Best pickup type?

[MEGA DAVE]

So, there have been many topics talked about on this forum but one that I've yet to see (maybe I haven't been looking hard enough) is what type of pickups are best suited for metal/death metal? single coil, p-style, humbuckers? or a mixture, like a single coil in the bridge and a p-style in the neck? Opinions? Whats your personal preference Steve?

 

[DinoB]

I always thought that humbuckers were the best for metal in general, but I have no reason to support this. All I can say is I have some active EMG humbuckers on my fretless that sound good and are able to cut through, while the passive P and J pickups on another bass have a little more trouble cutting through.

 

[muthafunkabass]

I don't think there is a best pickup type for metal, but J's in the 70's position, MM in the sweetspot, and two humbuckers close to the bridge usually cut-through and pickup each note clear.

 

[Eligos]

I personally prefer MM-style humbuckers, with the exposed pole pieces and the larger size. Bass manufacturers are starting to incorporate them in various interesting positions (the Warwick Streamer $$ comes to mind, with 2 perfectly centered between neck and bridge) that really catch my attention. They have the nice, full sound of a humbucker, but the exposed poles add a nice boost to the high end.

Here's a video w/ that Warwick I was talking about:


If you can catch a glimpse of it, lvlz.

 

[tomas_almeida]

I have no favourite type of pickup. It really depends more on the quality of the pickup itself then on the type.