

Watch this video to hear these differences for yourself:


Which is also why they sound so different. So, you would actually think that humbucker pickups are better in every way… But the truth is that both types are equally as popular, mainly because Jazz and Precision basses use single coil and humbucker pickups, respectively… To address this issue, double coil pickups - or humbuckers - were created, which do exactly what their name suggests, they buck the hum. As their name suggest they use a single coil which creates a noise, or hum. Single Coil pickups are the first pickups ever created and were the only option available up until 1955. The Ultimate Guide to Bass Guitars for BeginnersĪnd so, first off… Single Coil or Humbucker?.So although we’ll cover these 2 iconic models in the next part, you can read more extensively about the different types of bass guitars in this article: In case you don’t know what these letters stand for, they’re the initials for Jazz bass and Precision bass, the 2 most popular bass models in the world. So much that single coil pickups are refered to as “J-bass pickups” and humbucker pickups are refered to as “P-bass” pickups, because of the type of basse they’re used on. Magnetic pickups are the most common type of pickups.Īlthough there are some variations, ALL magnetic pickups are either Single Coil or Humbucker (double coil).Īs I said, bass pickups are the single most important factor to define the whole sound of your bass…
