soapbar humbuckers /parallel wiring benifits

[Mark Percy]

soapbar humbuckers for bass, especially kent/arron armstrong, or EMG, amongst other makers, benifit enormously from parallel wiring.

the reason is that the highs are opened up from changed resistance.

wired in parallel, the unit reads predictably one quarter of its origional resistance. but dont be fooled. resistance is not the end all of it. the magnet mass, poles or blades which are wound around, and the number of turns, along with size, produce big sounds, despite the reads on the meter.

the lows are clear, fat, and articulate as well. unlike the humbucking sound, which doesent have the same highs, or lows. shure its louder, and more brutal, but the commonly overlooked fact of parallel wiring, with misdiagnosed low read, is that it is very clear and articulate, like a fender jazz bass, yet bigger.

in a big gig, this cuts right through the mush, if the music has cranked guitars, creating a noticable clarity in the rythm section.

obviously the rythm section now changes, as the clarity changes the perception of the music, and obviously perception will change according the to the differences.

[Kiwi]

huh?

Do you mean serial vs parallel?

series has more output and a warmer sound.

parallel tends to be more scooped sounding.

[Dood]

[quote name='Mark Percy' post='904302' date='Jul 24 2010, 08:45 PM']soapbar humbuckers for bass, especially kent/arron armstrong, or EMG, amongst other makers, benifit enormously from parallel wiring.

the reason is that the highs are opened up from changed resistance.

wired in parallel, the unit reads predictably one quarter of its origional resistance. but dont be fooled. resistance is not the end all of it. the magnet mass, poles or blades which are wound around, and the number of turns, along with size, produce big sounds, despite the reads on the meter.

the lows are clear, fat, and articulate as well. unlike the humbucking sound, which doesent have the same highs, or lows. shure its louder, and more brutal, but the commonly overlooked fact of parallel wiring, with misdiagnosed low read, is that it is very clear and articulate, like a fender jazz bass, yet bigger.

in a big gig, this cuts right through the mush, if the music has cranked guitars, creating a noticable clarity in the rythm section.

obviously the rythm section now changes, as the clarity changes the perception of the music, and obviously perception will change according the to the differences.[/quote]

I'm afraid matching coils wired in parallel do not measure 'one quarter resistance'. In resistance terms, much like putting two 8 ohms speakers in parallel to each other, the resistance is halved to 4 Ohms. I'd also be a bit pedantic and say that the description 'soapbars' does defintely not mean 'parallel wiring'. There are many 'soapabar' designs that are single coil AND dual/triple coils that are serial wired.

I'd also argue that just because a pickup is wired in parallel - generally, it won't be any louder or 'bigger' sounding - usually just different. A higher output is better achieved by serial wiring coils. Even before you listen to the pickups - the electronics theory will bare that out.

I have to pick you up on your two last sentences too. Sorry, I don't want to pick a fight - but that's meaningless nonsense! Where [i]did[/i] you pick this up from? -
I spotted your EMG P Bass pickup thread as well - and I'm afraid I don't think the EMG active pickup is the best choice. It will work - but I don't personally feel it is necessarily the best choice for a DB.

Not 'having a go' or anything, but this fine fine community here will be more than happy to help bring a bit of clarity to the discussion and right some of these misconceptions!

[Tait]

[quote name='dood' post='904434' date='Jul 25 2010, 12:12 AM']I'm afraid matching coils wired in parallel do not measure 'one quarter resistance'. In resistance terms, much like putting two 8 ohms speakers in parallel to each other, the resistance is halved to 4 Ohms.[/quote]

I thought this, but then I went on to assume he could only mean when he has two dual coil soapbar pickups also wired in parallel, resulting in four coils, all wired in parallel. I'm not sure if thats right though, or even if you would wire all four coils in parallel as opposed to each coil in a pickup being in parallel, but the two pickups being wired in series, which would be my first instinct on how to do it.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Tait

[Mr. Foxen]

Fairly sure at this point that this guy is posting these threads and not reading them. Still not figured what he is hoping to achieve. They are quite bizarre.

[Dood]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='904453' date='Jul 25 2010, 01:11 AM']Fairly sure at this point that this guy is posting these threads and not reading them. Still not figured what he is hoping to achieve. They are quite bizarre.[/quote]


Yes, looking at the rather random posting and the even more random content I'm somewhat baffled too! Come on Mark, what's it all about?

[Ou7shined]

It's kinda like an infinite amount of monkeys with an infinite amount of keyboards, bass flash cards and internet access situation.

[nick]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='904453' date='Jul 25 2010, 01:11 AM']Fairly sure at this point that this guy is posting these threads and not reading them. Still not figured what he is hoping to achieve. They are quite bizarre.[/quote]

Spotted this post as I've got a soapbar with tri-sound switch on my old Ibanez, was interested to hear some points of view etc...

I think a forum can be sometimes be like a pub..... you do get all sorts, a wide variety of clientele I guess.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote][
Just saw what you said about running the Jag in series - if it's sounding boomy then don't! Series pickups often appeals because it's 6dB louder but at the expense of depth in the lows (you get more upper bass, that's the boomy stuff), and upper midrange and treble punch/clarity. Run the pickups in parallel and turn the gain up on your amp. Generally for loud stuff having both pickup balanced equally knocks out too much midrange so pan towards neck or bridge a bit to get more punch. Also consider using just the front pickup, that can give a very big but clear tone, or just the back for more compressed gnarliness.

Get the sound right at the bass and everything else generally falls into place![/quote]

This is what alex has told me about the output of series wiring over parallel. And I understand now that my perceived warmth was just a total loss of articulation and clarity.