Help me find a pickup...

[_jojo_bass]

I have been looking for a bass pickup that has very specific parameters. All very important and necessary towards my experimentation.

A passive bar magnet 5 string pickup that is a stacked humbucker.

Gotta be stacked, because no matter what you do, a side by side coil 5 string pickup is never going to be completely humcancelling because of the non symmetrical coils. As close as they can get, it won't work. (Though I do have the Aguilar in line humbucking Jazz pickups and they are awesome, but don't work for this experiment)

Stacked too because I want the response to come from one point on the string, not two like a guitar humbucker.

Bar magnet because I don't want the string bouncing between two different pole magnets. More to do with response and magnetic field theories.

The only think i have found is a seymour duncan jazz pickup and the EMG hz jazz pickup. If you know anything, tell me about it.

 

[bholder]

Carvin made one in the 90s, I have a couple in a parts bin downstairs. Not very helpful, sorry. Well, wasn't a bar, but their continuous row of touching polepieces, pretty close.

 

[40Hz]

Have you condidered a sidewinder? A narrow aperture sidewinder design is about as close as you'll get to a humbucker that behaves like a single coil. That is the whole raison d'être behind sidewinder pickups.

Check out Q-Tuner.com. They make blade sidewinders.

@MIMJAZZ - out of curiosity, what is this mysterious experiment you're conducting?

 

[ctmullins]

Gotta be stacked, because no matter what you do, a side by side coil 5 string pickup is never going to be completely humcancelling because of the non symmetrical coils. As close as they can get, it won't work.

I don't understand this statement. The ability of a humbucker to buck hum does not depend upon the spatial relationship between the two coils, unless they are an absurd distance apart. And I have no idea what you mean by "non symmetrical".

But yeah, Q-Tuners were the first thing to pop into my mind too, good call @40Hz .

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

While the OP's assessment of split-coils differs from my experience, the non-symetrical thing only happens with 5 string pickups since one coil will cover two strings and one will cover 3 strings (look at jazz bass 5 pickup specs). As a result of those two coils of different strenght cancelling each other the OP feels there is too much hum left.

And I have no idea what you mean by "non symmetrical".
@40Hz .

 

[ctmullins]

Ah, okay, I was thinking of traditional side-by-side dual-coils.

So yeah, a blade sidewinder meets all of the OP's requirements.

 

[_jojo_bass]

That's exactly what I meant!

While the OP's assessment of split-coils differs from my experience, the non-symetrical thing only happens with 5 string pickups since one coil will cover two strings and one will cover 3 strings (look at jazz bass 5 pickup specs). As a result of those two coils of different strenght cancelling each other the OP feels there is too much hum left.

 

[_jojo_bass]

Have you condidered a sidewinder? A narrow aperture sidewinder design is about as close as you'll get to a humbucker that behaves like a single coil. That is the whole raison d'être behind sidewinder pickups.

Check out Q-Tuner.com. They make blade sidewinders.

@MIMJAZZ - out of curiosity, what is this mysterious experiment you're conducting?

The sidewinder is pretty much a stacked coil, but on its side... Is this correct? I'm just going off the picture.

This experiment is trying the get the truest fundamental. Least amount of interruption from string wave to amp. Going in a neck through bass. Just an experiment.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

While I understand your point, I don't think the residual hum is perceptible IF your electronics are properly soldered. In the meantime, pickup makers are abandoning stacked humbuckers and favoring split-humbuckers for a reason. Stacked humbucker tend to sound wimpy because of the phase cancellation. In fact your concern of having 2 magnets of different strength is much worse in the case of a stacked humbucker if you do some research you'll see.
I tried almost every jazz bass pickup on the market and never tried a stacked humbucker that was even passable. In term of bass pickups it is better to aim at a specific sound and keep an open mind as to what the technical specs should be.
For years, I only swore by vintage single coils but totally fell in love the Delano JMVC 5FE's for their in-your-face sound. (Split humbuckers)

 

[40Hz]

The sidewinder is pretty much a stacked coil, but on its side... Is this correct? I'm just going off the picture.

This experiment is trying the get the truest fundamental. Least amount of interruption from string wave to amp. Going in a neck through bass. Just an experiment.

Correct. Take a stacked coil, rotate it 90 degrees, separate the coils enough to have the pole pieces or the blade come up between the coils, and that's pretty much how a sidewinder pickup works. Coils are still in a humbucking configuration, but the string is picked up at a single point since there's only one set of string pole pieces.

The idea behind it was to create a pickup that had the P-90 sound, but was noiseless.

The Gibson Ripper owes much if its unique tone to the modified sidewinder design Bill Lawrence came up with for it. Seymour-Duncan offers a somewhat expensive reproduction of it if you want to try out one of those. Info on that here.

I'd personally go with a Q-Tuner however if I just wanted to play with a more modern design.

These images may make it easier to see a sidewinder's geometry:

 

[40Hz]

Just to further muddy up your waters, Gibson took the narrow aperture idea of the sidewinder (i.e. two coils, single pickup point) and stood it on its head with their G3 bass.

The G3 used three single coils, but separated them pretty widely, and set it up so at least two pickups were engaged at all times. The switching combinations were 1&2, 2&3, or all 3 which Gibson called a "buck and a half" setting.

So the G3 essentially has two humbuckers - but humbuckers with an extremely wide aperture.

The G3 also has a unique sound totally unlike their Ripper model.

 

[_jojo_bass]

Just to further muddy up your waters, Gibson took the narrow aperture idea of the sidewinder (i.e. two coils, single pickup point) and stood it on its head with their G3 bass.

The G3 used three single coils, but separated them pretty widely, and set it up so at least two pickups were engaged at all times. The switching combinations were 1&2, 2&3, or all 3 which Gibson called a "buck and a half" setting.

So the G3 essentially has two humbuckers - but humbuckers with an extremely wide aperture.

The G3 also has a unique sound totally unlike their Ripper model.

View attachment 940329

I had one! lol great bass, heavey as hell!

The I need the single area magnet because I need response to be coming from one point on the string. Not two (or three).

 

[40Hz]

I had one! lol great bass, heavey as hell!

The I need the single area magnet because I need response to be coming from one point on the string. Not two (or three).

Yours was heavy? I've heard that about some of them. The few I played didn't seem that heavy at all. Guess there's your proof no two pieces of wood are the same.

Regarding the single point of pickup, it's a real boon with effects that like a fairly clean signal coming in. My Ripper likes reverb. And reverb pedals seem to like it just as much.

 

[cnltb]

I have been looking for a bass pickup that has very specific parameters. All very important and necessary towards my experimentation.

A passive bar magnet 5 string pickup that is a stacked humbucker.

Gotta be stacked, because no matter what you do, a side by side coil 5 string pickup is never going to be completely humcancelling because of the non symmetrical coils. As close as they can get, it won't work. (Though I do have the Aguilar in line humbucking Jazz pickups and they are awesome, but don't work for this experiment)

Stacked too because I want the response to come from one point on the string, not two like a guitar humbucker.

Bar magnet because I don't want the string bouncing between two different pole magnets. More to do with response and magnetic field theories.

The only think i have found is a seymour duncan jazz pickup and the EMG hz jazz pickup. If you know anything, tell me about it.

I'd ask Bassculture <http://bassculture.de>, Häussel <http://www.haeussel.com> or maybe Delano <http://www.delano.de> to make me one.

 

[micguy]

Ive used the Seymour 5 string stack (Jazz bass shape) you mentioned - it'l also work in 4 string basses, as the blade means string spacing is not an issue. Works prety well. A little lower in output than some, but not bad.

 

[jcerio]

Maybe?

Big Blades - Nordstrand Pickups

dual blade - Nordstrand Pickups

H50A ALNICO STACKED HUMBUCKING BASS PICKUP