I cannot tell the difference between singles and humbuckers on recordings

Leronious

Leronious

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I have trouble telling single coils apart from humbuckers on recordings (I can tell the difference on guitar but not on basses). I don't have any trouble hearing pickup placement. Are there any obvious differences that I am missing?
 
Humbuckers on a bass tend to sound more bubbly and transparent than a single coil for basses. Single kinda sounds more mean to me.

Compare the following clips :)

Single coil jazz bass:
[video=youtube;NHdN_O5k3WM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdN_O5k3WM[/video]

HH stingray:
[video=youtube;fNM_AxrOPHQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNM_AxrOPHQ[/video]

You should be able to hear a clear difference in sounds! Maybe you have trouble because a lot of bass players turn their treble all the way down when they record. This can make the distinction hard to hear. Hope this helps!
 
For me it's: Humbuckers more compact and a little fat, and singlecoils more open and wide.
Oh yeah, edit: On a recording there can be many variables. Do you mean you can't tell a difference between your own playing with a SC and a Humb?
 
Mr Bassman Sax said:
To be honest I quite like my humbuckers in single coil mode. More clarity and clang.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on that one! Although, I quite like having my neck pickup on series for a nice slappy Victor Wooten sound! ^___^
 
I like having a humbucker in bridge after all I'm usually facing the challenge of cutting through a wall of downtuned guitars. :P Humbucker in bridge and single coil in neck.
 
o_s said:
I like having a humbucker in bridge after all I'm usually facing the challenge of cutting through a wall of downtuned guitars. :P Humbucker in bridge and single coil in neck.
Click to expand...

Tried that for a while and just the humbucker, for some reason I just don't get on with the sound. Some times I do wonder if I should have just gotten a Corvette Std
 
I have one bass with MM pickup in the bridge and single coil in neck position. I usually solo the bridge pickup and it cuts through in a very nice way. Have you tried that?
 
azzyrazzy said:
Do you mean you can't tell a difference between your own playing with a SC and a Humb?
Click to expand...

I'm sure I would be able to but I've only played pj, pp, and jj basses. My question was more about recordings because I have never had the chance to personally compare singles to humbuckers.
 
o_s said:
I have one bass with MM pickup in the bridge and single coil in neck position. I usually solo the bridge pickup and it cuts through in a very nice way. Have you tried that?
Click to expand...

Yeah I've tried that, I find for me it's not consistent enough. There's the initial bark and then it's lost under the guitars, but by just using single coils I get a more gentle decay and that works fine for me.
 
Just by seeing your thread title I was about to suggest you should live with a bass that has coil switching for a while, that should make you better at it. But in any case I think you are asking too much of yourself. :)
 
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