A rather nice announcement for bassists who want to keep the traditional sound of their Jazz Bass, but not that hum :- the Apollo Jazz Bass Linear Humbucker from the good folks at Seymour Duncan.

Hear’s a demo, and video interview with Kevin Beller (Vice President of Engineering / Head of R&D at Seymour Duncan – and a bass player since almost before I was born!)

As the ‘Humbucker’ in the name suggests, these are humbucking pickups, meaning they are free from the noise and hum associated with single coil pick ups. On traditional Jazz Basses you could combine both single coil pickups to cancel the noise (by cranking both us), but obviously that limits the range of sounds you can get. The Apollo Jazz Bass set up means you can get a noise free sound from a single pickup. They are also designed with a focus on getting an even volume between the strings – another issue with some traditional Jazz Bass pickups.

They are available in matched sets or individually, as bridge and neck models for 4 and 5 string bass. The 5 string has two size options (67/70mm or 70/74mm). They look rather nice – crisp, but retro to my eye! Click to see them in hires, or read more here.