So is the S pretty much useless?

[Bruce Jenner]

In the HS series, is the single coil pretty much pointless? Its so quiet. Or does it cancel hum?

 

[bovinehost]

Well, everyone will have differing opinions, but on the Bongo, I swing the knob all the way to the single coil and get the damnedest single coil tone I've ever heard. The single coil is by nature a bit quieter than the humbucker, but "quiet" is not what I'd call it.

Jack

 

[Bruce Jenner]

Mine is like a whisper, haha

Are there any pups i can switch it out for? Is there a way i can take it out?

 

[bdgotoh]

On the Sterling and the Bongo the single coil is actually a vertically stacked humbucker. You might try adjusting both of your pickups to get the outputs more similar, pickup adjustments will really affect tone and output.

 

[Big Poppa]

and by the way I will be willing to bet that the humbucker has been raised outside of factory spec...balance the pickups by lowering the hum first.....Most of the time when we get complaints that is the culprit

 

[Bruce Jenner]

and by the way I will be willing to bet that the humbucker has been raised outside of factory spec...balance the pickups by lowering the hum first.....Most of the time when we get complaints that is the culprit

Actually, the bucker sounds fine. Like, its at a normal volume. Where the single coil, everything has to go to 11 to get it to be audible.

 

[phatduckk]

the s on the HS Sterling is awesome IMO. its not as loud as the humbucker for obvious reasons.

But like the guys said you can change PUP height to get the outputs to be close to eachother. in my experience this isnt a big win b/c it alters the sounds in position 3 and 4 and i love how those sound at factory spec height.

I never switch to the S mid song so for me its an easy thing to handle. when im about to play a song with the S at a gig i just bump all the EQ knobs equally. if you bump em equal you're essentially just making things louder.

an alternative is to not play with your basses volume at 10. maybe start at 7 or so. if you do this then you can just easily raise the volume with, well, the volume knob.

IMO the S is awesome

 

[RobertB]

hmmmmm .... Silver Bongo4 HS .... that's a nice thought.

 

[maddog]

From the musicman faq:

The factory specifications for the pickup height is 6/32" or 4.76mm from the top of the plastic between the pickup covers to the bottom of the G string. The angle of the pickup is set fairly level, so the larger strings are naturally a bit closer. If you haven't already adjusted the pickup or changed to a very heavy gauge string set, you shouldn't have to do any adjustments on the pickup.

On the new 2-pickup basses, the measurements are virtually the same on the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is further away, about 8/32" or 6.35mm from the string to the pickup..

hope it helps.

 

[agplate]

I've actually had to lower my single coil quite a bit to balance things out. Also, when I swing to the humbucker alone, it's the more quiet of the two- I have to boost the bass eq alot if I'm gonna use the H by itself. This is on a Bongo Stealth. Strange?

 

[adouglas]

Bruce, IMHO you should check the height first and if not in spec then try what Big Poppa says.

Apologies if you know the reason behind his recommendation, but if not, here it is:

If you raise a pickup it will get louder, but if you get too close to the strings the pickup's magnetic field will actually dampen string vibration, which is not a good thing.

So lowering the humbucker instead of raising the SC makes sense. Let your amp do the work.

But no matter which way you adjust it, get it to factory specs first before doing surgery. It's a lot easier and cheaper to do this than swap a pickup. And chances are any aftermarket pickup you choose won't sound as good.

BTW, since you're a new here, you may not be aware that Big Poppa is in fact Sterling Ball, CEO of the company, hands-on product developer, ace bassist and all-around good guy. It's a safe bet he knows what he's talking about.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Marco]

I love the sound of the S coil on my Sterling in all positions. I love it so much I want to get a Bongo HS and Stingray HS too!

 

[Bruce Jenner]

Bruce, IMHO you should check the height first and if not in spec then try what Big Poppa says.

Apologies if you know the reason behind his recommendation, but if not, here it is:

If you raise a pickup it will get louder, but if you get too close to the strings the pickup's magnetic field will actually dampen string vibration, which is not a good thing.

So lowering the humbucker instead of raising the SC makes sense. Let your amp do the work.

But no matter which way you adjust it, get it to factory specs first before doing surgery. It's a lot easier and cheaper to do this than swap a pickup. And chances are any aftermarket pickup you choose won't sound as good.

BTW, since you're a new here, you may not be aware that Big Poppa is in fact Sterling Ball, CEO of the company, hands-on product developer, ace bassist and all-around good guy. It's a safe bet he knows what he's talking about.

Welcome to the forum!

Holy crap, the Sterling Ball??

I have tons of respect for him. And I am going to check the specs as soon as I can. Thanks all!

 

[T-bone]

Holy crap, the Sterling Ball??

Pretty amazing, huh?

tbone

 

[bovinehost]

All this time, I thought BP was Alberto Manischevitz, the really nice guy from shipping.

You learn something new every day around here.

 

[Psycho Ward]

Well I'm a big fan of the EBMM Single coil, I love it on my Sterling and Bongo. I use it soloed most of the time.

 

[sloshep]

I think have heard of this issue before. Actually I have experienced it before a while back when I was trying out a HS SR5 at a GC. When you you try different positions with the 5 way selector the volume dropped when the single coil was engaged. If you soloed the single coil the output was low and it sounded very thuddy and undefined. I am not sure what the fix is since I have not been back. Bruce, if this sounds like you have problem, please call customer service. I believe that something is not working correctly on your bass. The single coil soloed with the EQ set flat should have kind of a bright fenderish tone. Sort of a P mixed with J (front) sound. the output should only be slightly less than the H pickup. Let me add this to my post There were 2 basses that had the same exact configuration at this Guitar Center one was working perfectly fine. The one I described above had developed an issue while being on display. It The H S configuration I think is EBMM's best configuration for tonal versatility. What Bruce was describing is NOT typical tone of this configuration at all. Always check the the FAQs specs first.

 

[AnthonyD]

I'm generally a 50/50/50 guy, but do admit to the occasional solo 'S' tone (sometimes an 'Sp') - very sweet indeedy!

On the HSp, I prefer the 'S' soloed to the 'H' soloed.

 

[Bruce Jenner]

I think have heard of this issue before. Actually I have experienced it before a while back when I was trying out a HS SR5 at a GC. When you you try different positions with the 5 way selector the volume dropped when the single coil was engaged. If you soloed the single coil the output was low and it sounded very thuddy and undefined. I am not sure what the fix is since I have not been back. Bruce, if this sounds like you have problem, please call customer service. I believe that something is not working correctly on your bass. The single coil soloed with the EQ set flat should have kind of a bright fenderish tone. Sort of a P mixed with J (front) sound. the output should only be slightly less than the H pickup. Hope that helps.

That is EXACTLY what is going on with mine. Perfectly said. Its a dramatic drop in volume. I am just worried if that I get it repaired, it will mess up the tone on the bucker, which has the perfect tone.

 

[Big Poppa]

There is nothing wrong with the single coils.

For the uninitiated a himbucking pickup is always louder than a single coil...that is why they sound different....

I gave the guy the solution and now based on slosheps gc visit a long time ago he decides that Bruce Jenners bass is defective. CS is pretty busy taking orders...why dont we let this guy try my suggestion first?