Though guitar and bass pickups may appear similar, there is actually quite a bit of distinction between them. Their size and string spacing differences differ drastically; larger pickups tend to be used on basses.
Picking out the ideal pickup can have a dramatic impact on your bass tone, from its magnet type and coil wind count, all the way down to how it will sound.
Single-Coil Pickups
Single-coil pickups were among the first pickups ever created for guitar, making an immediate statement about your clean tone while remaining light and agile when hit with some gain. They’re extremely versatile, too; fitting well into nearly every genre of music.
Single-coil pickups’ tones depend on many different elements: number of windings, coil size and material composition as well as magnet strength used within these pickups – variations in these factors can produce different tones; additionally, magnets used can have an influence too: having more or fewer poles than usual may alter sound production further as can their shape being made from ceramic or neodymium and even having patterns printed onto them can all impact sound output.
There are three main types of bass pickups: magnetic, piezo and other (which could include experimental or hybrid options that combine various technologies). Magnetic upright bass pickups resemble electric guitar pickups in that they mount directly under each string to capture energy generated from string vibration and convert it into electrical signals that your amplifier then turns into sound waves.
They’re an affordable option that is popular with bass players, often found on P style basses. Each coil corresponds with an E and A string pair while another supports G and D strings.
Another popular addition for bass guitars is a piezo pickup, which uses string vibration to produce an electromagnetic signal that is converted to audio by electronics in the preamp and outputted through audio output jacks. These pickups are often found on acoustic basses as well as some electric bass pickups.
Active pickups require power to operate and include electronics that amplify, filter, EQ and adjust the impedance of electromagnetically generated sound waves. They tend to be more directional than passive models and create much clearer tones with greater low end clarity – many players even prefer active bass pickups due to the additional tonal benefits they offer – typically justifying any additional costs involved with buying one.
Humbucker Pickups
Single-coil pickups can be great options for many musical genres, but those seeking a fuller sound may prefer the warm tone of humbuckers. While quieter than single-coils, humbuckers also produce more output – making them great for distortion-freaks looking to push boundaries further. Unfortunately though, humbuckers do come with their own set of disadvantages such as being potentially more muddy sounding.
Humbucking pickups feature two magnetic coils stacked atop each other (hence their name). This stacking serves to reduce interference between them and produce an even stronger sound, producing less transparency than their single-coil counterparts but producing versatile soundscapes suitable for different musical genres.
Seymour Duncan 59 Model and JB Model bass pickups are among the most acclaimed humbucking bass pickups, offering tones from clean and articulate to overdriven with crazy harmonics that cut through any mix. Other popular choices are BB King Special with high output for power players and Classic Custom with slightly warmer tones than its 59 Model counterpart.
Other than these standard forms of pickups, more experimental ones exist that combine different technologies or try something entirely novel. Examples include piezo, optical and acoustic guitar and bass pickups which use different methods to convert vibrations into amplified signals; piezo reacts to pressure rather than magnetic flux while optical and acoustic pickups use light or sound waves to detect vibrating strings.
Passive and active pickups differ in that passives don’t need any external power in order to function, delivering directly the signal they have converted from electromagnetically induced string vibrations. Meanwhile, active pickups require a 9V battery in order to function and can modify, filter and EQ the electromagnetically-induced signal before leaving your bass guitar.
Active Pickups
Though most of your bass or guitar sound depends on you, pickups play an integral part in setting its fundamental tonality. They convert vibrations generated from string amplification into electrical signals sent back to an amplifier for further processing.
Pickups come in two varieties, passive and active. Both offer advantages and disadvantages, making it the responsibility of each musician to determine which type is the right one for them.
Passive pickups have been part of electric guitar history ever since their introduction, and are most frequently found on basses due to increased string vibrations causing strings to resonate more than with electric guitars, creating a warm, full tone from passive pickups.
Acoustic pickups also possess a pleasant natural hum, which some players may find attractive. This noise is created by magnetic interactions between poles and coils within your pickup, and can be reduced with either magnetic shielding or by altering its magnet material.
One disadvantage of passive pickups is their need for a preamp to function. While this shouldn’t be an issue if your amp already includes one, if not it can become frustratingly inconvenient.
Active pickups feature an internal battery-powered preamp that amplifies weak signals from your guitar strings and increases output while decreasing impedance; this allows actives to offer higher output than passives while keeping their impedance lower, and making use of volume and tone controls possible without altering base tone.
Active pickups also feature excellent noise cancellation capabilities, making recording your music much simpler as studio engineers will have access to a cleaner signal.
Active pickups provide many advantages over passive models; however, they have their own set of drawbacks as well. Overloaded actives may become hot, while power sources are expensive to replace when they become unavailable – important considerations when switching from passive to active pickups; nonetheless if power, clarity, and noise cancellation are priorities for you, an active pickup is well worth making the switch!
Magnets
Most electric bass pickups serve the same basic function as guitar pickups: translating string vibrations to electrical signals that your amplifier can convert into sound. But there can be distinct tonal differences between bass and guitar pickups that could dramatically alter your tone.
First and foremost, bass pickups differ significantly from guitar pickups in their pole spacing due to lower string vibrations which spread further apart between each other. Furthermore, the shape and winding pattern can have an effect on tone as well.
Another key consideration in pickup selection is magnet type. There are various magnets, from alnico to ceramic, that produce unique tones. Vintage-style pickups typically use lower output alnico magnets for a warm and organic sound while high output metal and rock pickups often utilize ceramic magnets with higher output for brighter and more aggressive tones.
As with the wiring, how a pickup is wired and whether its polepieces have covers can also have an effect on its tone. Single-coil pickups with exposed polepieces produce brighter, funkier sounds suitable for country and punk-rock music; on the other hand, humbucking pickups with covered polepieces provide fuller, warmer tones preferred by jazz bassists as well as heavy metal bassists.
There are also other kinds of pickups besides magnetism for converting string vibrations to electricity, most commonly the piezo-electric pickup which uses a thin layer of crystal under bridge saddles to convert pressure changes to electrical signals that your amplifier can interpret as sound waves. These pickups tend to be found mainly on acoustic bass guitars but occasionally electric basses too.
No one should limit a bass to having only one type of pickup, but adding in additional variables such as active or passive pickups and desired tone can become complex and expensive. Furthermore, adding multiple pickups may increase complexity and cost as your bass becomes more complex and expensive to make.