Switching out pickups can be an economical way to explore different tones on your bass guitar. At Sweetwater, there is an array of bass guitars equipped with single coil or humbucking pickups.
Reducing magnetic interaction between strings and pickup can create a more harmonic sound, helping address issues such as harshness, poor sustain or unsatisfactory tone before costly repairs become necessary.
Pickups
If your bass has lost some of its shine, new pickups may be needed to add back its vitality. Pickups are one of the key hardware components as they convert the vibrations of metal strings to electric signals that can be amplified and fed directly into an amplifier.
A bass guitar offers many pickup choices to give you plenty of choices when selecting the ideal tone and sound for any style of music – single-coil pickups feature open and bright tones while P90s and humbuckers can create thicker dark sounds that pair well with jazz or black metal genres.
Construction plays an integral role in how a pickup sounds; windings, magnetic material type, pole pieces and magnet layout all have an effect on its tone. Generally speaking, more windings equal greater output and clarity while less mean thinner sound quality.
People who prefer an eclectic range of sounds often install multiple types of pickups onto their instrument to achieve that sound, commonly referred to as humbuckers; other names for these pickups include rail humbuckers, stacked coil humbuckers and covered or uncovered humbuckers.
Location is another key factor when it comes to bass pickups: closer proximity results in stronger fundamental awareness and responsiveness to string bending; however, further away pick-ups lose their capacity to detect their fundamental, leading to thin or piercing soundscapes.
Passive pickups don’t need power and immediately transmit any signal induced from vibrating strings; active pickups, on the other hand, have preamps inside that amplify, filter, and EQ electromagnetically-generated signals before sending it out through their output jack. Bass players particularly benefit from active pickups because their lower frequencies can more readily be captured with high-frequency preamps than higher ones can with passive.
Altering the pickups on your bass can have a dramatic impact on its sound and playability. But doing this yourself requires some knowledge of electronics – if you’re uncomfortable opening your instrument up and working with soldering irons yourself it may be best to leave this task to a professional.
Wiring
Your bass guitar’s sound is created by vibrations from its strings being converted to electric signals by pickups. Upgrading your pickups can dramatically change its tone; different pickup types offer distinct sounds which can alter how your music comes out. Thankfully, most bass guitars feature two pickups which can be used individually or mixed in together, giving you plenty of options to experiment and find what sounds best on your instrument.
Before beginning an upgrade, take a photo of your bass’s current wiring to maintain a record. This may come in handy should you decide to sell or switch back to original pickups later. Also measure the height of current pickups so you have an idea of where your new ones need to go.
First, put your soldering iron on high heat and prepare the tip with some tin. Additionally, use some solder wick to remove any old solder that might remain on pots or output jack. Finally, use zip ties or alligator clips to hold wires out of the way so they won’t become damaged during the upgrade process.
Pull the ground wire out from behind the pots and out of the jack’s sleeve as shown in Photo 1. You should now be able to see both black pickup wires and the white pickguard wire clearly.
Step two involves unplugging and unwinding the old pickup wires, as shown in Photos 2 and 3. Use a small vise or clamp to hold down your bass while doing this step, but be wary not to apply too much pressure as doing so may break off its pickup coil.
Once the old pickups are removed, prepare each wire in the new pickup with some solder wick and some solder tin from your soldering iron, as shown in Photo 4. Next, referring to your wiring diagram, identify which color goes where and connect them accordingly – be sure to mark each connection off as complete on your diagram so that everything is secure!
Installation
Switching pickups in an electric bass guitar can drastically alter its tone. But as changing pickups is an intricate and delicate process that needs to be performed carefully to prevent damaging connections, if you lack experience it is best left in the hands of professionals.
Cut your old pickup leads about 1/2 inch away from their connections in order to make uninstalling them easier. Remove all screws and pull out your pickups with care – ideally while your strings are at full tension if possible; doing it this way makes the task a lot simpler!
If your bass features a separate volume control, take care to wire it to the bridge jack as originally designed. When installing a humbucking pickup, verify that its North finish and South finish wires are connected; otherwise you will need to consult an online wiring diagram in order to identify which wire corresponds with which coil.
Connect the new pickups according to the wiring diagram provided. When installing a bucker style pickup, ensure its coils are spaced out at approximately the same amount as string spacing (typically 19 mm).
Once all the wiring is complete, double-check against your diagram to identify any discrepancies. If any connections don’t match, go back and fix them accordingly. Also make sure no loose solder connections could lead to shorting in your guitar.
Once the installation of your new pickups is complete, test their tone by plugging a cable into their jack and connecting it to an amplifier. You should hear some tone coming through from it depending on which pickups were installed – this tone may be muffled or dull depending on their specific nature.
Once satisfied with your results, reattach your bass’s volume knob and pickup cables to their new connections. If your bass comes equipped with a removable pickguard, install it before giving another test run – it should sound great now! If anything still seems off about your sound, fine-tune its height by raising or lowering pickups on their mounting plate – be careful not to do this too quickly or you risk buzzing or distortion sounds due to string vibration reaching too closely for comfort with their pickups!
Testing
Modifying the pickups on your bass is one of the fastest ways to instantly transform its tone. Installing a humbucker onto a Jazz bass, for example, will add power and definition not available from its single coil version; but be mindful that doing this may alter its intonation; one way of quickly checking this is playing an open note then fretting one string at the 12th fret; if any notes sound in tune when pulled toward the neck but out-of-tune when played at bridge this indicates needing correction of in tuneness correction.
Selecting a bass guitar pickup can significantly change the sound of individual strings by emphasizing different frequency ranges, some emphasizing low end and mids while others boost treble frequencies. Therefore, it is crucial that you experiment with various pickup types before finding one that suits both your playing style and musical preferences.
Pickup height, the distance between a pickup’s magnetic field and its strings, can have a profound effect on its tone. A bass pickup that is set correctly will produce full and rich tones; when out of alignment it produces thin warbled tones instead. Furthermore, bass strings contain more mass which disturbs its magnetic field more than treble strings would.
If you own a humbucker bass guitar, its two pickup magnets are configured so as to cancel out their interference with each other. This effect is made particularly powerful if its coils are aligned polar oppositely.
Though EQs may provide some help for bass guitar tone issues, the pickups should serve as your primary source of tone. An EQ device can only manipulate signals at their point of reception; thus it’s essential that you find suitable pickups for your instrument – we offer a guide on selecting quality bass pickups as well as videos which explain knobs, teach about EQ concepts and introduce popular effects pedals as well as show you how to install one!
A bass’s type of pickup makes an impactful statement about its tone. There are various varieties, such as single coil, split coil and humbuckers.
P pickups are single-coil pickups with one extra pole piece per string, creating an altered tone signature. They have become immensely popular since their introduction.
Pickups
Swapping out pickups can have a dramatic impact on a bass’s tone, especially if its original pickups are of poor quality. High-quality bass pickups tend to produce more dynamic sounds that improve balance and dynamic response in tone production compared with their lower quality counterparts, creating an audible difference in tone quality between high and low quality pickups.
A guitar’s pickup consists of a copper wire coil encasing one or more magnets. When vibration occurs on its string, its magnetic field changes, inducing current in the coils which picks up this change and amplifies and transfers it directly to your speaker system.
Your choice of guitar pickup will depend on the style and genre of music that speaks to you. Humbuckers use two coils to cancel out electromagnetic interference (EMI), but other options exist as well; such as tapping one coil out for output signal production so as to reap some of the advantages of both single-coil sound with less EMI interference.
Another popular bass pickup choice is the P-style bass pickup, first used on Fender Precision Bass models. This design utilizes two coils with opposite polarities connected by wire to pick up strings simultaneously from neck and bridge positions without interference between coils; hence its nickname of dual-coil pickups. These coils can then be combined or separated depending on which string needs picking up at any given moment.
Some bassists prefer more focused tones, and this can be achieved using a J-style pickup. Similar to humbuckers but with staggered coils that transfer more harmonic overtones than fundamental tone. Common in rock music and even famous artists such as Jimi Hendrix have utilized these pickups for creating unique bass tones.
Wiring
How you wire your bass can make an enormous impactful statement about its tone. There are multiple configurations of wiring which create different sounds; single coil, split coil and humbucker models offer unique sonic expression; however, in general the best approach may involve using more than one type.
Begin by installing your jack, pots and switches before proceeding with your pickups. This will prevent shorting out or burning out pots and switches while soldering things back together; zip ties, alligator clips, hemostats or bread ties can help secure them while soldering; try taking one step at a time so you can mark them on your wiring diagram as you progress.
Once your pickups have been installed, make sure they’re functioning as intended by using a multimeter to test them out. Make sure the DCR (direct current resistance) falls within acceptable parameters – higher means more gain, while lower means less gain. Also ensure the lugs on your output jack are suitable – too big and you won’t be able to screw in your new jack; too small means you won’t be able to attach the new one either!
One of the easiest and most impactful ways you can enhance the sound of your bass guitar is to alter its wire lengths from its pickup. Longer wires carry more signal, and louder your bass will sound; thus making this change inexpensive yet effective in instantly improving its tone. This upgrade has become so popular among musicians that many upgrade them on their guitars for immediate improvement in sound.
Pickup height can have a major effect on the sound of your bass guitar. Fender and Gibson publish guidelines in their manuals as starting points; but to achieve the best sound for yourself it’s best to experiment and find what suits you personally. Closer pole pieces to strings will give a warmer, more focused tone while further away will reduce overall volume while adding some grit.
Prep
There are many elements that influence bass guitar tone, but none as significantly as its pickups. Because of this, many players are interested in switching up their pickups – there are numerous choices available!
Humbuckers are an extremely popular upgrade, adding two electromagnets for maximum punch and increasing output. But other types of bass pickups may also have significant effects, including single-coils and split-coils as well as combinations (such as pairing middle position split coil with bridge humbucker).
Pickup height has an effect on your bass’ tone as well. Ideally, its pole pieces should be as close to the strings without touching them for optimal string clarity – particularly with lower strings. Short scale strings on a long scale guitar may hit its polepieces at an odd angle which reduces their effectiveness.
If you want to make subtle yet effective adjustments to the tone of your bass, try changing its number of windings on its coil. By altering tension on the wire and how tightly you wrap it around the magnet, tension levels will have an impactful impact on its sound – underwinding by just 5% can make your bass brighter while overwinding by the same percentage can produce warmer tones with reduced top end frequencies.
Before soldering anything, be sure to have an excellent understanding of your instrument’s electronics. A quick online search should yield numerous helpful youtube videos on soldering and upgrading processes; if you don’t feel comfortable working with electronic parts yourself, perhaps having someone else perform the upgrade for you might be best.
Installation
Switching out bass pickups is a straightforward upgrade that can instantly alter the tone of your guitar, with just the necessary parts and tools even an inexperienced solderer can successfully change pickups. Prior to beginning, be sure to take lots of pictures to help keep track of every connection as you disassemble wires and cables. That way, when it’s time to reassemble everything later on, everything will still fit where it belongs! Before upgrading pickups, it is wise to first install the jack, pots and switches. Zip ties, alligator clips or hemostats can help hold unruly wires out of the way while soldering connections; to double-check each connection against your wiring diagram.
Single-coil pickups are among the simplest type of bass guitar pickup, though their general principles apply when installing either humbuckers or P90s. One key distinction to bear in mind when soldering single coil pickups to your bass guitar is between their bare and braided lead wires – you must determine which wire belongs where before beginning!
Next, open up the pickguard and loosen its pot and jack mount screws using your screwdriver. Once loosen, lift off the pickguard to gain access to its pickup cavities.
As soon as it comes time to replace old pickups, it is critical to work carefully and keep track of each screw as you go. This is especially crucial if replacing stock Fender pickups which often feature smaller threads than other brands; losing track of one may result in the strip ripping free and potentially leaving behind unsightly holes where your pickup was installed.
Once you’ve taken apart and disassembled your old pickups, it is advisable to clean any remaining solder with a wire cutter or knife so as to leave shiny and attractive solder joints when reassembling them. This ensures smooth solder joints during installation of new pickups.
After installing your new pickups, it’s time to play. Be sure to compare their sound with Fender and Gibson specifications published publicly, if necessary adjusting height as you experiment until finding something that sounds perfect for you.