Best noiseless passive P-Bass pickup?

[doveman]

I just put a SPB3 in a friends bass and did not find its hum reduction capabilities that good. I had been considering a set of these for my Yamaha bass that I record with ... but am rethinking.

Questions:

• Anyone really find the SPB3 to be really quiet?
• What's a good P-Bass passive humbucker ... split design ... blades is ok?

Note: Had the title of this as "active" rather than "passive" in original thread ... just deleted it and resposted with a corrected title.

 

[doveman]

Re: Best noiseless passive P-Bass pickup?

OK ... been asking over at the TalkBass forum (joined a bass forum just for this question). I've also been checking some specs ... including here.

Seems that ... if I want humbuckers for the P-Bass that are not too hot ... the SPB1 and the Fender '62 P-Bass should both fit the bill and be humbucking.

One question: When my friend's SPB3 Quarter Pounder P-Bass pickup was humming, I took it completely out of the circuit and hooked the white wire to the tip and the black wire to the ground of an input cable. It hummed. Shouldn't it be quiet there too? That's what made me think it was not a humbucker.

 

[doveman]

Re: Best noiseless passive P-Bass pickup?

I guess P-Bass questions are pretty boring.

I wanna but another pickup for my bass ... but I just can't until I answer this question in my own mind. No need to buy two P-Bass pickups that hum.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Best noiseless passive P-Bass pickup?

I admit I didn't come into this thread based on the title. The two coils obviously are RWRP but they're in very different positions. Also leaving them out of the instrument they will hum more because you don't have strings and ahuman body to act as shielding. The louder hum of a hot P-bass pickup is probably indirectly proportionate to the output level. (hotter the pickup=more hum) so the signal to noise ratio is probably still similar. The best answer is shielding. I don't like that as the answer to single coil hum, because you can never get rid of it, so shielding is just a way to minimize the hum. But if you can shield the cavities (I would wrap the coils too) then you get the noise content on each coil to be "the most similar" and therefore cancel the most hum. Its a double benefit. I like our Lightnin Rods active P-Bass pickups when it has to be dead quiet. But one of the reasons I like P-Basses is for their overdriven and fuzz tones. Into a fuzz circuit like the Tweak Fuzz, sometimes its better if they're passive (high impedance) for the same reason as an electric guitar. I've gotten some killer bass tones with the SPB-3 and the Tweak Fuzz.

 

[doveman]

Re: Best noiseless passive P-Bass pickup?

I admit I didn't come into this thread based on the title.

Thanks for answering. My guess is that they hum a little and I think I'll shield my own bass and see how quiet I can get it. I just want something to be really quiet for recording at home.

Right now my friend is satisfied with his except when he lets go of the strings. Then it makes more noise ... but so does mine. I know the bridge is grounded ... before I grounded the bridge it would hum all of the time. Now when you touch the strings it stops. But the SPB3 has more output so it's more noticable ... maybe that's the difference.