palaughton
This is a tough one. A really good PAF clone can sound a "little" like a P90 if it is a really low wind with a good ration of winds between the unbalanced coils, this can be amazing. However A good P90 can also sound monster and can really rock. For cleans a really nice compressed strat single coil can also do the trick.
I think I am a little undecided here, all can be awesome in different applications. So confused ???
singemonkey
I like all types. What I don't like are super-hot pickups. I still want the guitar to have the identifiable twang of a string. Super-distortion type hums lose that. I have 2 double humbucker guitars, 1 p90 guitar, 1 Jazzmaster with JM pickups, and 1 with standard single coils with a double single coil humless boost in the bridge.
Yeah, people who think humbuckers lack definition have likely not played low-power, un-potted PAF style pickups.
domhatch
i've always been a particular fan of p-90s. but mainly because i've been a particular fan of gold tops. first i had an epiphone, now i have a tokai. but i've come to realise i love that warm, openness p-90s offer. and then, when you drive them just a little bit, they give you what you're asking for with a little added punch-in-the-faceness.
i had a lovely highway one strat. i enjoyed playing it, straight as an arrow, slippery neck, and the clean slap n tickle tone from the pups was magic. i don't play strats any more - that middle pickup is exactly where my picking/strumming hand sits on the body. uncomfy. same with a yamaha pacifica i used to own; hss config. very seldom relied on the buckers, almost always turned to the singles. clean, crisp, clear.
of course, you can do both of the above with a good old fashioned humbucker in a good old fashioned les paul, and i often do - my tokai custom is a great case in point. a lot has to do with how you play, your setup, etc. even where you play along the strings - you'll get a lotta snap n tickle closer to the bridge, f'r instance.
as some have said, you don't necessarily want to put the hottest pups in the guitar. i like the standard pickups in my tokais - not too hot. if i want more, i'll do it myself. i'll drive n boost n hit it harder. it's easier, as far as i'm concerned, to add than it is to take away.
in a nutshell, i don't have a preferred pickup type. i'll shape the way i play and respond to the type of pickup in the guitar as far as necessary. if i can't do that, it's not the guitar for me
dh|
Foottapiologist
singemonkey wrote:
yadda yadda.............. low-power, un-potted PAF style pickups.
Valid point. I read the OP's post, with reference to music types, fresh after reading his posts elsewhere where he was posting photos of pointy Ibanez's and was subliminally thinking powerful shredding buckers vs articulate playing, rather than engaging my brain along the lines of simply humbucker vs single.
:-[ :-[
Hasie
Currently I am stuck on the bridge humbucker of my PRS Tremonti SE, with the volume rolled back to clean it up - and that's how I recorded my entry for the August challenge.
domhatch
Hasie wrote:
volume rolled back to clean it up
...and that's what i do, no matter what pickup type i'm using. volume control is all - you managed to say what i was trying to in far fewer words
dh|
Stoffeltoo
Me still learning to control volume
domhatch
Stoffeltoo wrote:
Me still learning to control volume
me too. it's a balance thing for me. (i'm still even learning to balance channels on my amp!) i guess the whole thing is a learning process - which is what makes this so wonderful for me.
rawk!
dh|
Ibanezguy
Just fitted a Seymour Duncan JB Trembucker in my 1999 Rg550. It sounds great. ?
Stoffeltoo
A trick I learnt by our bands' sound engineer is this.
All guitarists, Bassists, keys and vocalists setting at full volume (Including pedals, vocal and otherwise)
He then blends the maximum output on the desk to prevent distortion and "tone deaf" guitarists like me.
The upside is that the stage monitors are running on independent busses allowing for selective volume for individual or grouped muso's on request. It also prevents that earsplitting feedback loop from mikes ?
I once stood in front of a no name bad ass bass amp which I swore was debriding my skin with every low E note. Could'nt hear it but feel it I did
I am still at logger heads whether I prefer humbuckers or single coils. Some of our songs need the single coil bite and other the fuller and lusher humbucker tone. (If all else fails, go to semi acoustic with LR Baggs with lined fishman amp. Absolute tone for country, rock and surf rock rhythm
My pick-ups worth
singemonkey
Stoffeltoo wrote:
I am still at logger heads whether I prefer humbuckers or single coils. Some of our songs need the single coil bite and other the fuller and lusher humbucker tone. (If all else fails, go to semi acoustic with LR Baggs with lined fishman amp. Absolute tone for country, rock and surf rock rhythm
My pick-ups worth
This is why P90s are great. They have a lot of cut, but they're also much meatier than Stratocaster pickups. The Who's live at Leeds is a classic example of how great that can work.
domhatch
singemonkey wrote:
Stoffeltoo wrote:
I am still at logger heads whether I prefer humbuckers or single coils. Some of our songs need the single coil bite and other the fuller and lusher humbucker tone. (If all else fails, go to semi acoustic with LR Baggs with lined fishman amp. Absolute tone for country, rock and surf rock rhythm
My pick-ups worth
This is why P90s are great. They have a lot of cut, but they're also much meatier than Stratocaster pickups. The Who's live at Leeds is a classic example of how great that can work.
love me some p-90s. always have, may have mentioned. will have to check out live at leeds methinks. thanks for the heads up, singe!
Ibanezguy
My RG550 now has a brand new set of Seymour Duncan humbuckers. A Jazz neck and a JB bridge. No doubt in my mind, good humbuckers are way more versatile than single coils for cover/top 40 gigs. I can cover all tones needed with ease. This combo of Seymours is a tried and tested solution by many players thats why I chose it and YES its damn good ?
bruciekins
I guess I've always been a Strat guy, but modern Fender pickups don't float my boat. I replaced the pickups (and wiring) in my '94 S AmStan Strat with Kinman MkII noiseless pups. I'm happy with them In my Tele partcaster my luthier made for my I used the ones he wired for me. In my Wahburn HB35 I have Tonerider Rocksongs, which I like for a creamier overdrive. I don't do metal, too old to be convincing. ?
