Inflames626
New member
Hi everyone,
I am thinking about basses here, so I suppose technically this should be in the bass pickup forum, but I've noticed this design with guitar pickups as well.
I've noticed that some pickups have large single pole pieces, while others use smaller pairs of poles. Sometimes the strings go directly over the poles, and other times the string goes between the poles. I believe Carvin does the between the small poles thing a lot.
Has anyone noticed any advantages or disadvantages to this design relative to the traditional big poles?
Ordinarily I wouldn't pay that much attention since so many factors go into tone and it is difficult to isolate those factors individually--if you like the sound of it, it's fine no matter how it's built.
But recently I've gotten interested in discovering my preferred bass form factor (P, J, dual P, PJ, MM, soapbar). I've found that, for bass, I prefer a more vintage tone using smaller poles, magnets, and fewer winds, while making up for low output through the amp. For example, I prefer a Fender 62 P Bass reissue split P to a Duncan SPB3. As far as guitars, I've noticed that I tend to like the tone of pups that use hex screws like the Full Shred. So, pole design seems to be more and more important to me.
Knowing the sound difference between big poles vs. smaller pairs of poles would help me narrow things down. Thanks.
I am thinking about basses here, so I suppose technically this should be in the bass pickup forum, but I've noticed this design with guitar pickups as well.
I've noticed that some pickups have large single pole pieces, while others use smaller pairs of poles. Sometimes the strings go directly over the poles, and other times the string goes between the poles. I believe Carvin does the between the small poles thing a lot.
Has anyone noticed any advantages or disadvantages to this design relative to the traditional big poles?
Ordinarily I wouldn't pay that much attention since so many factors go into tone and it is difficult to isolate those factors individually--if you like the sound of it, it's fine no matter how it's built.
But recently I've gotten interested in discovering my preferred bass form factor (P, J, dual P, PJ, MM, soapbar). I've found that, for bass, I prefer a more vintage tone using smaller poles, magnets, and fewer winds, while making up for low output through the amp. For example, I prefer a Fender 62 P Bass reissue split P to a Duncan SPB3. As far as guitars, I've noticed that I tend to like the tone of pups that use hex screws like the Full Shred. So, pole design seems to be more and more important to me.
Knowing the sound difference between big poles vs. smaller pairs of poles would help me narrow things down. Thanks.
