Dual Coil vs Single Coil

[pshep68]

What would the differnce in sound/tone between Dual Coil vs Single Coil pups on a jazz?

[Bassmann1968]

It is not a bass, I know, but it might give you an idea


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yudXHR6agaM

[TobiasMan]

Single coil are the "classic" , original Fender Jazz bass pickup and they tend to have a specific sound BUT, because they are single coil, they also tend to be much more susceptible to noise and interference - they have no inherent capability to filter out noise or other stray signals.


Dual coils, also known as humbuckers, are wound in a manner that the pickup itself can inherently filter out the interference and noise.


I understand that there are some humbuckers that do a very good job of replicating the original's tone. 


I don't have a jazz bass and therefore have not messed with them, so can't advise on their specific sound differences, but Talkbass likely has a whole forum dedicated to the pros and cons of various PUPs. 


There are also some folks that go to extreme lengths to try to shield and protect the originals from any kind of signal interference.

[Bass Mayhem]

Single coils are the perfect things in a Faraday cage...
Chris Rea once said that the auditorium in the Kremlin is the best place in the world to play a Strat. Not a single hum, since the whole Kremlin IS a Faraday cage...

I prefer to play without noise, so those extra 2% of single coil purist shimmer is of no meaning for me...

[Rip Van Dan]

What would the differnce in sound/tone between Dual Coil vs Single Coil pups on a jazz?

I have the Fender original classic single coil pick-ups on my current Jazz Bass just as I did on my 1965 Jazz.  They do have what I call a nice round sound, but as Armin pointed out they tend to buzz ...a lot.  HOWEVER, if you run both pickup volume controls all the way open, they actually perform as humbuckers and are generally dead quiet.   Just turn one of those volume controls down though and you will see what we mean about single-coil hum.  It's no big deal while you're playing a song, but you could sure hear it in between songs.

Dan

[TOM]

my vote is single coil !!!
i love the tone of  the jazz bass

[dbsfgyd1]

I usually run my pickups wide open too, with a slight treble cut to compensate for the treble boost Fenders give you when you go up past "8". No buzz on mine. My Eden head makes more noise than my bass. As for not using my volume control while playing, pretty much I can control my volume with my fingers from a hairband stomp smash to barely a wisper. It would be nice to have just a bit more gain that doubles can get you however......

I'll be honest, when I'm listening to another bassist, unless it sounds like he's playing with a stick tied to a wash tub, the last thing I'm listening for are errant sounds eminating from his rig. Where I tend to focus is can the dude play the instrument, and is he up for the challenge of the piece he's playing. If he can and is, I'm pretty forgiving of a lot of stuff....