Members goodsal Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I've been playing an American Deluxe Strat with noiseless single coils through a Vox AD30VT amp for the past 6 months. Just bought a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany with Burstbucker Pro pickups (my first guitar with humbuckers). Unlike the Strat, I find it very hard to get a good clean sound out of the Les Paul, the humbuckers seem to crunch much more easily, even with the guitar volume turned down. Is this typical? The Les Paul crunch is awesome, but i'm finding it hard to get the range of tones that I can easily get out of my Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alchemist Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 well now you have discovered why you need a strat and a les paul, strats give you bell like cleans, les pauls have that thick creamy break up, its just the nature of what is the "les paul" tone. My les paul has the 490/498 combo which is even hotter, great punchy cleans, but they do get crunchy faster...., you can change pickups to get lower output cleans, but why bother, thats why you have more than one guitar:D, I should mention the great clean tones I get are from a custom traynor ycv40 running a well matched set of 5881's and a weber vst ceramic silver bell speaker, the amp you use has a lot to do with the breakup as well, speaker cab etc, it all adds up:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greg_In_Michigan Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I also have a Strat (Am Dlx) with the vintage noiseless pickups. The noiseless pickups are naturally cleaner. The way ther are wound to be noiseless, it makes em 'less hot' if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodsal Posted November 1, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Thanks. That all makes sense. Is it also typical for the neck pickup to be "muddier" sounding than the bridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alchemist Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by goodsal Thanks. That all makes sense. Is it also typical for the neck pickup to be "muddier" sounding than the bridge? well it should be deeper and warmer, but it could be described as muddy:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 70's Strat Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 The Single-Coil pickup is so good because it has more clarity than a humbucker but can break up well as well. The humbucker is for heavier stuff and whilst you can get a clean tone, is better for overdrive and distorted riffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Single coils have way more nuance and clarity for cleans. In comparing my G&L with single coils and my Ibanez with humbuckers, it's no contest. The single coils are super warm, fat, punchy and dynamic. They really bloom. While the Ibanez sounds nice, it lacks the color and balance. Plus, at higher volumes (but still clean) the humbucker clean tends to get boomy. The more and more I play, the more I realize my ideal setup is a neck single coil and bridge bucker - extra girth for the heavier stuff and solos combined with the pure cleans of the neck single. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by goodsal I've been playing an American Deluxe Strat with noiseless single coils through a Vox AD30VT amp for the past 6 months. Just bought a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany with Burstbucker Pro pickups (my first guitar with humbuckers). Unlike the Strat, I find it very hard to get a good clean sound out of the Les Paul, the humbuckers seem to crunch much more easily, even with the guitar volume turned down. Is this typical? The Les Paul crunch is awesome, but i'm finding it hard to get the range of tones that I can easily get out of my Strat. That's the way it is! That's why I caution people from running out and gettting a Les Paul. They're beautiful, but not versatile. Just about any Fender has better cleans than a Lester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BowerR64 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by metallica_00 Single coils have way more nuance and clarity for cleans. In comparing my G&L with single coils and my Ibanez with humbuckers, it's no contest. The single coils are super warm, fat, punchy and dynamic. They really bloom. While the Ibanez sounds nice, it lacks the color and balance. Plus, at higher volumes (but still clean) the humbucker clean tends to get boomy. The more and more I play, the more I realize my ideal setup is a neck single coil and bridge bucker - extra girth for the heavier stuff and solos combined with the pure cleans of the neck single. That is my favorite combonation also. The middle pickup IMO is worthless. Its just in the way for me and i never use it. I would rather it be gone from my guitars so that i can use that position on the switch to split the humbucker and get a single coil sound in the bridge. up neck, center humbucker split, down full humbucker. Thats my ideal setup, i also like the neck slanted to give some highs to the single in the neck just for a little bit extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by BowerR64 That is my favorite combonation also. The middle pickup IMO is worthless. Its just in the way for me and i never use it. I would rather it be gone from my guitars so that i can use that position on the switch to split the humbucker and get a single coil sound in the bridge. up neck, center humbucker split, down full humbucker. Thats my ideal setup, i also like the neck slanted to give some highs to the single in the neck just for a little bit extra. I'm not a big fan of the middle pickup by itself either. But the combo position of middle and neck pickup is pretty money. Knopfler tone baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I guess Hendrix, Robin Trower, Clapton, and Tommy Bolin were really misguided for using the middle pickup position so much! maaaaaan! Some of the stupid stuff I read on here makes me ache! Knopfler uses the middle pickup a lot also (Sultans of Swing is all middle pickup!) If what you guys are saying about Humbuckers vs. Single coil pickups and clear tone is right then: 1) How come most famous jazz players use humbuckers? 2) How come almost no well known jazz players use Strats? Humbuckers produce great clean tones if you know what you're doing. You just have to change the amp and EQ settings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mckinley Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by etvetv2001 I guess Hendrix, Robin Trower, Clapton, and Tommy Bolin were really misguided for using the middle pickup position so much! maaaaaan! Some of the stupid stuff I read on here makes me ache! They can't have an opinion on whether or not the middle pickup suits them, because some famous players used to like it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sandfly Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I have no problem getting a "clean tone" out of my guitars with humbuckers . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jbird Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Isnt the middle pickup useful for getting that "funk" tone, or maybe some chicken-picking country? A bit harder to dial in those tones on a neck pickup, tho it can be done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 originally posted by BowerR64 The middle pickup IMO is worthless. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but to describe the middle pickup on a Strat as "worthless" is an extreme statement that begs for a passionate rebuttal from ANY serious traditional Strat lover! Just can't let that one pass by unchallenged. Here are some of my favorite songs played on the middle pickup of a Strat. 1) Too Rolling Stoned - Robin Trower2) Post Toastee - Tommy Bolin3) Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits4) West Side Boogie - Ray Gomez5) One clear Moment - Little feat6) May This be Love - Jimi Hendrix7) Red House (live) - Jimi Hendrix8) Tommy Bolin's solos on "Spectrum" LP by Billy Cobham.9) Power of Soul (live) - Hendrix Band of Gypsys album These are only a few off the top of my head. There are many, many more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 70's Strat Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Echoes by Pink Floyd is one of my favourites on the middle pickup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inkwachemis Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 P90s anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by metallica_00 I'm not a big fan of the middle pickup by itself either. But the combo position of middle and neck pickup is pretty money. Knopfler tone baby. I find every Strat to be different. Last year I picked up a cheapy copy on ebay to have a second Strat in a more vintage style than my 1994 MIA Std, and on that guitar I love the middle pup on its own - there's a mojo there that isn't present in that position on the MIA. Forget his name, but the guy in the Strokes that plays the 80s MIJ 70s Strat reissue apparently plays pretty much exclusively on the middle pup alone. Bonnie Rait prefers that setting on her strat for slide..... it's certainly typically the least popular setting, and often the one people rewire to give neck and bridge together instead of mid alone, but i don't think it (or any setting for that matter) should be dismissed out of hand, it's amazing what you can find really works in an individual guitar if you're open to playing around with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acravero Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Back to the original poster's question about his particular guitar--aren't Burstbucker Pros pretty hot humbuckers? If he wants a good range/breadth of tones from the LP (which he CAN get), he may want to look into some lower output humbuckers, and ones with 4 conductor wiring. Hot humbuckers are mainly designed to be used for distorted/overdriven tones. However, lower output humbuckers can really shine in the versatility department. Other than using your volume and tone knobs, two things can really make humbuckers a lot more versatile: splitting and parallel wiring. Parallel gives you a much cleaner "single-coil-esque" sound while retaining your hum-cancelling properties, and splitting allows you to get a much truer single-coil sound (noise & all), which I find extremely useful. Personally, I haven't really read any glowing reviews of the Burstbucker Pro pickups. However, the non-pro Burstbucker pickups (#1 - #3), in particular the 3 (bridge) and 2 (neck) combination always gets good reviews. I have the newer 498T/490R combination set up with splits on a push/pull pot, and I really like the range of tones. If I split both pickups and use them together, roll back the tone a pinch, I can even get a decent Tele type sound--great for cleans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rocinante Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Originally posted by etvetv2001 Knopfler uses the middle pickup a lot also (Sultans of Swing is all middle pickup!) Surely SoS is bridge and middle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 Thanks for mentioning Bonnie Raitt's great middle pickup tones. And I strongly disagree that it is the least popular setting on a Strat. It's a hell of a lot more popular than the bridge pickup alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I hardly use the neck pickup on it's own. Mostly I use bridge alone or bridge and middle. Sometimes neck and middle. The neck pickup is the one I'd remove first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiger roach Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 I also like clean tones out of humbuckers. Smooth, unharsh, buttery cleans, that's the ticket. I like single-coil cleans too though, and eventually will need to own a sc guitar again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vere Posted November 1, 2005 Members Share Posted November 1, 2005 are you rolling back the volume on the lp pickups? that can make a huge difference. i don't know about hybrids but it works well on tube amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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