Question H, HH, HS? Which is most popular?

[jlepre]

I know that we can't get actual sales numbers, but I wonder what the ratio is. I bought my first SR5 with HH because I thought it was the most versatile. Well my likes have changed, and I now prefer the single H.

 

[MK Bass Weed]

I know that we can't get actual sales numbers, but I wonder what the ratio is. I bought my first SR5 with HH because I thought it was the most versatile. Well my likes have changed, and I now prefer the single H.

Malcolm Gladwell has an interesting answer here with regards to brand and what's popular:

Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce - YouTube

Why are there 30 kinds of Prego Spaghetti Sauce, Pickles...20 Flavors of COKE...and now EBMM...Following the same model.

Which is the most popular would depend on who you ask...but my guess would be the H...since it was the first.

 

[jlepre]

I was looking to see what is the most popular right NOW. What is selling the most at the present time.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Probably single H still. It is the least expensive, and the "classic" stingray sound is from the bridge humbucker.

What I'd like to know is what the difference is between the two different shapes of H pickup you see in the single H versions. I see a lot of white pickups that are just a rectangle, and don't have the "bumps" on the side, while with the black single H, I see both varieties. Are the rectangles just old stock from the ceramic days?

 

[jlepre]

I think it's the other way around. I have one of those White rectangular pups, and my bass is a 2001.

 

[Disco Batman]

I know that we can't get actual sales numbers, but I wonder what the ratio is. I bought my first SR5 with HH because I thought it was the most versatile. Well my likes have changed, and I now prefer the single H.

Well with the HH you have the single H and more. No loss.

 

[stu42]

The single H actually gives you some settings that you can't get with the HH. Depending on the year of the HH model you're comparing to the differences will vary but, in general, the HH models don't give you the option to have the bridge pickup by itself in Parallel, Single Coil or Series mode where the Single H model does.

So, yeah, while you get 5 pickup switching options on the HH, they're different options than what you get with the Single H.

 

[tbonesullivan]

The current production SR5 with a single H pickup do not have a single coil option. The middle position is now both coils in series with a "filter", that i guess makes it sound more like a single coil. If you want the single coil, you need to go for the HS in the current electronic scheme.

 

[jlepre]

OK now back to the topic:

Which config is sold most currently?

 

[Disco Batman]

OK now back to the topic:

Which config is sold most currently?

Right about my earlier post. But as you noted in your first post you are asking a question we won't get the answer to.

 

[MK Bass Weed]

My wild guess would be....we won't get an answer...

The next guess is...since the SUB + SBMM line of Rays are all H - along with the Classic Series as well, I would guess single H would be it...but all I can do is guess.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Well, the single H is the "classic" setup, and also that's the classic stingray sound that everyone knows. I think my next SR5 will just be an H, mainly because even though I like variety, that is the only sound I keep coming back to. and even with the single H you get three different sounds.

 

[JayDawg]

I see a ton of single H's sold both new and used on Stingrays over any other pickup configuration so I would assume that is it.

 

[jlepre]

I would think that the single H would be the most sold config.

 

[Soulkeeper]

My guess is that the H is the best seller, somewhat closely followed by the HH, because some people, including me, tend to want to max things out, and with the HS a mile behind.

The HS being behind for no rational reason, other than that it's not traditional, nor percieved as "maxed-out" by potential customers ... even though it may well be the optimal config in reality, idk, never played one.

 

[Gravesend Black]

The current production SR5 with a single H pickup do not have a single coil option. The middle position is now both coils in series with a "filter", that i guess makes it sound more like a single coil. If you want the single coil, you need to go for the HS in the current electronic scheme.

I'm curious why official site does not contain info about lever selector positions. If you'd not tell about that I'd think that the lever selector is still the same as in the past.

 

[tbonesullivan]

I'm curious why official site does not contain info about lever selector positions. If you'd not tell about that I'd think that the lever selector is still the same as in the past.

They have the schematics available on the page for every guitar and bass. Not just current schematics either, but schematics for past versions as well.

 

[Golem]

`

One thing seems easy to guess close to 100% accurate
just on observation: The LEAST commonly sold version
would be the 1H+Piezo .... I buy used stuff, and always
keep watch for those :-(


`

 

[tbonesullivan]

piezo options in general are not seen very often, with just about any make of bass.

 

[uOpt]

You can get some data from Amazon.com's sales rank.

For black 4-string Stingrays with one-piece maple neck (the most popular) HH is #59,789, H is #26,604

4/h/rosewood is #122,248.

5/hh/rosewood #36,974

For the most popular ones you need to mentally add the variant with birdseye. 4/H/maple with birdseye is #111,668

The first HS I see is natural/5/funny pickguard/rosewood at #139,060


So you can say that for 4-strings, H completely dominates, with HH already being distanced (twice the sales rank almost certainly means much less than half the sales) and HS playing no sales role.

On the other hand, multi-pickup seems to be much more popular with 5-string players, or with people who just stack up on all the "extras" and want the "best" bass with all the features.