Can a Middle Humbucker sound like a Bridge Pickup?

[KevinTJH]

I'm currently unofficially endorsed by the guitar brand, Haze for promoting the use of their instruments.

 

I wanted something unique so I got given this funky looking guitar as a gift.

 

 

 

 

It's not a high-end build guitar at all, but for something I didn't pay a cent for, I wouldn't really complain about it.

 

I absolutely love single humbucker guitars, but I just found it interesting that the single humbucker was placed in the middle position. The tone of this thing is a little strange as it's not muddy but it still lacks the brightness of a bridge position pickup.

 

Is there anything that can be done to make this guitar function like a "single-bridge-humbucker" guitar? Any particular pickup or pots replacements that could replicate that "Bridge" tone?

 

This guitar is probably more of a novelty piece than something I would actually record with, but it'd be cool to actually get some good tones to enjoy playing this instrument.

[jtr654]

Not really but if you EQ it on your amp you can get close.

[Grant Harding]

That's pretty much the one. If you have the ability to EQ in front of the amp you'll get even closer I think.

[WRGKMC]

There's really no difference where you place most pickups. When you have sets they often give the neck fewer winds to get it to match with the bridge better. String movement is greater at the neck and therefore it generates a stronger output then the bridge where the strings are tight and restricted by the bridge.

 

Many older sets of Humbuckers were would the same and were the same size too before they started changing the bobbin size to being wider at the bridge and hotter would to even the outputs.

 

Some Triple Humbucker sets have middle pickups with reverse wind and reverse magnet polarity in order to generate a difference in tone. Using three of the same can wind up sounding much too alike.

 

If I were to guess, you have a Bridge pickup in the middle position on that guitar. Seeing the fret marker light up I also suspect it might be an active EMG so it will work where ever you place it. You aren't going to get a middle or neck pickup to sound the same as a bridge pickup however. You can EQ it to give it more treble but that's NOT the same thing as moving its physical location. There are differences in string Harmonics when the pickup is moved to different string nodes. You cant fake those tonal effects with an EQ. The harmonics come from the string, not from the EQ filter.

[Grant Harding]

There's no difference except the way they sound.

[Freeman Keller]

The simple answer is no. String physics tells you that both the amplitude of vibration and the ratio of partials to the fundimental changes as you move towards or away from the bridge. Close to the bridge the amplitude is less so you get a weaker signal (which is why some bridge pickups are wound hotter) and the ratio of frequencies changes towards higher partials, making the sound brighter.

 

Same thing when you pick closer to the bridge, it is brighter and not as loud, as you move towards the neck it gets darker and louder. Thats what the pickup picks up.

[DeepEnd]

Well, it's different looking. Max out the tone control and turn up the treble on your amp. That will get you closer but not there, as the others have explained.

[Grant Harding]

Compare your first sentence and your last. You typed so much that you changed your opinion somewhere along the journey.

[KevinTJH]

Thanks for all the information, guys!

 

The resonance and sustain on this thing is definitely lacking, given how little wood it is composed of.

 

I actually think it works quite well as a funk-style guitar since it sounds pretty "snappy" (if that makes sense).

[1001gear]

Sounds like A) it doan mattuh wut pickup goze wea and B) bridge toan is bridge toan. So it's all consistent.

[WRGKMC]

No - its seems you lack the ability to understand I was talking about two different things.

 

I'll explain it in the simplest terms I know. If you still don't get it then I cant help you.

 

Electricity is generated by forcing a magnetic field through a coil which collects it. The greater the movement the stronger signal.

 

The string center moves more then the string ends so it generates a stronger signal. Most modern pickup sets tend to have weaker neck pickups to compensate for the greater string movement to even up the sets output.

 

The "Frequency Range" a pickup set is capable of producing is usually similar. If you place a pickup designed for the Neck, Middle or Bridge, in the same bridge position, the string harmonics that come from the strings at that point will be exactly the same. The pickups may have different output strength or different maximum frequency ranges due to their impedance differences, but those are usually minor in nature unless you have a horribly matched set. In any case they do "not" change the acoustical harmonics generated by the strings at different positions along the string.

 

When the pickup is moved along the length of the string, its focused on different parts of the "string nodes" which contain different amounts of harmonic coloration. The "string" produces less bass/more treble near the bridge and less treble/more bass near the neck.

 

An EQ can only filter the signal generated by the string and pickup. An EQ does not generate its own harmonics. It can only boost or cut what's already there. An EQ Cannot make a middle pickup sound like a bridge pickup because the pickup isn't generating bridge harmonics in the middle position, its only generating middle string harmonics in the middle position. .

[WRGKMC]

I've made 2X4" guitars before. Additional body wood can give you changes in tone and sustain but like anything else its often the type of wood that's important for good tone, not necessarily the quantity. The bridge setup you have should produce a long sustain. Doesn't necessarily mean the sustain is worth listening too. Bad tone can sustain just as long as good tone.

 

The neck is obviously routed for having those LED's to work. If anything I suspect the extra rounding and soft wire insulation in the neck may cause a certain amount of dampening.

 

The guitar is a Novelty instrument, and given what's going on with the school shootings, its a politically charged Novelty. Actually using it playing out would be a tough decision. You'd undoubtedly get allot of people ragging on you for not being politically correct or promoting gun violence. I once got the Nugent Treatment for having a fur strap back in the 70's. Some chick started calling me an animal killer. It was ridiculous of course. The woman should have been sent to a psycho ward but it was a distraction I could do without. I used a regular leather strap which no one seems to mind.

 

I could only imagine the issues you'd have using that thing playing out. I'd have no problem is it was a prop for a show, like the whole band dressed up like the military or criminals as part of a Broadway type stage show. Other then that I'd convert that guitar into something else. better yet just dump it on some other sucker and get something better. You know it sounds bad so why bother with it cosmetically if its still going to sound bad.

[onelife]

"... dump it on some other sucker..." ???

[Grant Harding]

Oh definitely.

[Grant Harding]

There's no grey - only absolutes and many words that typically miss the actual point.

[Grant Harding]

When the ignore function used to work I could scroll through whole threads in seconds...