Recognizing bass guitar pickups can make all the difference when it comes to your playing style. Their various types, construction, and characteristics can have a tremendous effect on their tone.
Pickups for bass guitar are electromagnets with magnet and coil components similar to that found in guitar pickups; the technical concept remains the same, although bass pickups typically feature larger magnets and coils.
How Pickups Work
There are two basic approaches to understanding how a bass guitar pickup works (in technical jargon: turning string vibrations into electrical signals that can be amplified and translated into sound). One popular interpretation centers on its magnet’s magnetic field; when strings vibrate they disrupt this field and generate small voltage fluctuations inside its copper coil which are converted to bass guitar signal through your amplifier and eventually your speakers.
This model can be found in many books and websites about pickups written by engineers and physicists. Furthermore, Fender features pickups based on this theory in many of their electric guitars (and basses).
The second major interpretation of how a bass guitar pickup works involves using the string itself as a source of magnetic flux. This approach was adopted by many older Fender bass models and some modern basses from manufacturers such as DiMarzio, EMG and Seymour Duncan (such as their PJ models).
Both interpretations are accurate; each has different effects on the sound. The first will impact how much ambient noise the pickup picks up and transmits. Meanwhile, the second affects how much its own magnetic field is disturbed by string vibration, with greater effects felt in terms of how quickly its strings vibrate which in turn influences tone and pitch.
Changes to the configuration of your bass pickups can significantly alter its sound, so familiarizing yourself with different types of bass guitar pickups will be key in selecting one that will deliver your desired tones. Pairing various pickups together may even give more distinctive tonal ranges – for instance combining Fender P-basses in bridge and neck positions (a classic combination from Leo Fender’s original “P/J” bass) can produce unique results; no matter your musical preferences there will always be one out there with just the right combination of pickups that can do just what you want or quack with clear spank or wobble with warmth and resonance; whatever style of bass you play there’s sure to be something out there waiting to meet them all!
Types of Pickups
Pickups on bass guitars are essential in creating their distinctive sounds. There are various kinds of pickups available; each type possesses certain qualities that can enhance its tone. Common types include single-coil and humbucker pickups.
Single-coil pickups consist of one coil of copper wire wrapped around a magnet with polepiece screws at either end, connected by polepiece screws beneath each string. When vibrating strings disrupt the magnetic field and cause fluctuations to be transmitted into a bass amp where they are amplified and turned into sound waves. Single-coil pickups create an open, transparent sound with lots of clarity; though, depending on how tightly coiled wire and magnet used are, their tone could differ accordingly.
Double-coil (also referred to as split-coil) pickups feature two coils of copper wire arranged parallel, each covering two strings. This design allows each string to receive its own distinct frequency, helping reduce feedback and hum, while providing more balanced sound across all strings. Furthermore, these pickups are independently adjustable allowing you more control over how your bass sounds overall.
Bass pickups can also be divided into P-style and Jazz bass pickups, each style offering its own distinctive tones. A P-style bass pickup (also referred to as precision pickup) produces a more rich and deep tone well suited to rock music genres while Jazz bass pickups have sharper tones perfect for jazz genres that demand tight bottom end sound.
Piezoelectric pickups are another highly sought-after type of bass pickup. Utilizing a microscopic ceramic element to sense string vibrations, it’s commonly found on acoustic bass guitars. While quieter than their counterparts, piezoelectric bass pickups still deliver powerful and full sound output.
There are also specialty bass pickups available, including bar and rail pickups. A bar pickup resembles a regular single-coil pickup, but is hermetically sealed in an enclosure and operates using similar principles as a humbucking pickup. On the other hand, rail pickups are designed for basses with four strings or more and feature single coils with two pole pieces under each string that work like J pickups but feature single coils with two pole pieces under each string allowing for greater tonal variety when paired with P-style pickups for comprehensive tones.
Bass Pickups vs. Guitar Pickups
As strings vibrate, they generate an electric signal which is picked up by a guitar pickup and sent to an amplifier, where its vibrations are converted into loud, gnarly sounds – whether those sounds be acoustic, electric, or both depends on which pickup type you choose.
Pickups come in various sizes, shapes, and strengths – each designed to convert vibrations from your bass strings into an audio signal that can be played back through an instrument. They may provide different sonic characteristics ranging from subtler tones to larger sounds delivering big booming blasts of sound.
Most bass and guitar pickups follow similar basic principles; their main differences lie in terms of coil count and size. Most basses utilize humbuckers while there may also be those using single-coil pickups (not typically seen elsewhere).
Humbuckers are composed of two separate electromagnetic coils shielded from each other to minimize interference between them, and allow the pickup to produce large amounts of power without producing unwanted noise or feedback. While these types of pickups are usually great choices for bass guitars, some players prefer single-coil pickups for their clarity and openness.
Another key difference between bass and guitar pickups is their pole piece spacing, as this determines how much of each string can be effectively picked up by their pickups. Some bass pickups, like rail or lipstick pickups, have wider string spacing capabilities while other pick-ups feature closer-together pole pieces, making them better suited to narrower string spacing environments (as often found on guitars).
Though installing bass pickups onto guitars or vice versa is technically possible, doing so can have mixed results. Doing so may cause pole pieces not to align properly with each string’s pole piece resulting in less of that string being picked up by its pickup and more loudness overall being produced by it. Therefore, it would be wiser to only attempt this experiment on an inexpensive or old instrument without much sentimental value – you don’t want to risk ruining either!
Bass Pickups vs. Humbuckers
When buying bass pickups, it’s essential to listen and understand their sound before diving into technical details about various models of pickups. While technical details may be interesting, without hearing how the pickup sounds it may remain abstract and not be useful in decision making. There are three primary types of pickups: magnetic (where it all began), single coil, and double coil (aka humbuckers). There may also be variations such as split-coil humbuckers, rail humbuckers or split stacked or covered humbuckers among many more.
Single-coil pickups produce a warm and open sound but are sensitive to ambient noise such as electromagnetic emissions from radios, neon signs, or computer monitors. Noise can be minimized with an insulated wire covering for each coil but still may impact tone negatively.
Humbuckers are a favorite among bassists as they offer powerful, clear and thick tones while being less susceptible to unwanted noise. Furthermore, humbuckers boast an expansive palette of tones which allow players to create everything from gritty power rock to funky funk sounds.
P-Style bass pickups first made their mark in early rock and are still used by bassists like Larry Graham in genres such as slap and pop bass playing. Additionally, metal and jazz players who desire an aggressive sound use these pickups.
J-Style bass pickups feature a thinner sound compared to P pickups and can still provide plenty of versatility. Slap bassists frequently utilize these pickups; heavy metal players such as Metallica’s Robert Trujillo have used them, while jazz players such as Stu Hamm have employed J-style pickups too.
Optic bass pickups are relatively new and one of the most innovative pickup types for bass guitar. Based on light passing through vibrating strings, an invisible shadow is created which can then be recorded and converted to an amplified electronic signal that can then be amplified, just as other pickups do.
Though many factors go into selecting the appropriate bass guitar pickup for you, the primary goal should be finding something that sounds great and feels comfortable in your hands. By taking time to experiment with various pickups, you should have no difficulty discovering one that becomes your signature sound.