humbuckers, to split coil, to quad coils, in varying widths/apertures, with any kind of wire and magnets.

Pickups do not need to be wired into specific configurations. You may choose a setup with as few or as many pots as you want, depending on the functionality that is desired. For a bass with three pots, common choices would be volume/volume/tone, and volume/blend/tone.

It is exceptionally rare for magnetic pickups to require preamps in order to function properly. Most pickups are of an appropriate impedance and output level to be run either passive, or with a preamp, depending on the preferences of the player.

Choosing a set of pickups is impossible until you narrow down the criteria by which you are making your selection. What are your tonal goals?

Thanks for the info!


Tonally, I really like the sound of the Aguilar DCBs. If I'm correct the Warmoth bodies are routed for EMG 35 SBPUs so I would be getting the G3s

As for the pot configuration I'm thinking VBT but don't really know where to start on that...
Like what do I need to get in order to get the blend function?

I'm familiar with VVT but not VBT...

Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[organworthyplayer337]

Here's the link to the pickups I was looking at: Invalid Link Removed

But instead they would be the G3s

 

[line6man]

Thanks for the info!


Tonally, I really like the sound of the Aguilar DCBs. If I'm correct the Warmoth bodies are routed for EMG 35 SBPUs so I would be getting the G3s

As for the pot configuration I'm thinking VBT but don't really know where to start on that...
Like what do I need to get in order to get the blend function?

I'm familiar with VVT but not VBT...

Your help is greatly appreciated!

You buy a blend pot, which is two pots stacked up on a single shaft. You have a few choices, however. An M/N taper is optimal, as at least one pickup goes straight through to the output, at any given point in the rotation. A lesser A/C taper pot will attenuate both pickups, when you move away from the fully clockwise or counterclockwise settings. A popular option for blend pot wiring is to leave the grounds off, so that the pot only introduces a series resistance between the pickups and the output. This option decreases the amount of loading on the pickups, but it is not possible to completely solo a pickup. With that being said, most players note that you can really only hear the opposite pickup when you tap on the pole pieces. You also have the choice of resistance rating. A 250k pot will be a little darker than a 500k pot, but will allow better fine-tuning.