Let's say you have a set of really nice soapbar pickups, one is a single coil, one is a dual coil humbucker. Both pickups are in identically sized shells. Would you rather install them in a J/HB (single coil at neck, humbucker at bridge) configuration, or HB/J (humbucker at neck, single coil at bridge)? The humbucker can not be wired with series/parallel or single coil mode switches, if that makes a difference.
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Would you rather: J/HB or HB/J?
- Thread starter Papazita
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JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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If go with H/J. That way I could get more of a P tone out of it, and keep the bridge single for slap/chords. But, then you couldn't cop a MM tone, if that's what you wanted.
Well yes, but I'd also like to hear what you thinkHonestly? I think I'd take the 10 minutes to try them out both ways and just do what sounded best.
Right?
JeezyMcNuggles
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Yeah, re-reding your post, I'd definitely go with H/J. Itd basically be a PJ set up. At least, really close to one. I play PJs
For me? I'd rather go the Lakland route: J/HB. More often than not, I detest the sound of a soloed bridge pickup because it sounds thin and nasal and unsupportive. The HB at the bridge would help beef up that tone a lot. And I find that a soloed neck J sounds just fine to me.
I guess what I was saying is: I really, actually, don't have a predetermined answer. I would, literally, try it both ways and see! I can't tell you what I think because I haven't heard those pickups yet. We can generalize about the sound of a single coil vs a humbucker in each position but there are a lot of real world factors. Things like - how well shielded is the bass and how noisy is the single coil pickup? If the single coil is going to hum like mad when solo'd, then I'd just put it in the bridge position, since I solo the neck pickup much more often than the bridge pickup.
Further, in the exact scenario you described where the pickups/routes were identical, I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't take the few minutes to at least try both ways. Even if I really thought I'd prefer it one way, I'd die from curiosity if I didn't at least try it the other way. You can't do this on a P/J or a J/MM - so if you had two identical routes that would fit either pickup, wouldn't you want to at least know what those pickups sounded like in both orientations?
Or is this supposed to be a hypothetical question just to see if single/HB is more or less popular than HB/single?
J/MM. I’ve never liked the tone of a single coil in the bridge on its own; I have to boost the bass and cut the treble to get a sound I really like. I do like single coil neck pickups, though. They add a little clarity to the more rounded tone of the neck position.
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J/HB for sure. Assuming the HB has more output than the J.
It makes sense to my brain to put the thicker, beefier pickup at the bridge, where its power can aid the lower output of the strings at that location. Conversely, having a lower-output narrow-aperture pickup at the neck will reduce boominess and increase clarity and detail.
It makes sense to my brain to put the thicker, beefier pickup at the bridge, where its power can aid the lower output of the strings at that location. Conversely, having a lower-output narrow-aperture pickup at the neck will reduce boominess and increase clarity and detail.
HB on bridge always, it's the thinner sounding position so it benefits more for the fatter humbucker
I have a Yamaha BB415 - 5 string P/J with the big blade pickup at the bridge. It sounds ENORMOUS - one of the few bridge pickups I'd consider soloing on a fretted bass. Haven't looked inside, but I wonder if it's a stacked humbucker, and that's why I like it so much...?
