Single Coil Hum Cancelling Pickups

[PrestonSF]

Hello,
This is like my second post ever... 

So, I just put DiMarzio Ultrajazz pickups on my MIM Fender Jazz Bass, and I'm really glad I did!  They're perfectly quiet and they sound great, plus I can get a much better variety of tones out of them than the stock pickups.  The polarity of the individual magnets in each coil is reversed, so they cancel the hum like a humbucker, but they maintain the small aperature and single coil shape and placement on the body, which keeps the tone J-like.  I love the J bass layout, but after playing on humbuckers and these hum-cancelling single coils, I don't really ever care to go back to the normal buzz of the single coil setup.  I live in San Francisco, and the power grid here is 100 years old and full of buzz, plus I record a lot so it's a constant issue.

My question is:

Has anybody found any other hum cancelling pickups that fit into a standard single coil J slot?  Describe them!



Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[dbw]

Nordstrand makes one called NJ4SE.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Nordstrand makes two flavors - NJ4SV and NJ4SE. both look pretty much like this

here's comments on the two:

NJ4SV

These are a split coil hum canceling design. This pickup is designed to have a tone as close as possible to the NJ4 single coils. They have a similar clarity and bottom, and have a good clean growl with the same interactive quality that all our alnico pickups are known to have. They are also totally humcancelling, and great for commonly noisy live situations.

NJ4SE

These are a split coil hum cancelling design. They use the same hand wound pattern found on our NJ4's but with a finer wire called 43 gauge enamel. The natural character of this design is to have a more pronounced lower midrange, and a slightly muted high end. This makes them exceptionally suited to fingerstyle players who are going for a solo bridge pickup sound with good "bark" and "heft." They are also totally humcancelling, and great for commonly noisy live situations.

Nordstrand also has split-coil J-style pickups available for 5-string bass as well

and just for reference, here's what a regular single-coil J-style pickup looks like

as well as a little reference on the Nordy NJ4 pickup

This is a vintage single coil J style pickup made with 60’s era correct Heavy Formvar wire and Alnico V magnets. In winding these pickups we use a simulated hand wound pattern that lowers the resonant peak of the pickup resulting in a pleasing yet present high end. These pickups have a very even and full sound with that snap and grind associated with the classic basses of that time. Includes black covers (exposed pole pieces).

This pickup is available with an alternative "70's wind" featuring enamel wire.

all the best,

R

 

[bob7point7]

My jazz bass came with Fender noiseless pickups. I really wasn't a fan of them. They didn't seem to capture the classic jazz bass tone to me. I ended up replacing them with Seymour Duncan Classic Stacks for jazz bass, and I've been really happy with the tone ever since. These are noiseless but get really close to the vintage jazz bass sound. Both the Fenders and the Seymour Duncans use two windings stacked on top of each other rather than the side by side layout of the Nordstrands, but the Duncans use Alnico magnets (I think the Fenders were Samarium Cobalt).I really want to try the Nordstrands that SkuttleFunk posted, I've heard nothing but good things about them.

-Bobbie

 

[SkuttleFunk]

if you want stacked pickups insteal of split-coils, you really need to check out the Nordy Fat Stacks. if you install them with a coil tap switch you can also have a single-coil when you need/want it

only drawback is that they don't come in a standard J-style pickup configuration so you'd need to have a EMG or Bartolini soapbar routed

all the best,

R

 

[PrestonSF]

Thanks!  I think it was Skuttle funk that said in a different thread something like "get the pickups you can afford now and just get the bass together."  I checked out the nordstrands but I think the Dimarzio Ultrajazz's are going in my upcoming Warmoth project until I can buy something better.  Maybe I'll check those Seymour Duncans out, because while I like the ultrajazz pickups, they sound more "modern" or "plastik" than a true single coil.

thanks again for the input everyone  :rock-on:

 

[PrestonSF]

only drawback is that they don't come in a standard J-style pickup configuration so you'd need to have a EMG or Bartolini soapbar routed

do they have a J tone or is it more modernesque?  I was looking at getting a G4 body routed for the EMG35s just so I have that option, but I've never played around with soapbars so I don't know what to expect

 

[SkuttleFunk]

it depends ...

in single-coil (tapped) mode, it's full on single-coil, but when both coils are used it's somewhere between a single-coil and a humbucker without any loss of the high end usually associated with a typical side/side mudbucker

do note that Fat Stacks require a deeper route than a typical EMG35. not a problem to have W do this or you can do it yourself if you have a router and the skills to use it

all the best,

R

 

[PrestonSF]

R,
Thanks!

-P

 

[blimpo]

Bill Lawrence (the old original guy not Bill Lawrence USA) is the king of noiseless single coil pickups.

I saw some 30 year old L220s on a generic strat on ebay and bought the guitar for next to nothing because of the pickups.

I've been playing this one until my new warmoth strat is ready. The L220s are going in the warmoth.

I did order a canary neck and now have it on the sea foam green body. I'm using it until the warmoth body cures.
Here it is with the allparts neck it came with-

 

[SkuttleFunk]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you dare defile a bass pickup thread with images of a twangy thin-string geetar!  :sad:

blimpo - what were you thinkin'?  :toothy12:

  :laughing3:

all the best,

R

 

[blimpo]

Sorry.

I just felt sorry for you guys, being ripped off, only getting 4 strings.

I guess you guys are compensated by making the 4 strings extra thick... :laughing7:

 

[PrestonSF]

Sorry.

I just felt sorry for you guys, being ripped off, only getting 4 strings.

I guess you guys are compensated by making the 4 strings extra thick... :laughing7:

Hmm.  The guitarist may be the "lead" to the camera and the crowd, but anybody who's played in a band with a great bassist knows who the people on the stage actually follow.

 

[blimpo]

True to the hilt...