HumBucker Pickup For Bass? Which one?

Arny Krueger wrote:
> Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?
>
> We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics our bass guitar, ever
> since we started dimming our lights. Unfortunately, most of the lighting
> power runs under the stage and there is a big break in the conduit right
> where our guys stand to play.
>
> Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that I could change
> pickups on the Bass with a lot less effort, if it was effective.
>
> Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones work the best?
>
>

Oh yes, they certainly do. I would look at something like these

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/progressive-1/smb4a_5a_alnico/

They make very powerful, good sounding pickups.

d

In article <[email protected]>,
Don Pearce <[email protected]> wrote:

> Arny Krueger wrote:
> > Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?
> >
> > We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics our bass guitar,
> > ever
> > since we started dimming our lights. Unfortunately, most of the lighting
> > power runs under the stage and there is a big break in the conduit right
> > where our guys stand to play.
> >
> > Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that I could change
> > pickups on the Bass with a lot less effort, if it was effective.
> >
> > Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones work the best?
> >
> >
>
> Oh yes, they certainly do. I would look at something like these
>
> http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/progressive-1/smb4a_5a_alnico/
>
> They make very powerful, good sounding pickups.
>
> d

Yes they do.

Don Pearce wrote:
> Arny Krueger wrote:
>> Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?
>>
>> We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics our bass
>> guitar, ever since we started dimming our lights. Unfortunately, most
>> of the lighting power runs under the stage and there is a big break in
>> the conduit right where our guys stand to play.
>>
>> Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that I could change
>> pickups on the Bass with a lot less effort, if it was effective.
>>
>> Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones work the best?
>>
>>
>
> Oh yes, they certainly do. I would look at something like these
>
> http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/progressive-1/smb4a_5a_alnico/
>
>
> They make very powerful, good sounding pickups.
>
> d

I'll second that one :-)

In article <[email protected]>,
"Arny Krueger" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?
>
> We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics our bass guitar, ever
> since we started dimming our lights. Unfortunately, most of the lighting
> power runs under the stage and there is a big break in the conduit right
> where our guys stand to play.
>
> Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that I could change
> pickups on the Bass with a lot less effort, if it was effective.
>
> Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones work the best?

What is the make and model of the instrument, and how many strings does
it have? Makes a big difference.

Arny Krueger <[email protected]> wrote:
>Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?

Against some kinds of hum.

>We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics our bass guitar, ever
>since we started dimming our lights. Unfortunately, most of the lighting
>power runs under the stage and there is a big break in the conduit right
>where our guys stand to play.

That's what happens when you use crappy dimmers. Throw out the American DJ
stuff. Your power lines are radiating harmonics all over the place, and
consequently you have an RF issue, not a magnetic pickup issue.

>Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that I could change
>pickups on the Bass with a lot less effort, if it was effective.
>
>Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones work the best?

They work very well to deal with stray magnetic fields, but when you have
dimmer packs that are bletcherous crap and spewing huge amounts of RF
trash out, they aren't going to help. Note that most of those cheap packs
don't even come close to meeting FCC Part 15 legal limits either.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:g5fpe5$lq5$1@panix2.panix.com
> Arny Krueger <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Are humbucker bass pickups really effective?

> Against some kinds of hum.

>> We've got big problems with power line hum + harmonics
>> our bass guitar, ever since we started dimming our
>> lights. Unfortunately, most of the lighting power runs
>> under the stage and there is a big break in the conduit
>> right where our guys stand to play.

> That's what happens when you use crappy dimmers.

Did I mention that the lighting load for that circuit is dimmable compact
fluorescent bulbs, about 48 of them?

> Throw out the American DJ stuff.

Actually, we found something cheaper than American DJ. ;-)

But we surrounded them by some fairly robust 5-terminal power line filters.

> Your power lines are
> radiating harmonics all over the place, and consequently
> you have an RF issue, not a magnetic pickup issue.

Interesting how the Bass guitar suffers so much, and the other electric
guitars don't.

>> Yes, I need to fix the power wiring, but I suspect that
>> I could change pickups on the Bass with a lot less
>> effort, if it was effective.

>> Are Hum Bucker pickups really effective, and which ones
>> work the best?

> They work very well to deal with stray magnetic fields,

We think that is a lot of what is going on here.

> but when you have dimmer packs that are bletcherous crap
> and spewing huge amounts of RF trash out, they aren't
> going to help.

Given the pricing of parts, its a ton cheaper to try a good hum bucker
pickup as compared to buying even 1 high end quad dimmer pack.

> Note that most of those cheap packs don't
> even come close to meeting FCC Part 15 legal limits
> either.

I suspect that the 48 dimmable CFLs don't meet part 15 either, and no matter
what kind of expensive dimmers we get, we're pretty much stuck with them.

"Arny Krueger" wrote ...
> Interesting how the Bass guitar suffers so much, and the other electric
> guitars don't.

I suspect the hum-bucker pickups (and microphones) are
designed for rejecting magnetic fields, but NOT RFI hash
such as lamp dimmers (and CFL electronic ballasts) are
spewing out.

I think I would try a temporary aluminum-foil Farady shield
around the instrument to make the differential diagnosis
whether you are actually picking up *magnetic* fields
(which will go right through the aluminum foil) or RFI
hash (which the foil will stop if grounded, but hum-bucker
pickups might be ineffective against.)