Members wankdeplank Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Buckers have been getting a lot of slagging around here lately and for me it's just another cool flavor. I guess I just don't get the comments describing them as "boring", "muddy" or "boomy". To me, that means only one of three things - humbuckers themselves are cheap poor quality; they are either too high or too low; or the wood quality is poor and not supporting the frequencies generated by the buckers. Buckers were made for FAAAAAAT or is it PHAAAAAT with very little or no noise. Exhibit #!: [video=youtube;XKCirOLUcKE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Anyone who finds them "boring" hasn't ever listened to Red by King Crimson, The Bluesbreakers with Clapton, or The Allman Bros' At Fillmore East. Robert Fripp, Clapton, and Duane Allman are the reason I prefer humbuckers and feel they express the sound in my head better than any other pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 I like humbuckers because I hate 60 cycle hum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 I like both single coils for their clarity and humbuckers because I don't have to play so hard to get a thick over driven sound (a la Mark Knopfler) I usually gig with a Gibson (LP or ES-something) and a Fender (strat or tele) so I have both available to me as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Plus 1 to Buck for that!Fripp is one of the reasons I started playing guitar. (Bill Nelson and his 345 was the main one.) And I still use Fripp's tone when judging a Paul like creature.Humbuckers, to me at least, are the pinnacle of great tone. I respect a strat and a tele, LOVE a P90. But for perfection, give me a humbucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Floyd Rosenbomb Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 I likes them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 I like humbuckers as long as they aren't dull sounding from being overwound or wax potted. And usually at the bridge. I like the bloomy thick sound and easy harmonics but I don't like muddy tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 One of the reasons I love this forum is for the eclectic musical sensibilities supported amongst our rather small but passionate ranks. I was buying King Crimson and Bill Nelson records back in the eighties, way back before I was doing anything musically. And though I have since surrounded myself with friends of a feather, so to speak, if I'm talking music casually with people at work etc., I find few that would recognize them. I should add that I also appreciate the mainstream much more than I once did, really enjoying a piece by Bread recently posted in a thread about guitar tone and songwriting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 For me Wank, I discovered King Crimson and Bill Nelson/Be Bop Deluxe, in the late 70's. Grew up listening to classical and Prog, and to this day believe RED is the heaviest thing ever recorded! Nothing recorded since, is as heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 In the proper guitar, I like the "muddiness" My Epiphone Genesis's neck pick is quite muddy, and with flatwounds and the right setting, can double up as a jazz box.What always amazes me though, are Ibanez's. In one guitar, the INF3 sounds like mud, in another, an Ibanez by the way, clear as a bell. Just don't get it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Exhibit #2 [video=youtube;FUvxRjYqjEQ] I remember reading about Duane and some other guitar greats finding their inspiration in musicians like John Coltrane and even Miles Davis. Of course the amp makes a big difference but for me, nothing gets that smooth legato horn flavor like a good humbucker. Listening to the end of this piece, with those big fat lines is transcendent. PS Good call Buck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Funny you should say that because after I wrote that it occurred to me that I talked a High School friend into buying "In the Court of the Crimson King" way back in 72. Really miss the days of underground FM Radio - WNEW, wow!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Listening to the end of this piece' date=' with those big fat lines is transcendent.[/quote'] Sounds like Derek Trucks [video=youtube;GBbRrvJt8G8] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Excellent call O.L. and most likely Derek's inspiration in exploring the rich spiritual legacy of Eastern music with it's microtonal subtlety. Trucks playing reminds me a lot of Ravi Shankar whom George Harrison once called the greatest musician alive (at that time, both expired now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 I think it can go both ways. The neck humbucker in my Schecter is kinda meh so I play with the bridge pickup pretty much exclusively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 18, 2015 Members Share Posted August 18, 2015 Yes Derek is certainly carrying it on after Duane and I love the sounds of his guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yeah, those generic hummers can be a bit hit and miss. I loved the bridge in my Carlo Robelli 335 but the neck was a bit tinny. Traded it out for an SD 59 (cheater method - no fish lining) and it turned out to be a match made in Heaven. The 59 is perfect for a 335 with it's slightly scooped mids, articulate but fat and the middle position is just sooo sparkly now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted August 19, 2015 Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 yeah I don't get the "muddy" comments either. These people must be playing some garbage pickups. If anything, under more gain....It's single coils that get more "out of control" and "hairy". Buckers are tight and focused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted August 19, 2015 Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 yeah I don't get the "muddy" comments either. These people must be playing some garbage pickups. If anything, under more gain....It's single coils that get more "out of control" and "hairy". Buckers are tight and focused. Agreed. You said it better than I could have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted August 19, 2015 Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 Dammit Wande...Here I wuz already to jump into the fray and you break out one the best, and one of my favorite bands of all time...And just suck the wind out of my single coil argument...Dammit...Now I gotta pull out "Live at Fillmore East" and have a slice before I go to bed.....My red eyes in the morning, along with my broken Strat based argument are all on you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted August 19, 2015 Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 Bucky knows his tone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 I mean I do like Strats and they do what they do but I can't get a decent Santana approximation with it or make it sound like this: [video=youtube;7bWdv9oTUbg] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted August 19, 2015 Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 Who exactly is Humbucker and what is their rule? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted August 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted August 19, 2015 Oh yeah Peter Green. Try getting that tone with P90s or singles: [video=youtube;e3uaybKfdFA] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Man is that guy ever good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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