HH or HSH?

[Snaplit]

"Oh crap, its one of THOSE threads again.."

Yeah I know, and I apologize, but I wanted to hear answers to my own thread

The music I want to play is going to be rock and metal. BUT other than that, there are also the more relaxed kind of tones that really appeals to me.

Please click the link:

Everything in the video is all really nice and I'll probably end up playing something similar, but the part at 3:20 is the cherry on top of the cake.

Basically I would like to play clean relaxed tones, but be able to switch over to some Metallica.

So I'm gonna start learning guitar, from square one. After WAY too long of doing research, I have come to the conclusion that the amp is gonna be the Yamaha THR10, and the guitar is going to be...

Frankly I don't know, I thought I did for a while, but I've hit a wall.
First it was going to be HH, but then people suggested a HSH for it's better "versatility", which is the keyword for me and the guitar I dream of.

One of my worries is that if I were to get a guitar with HSH setup. Then 3 out of the 5 switch options will have the single coil enabled, and since its a single coil and not a humbucker, it can "hum", I'm not really interested in that.
Is the single coil going to hum and annoy me?
What could make the single coil hum when I'm playing in my room, I know florescent light can make it hum, but I don't got that.

Anyone with a HSH guitar that got any experience with hum from the middle coil?

Considering my taste and aim for a versatile guitar, what should it be?

About the budget for the guitar, around $500-600, but just pretend like there is no limit and come with any suggestions whatsoever.

Feel free to say anything at all, thank you.

[the_gunslinger]

IMO your thinking way too much about it. Just go to a guitar store and play a bunch and see what feels most comfortable and sounds best to you.

By the way, the part at 3:20 is just the neck pickup by itself. Also IMO, a middle pickup is really not needed for rock and metal, and can get in the way of picking(at least it does for me), you can pull some really nice clean tones from a HH setup as well, plus you can always coil tap it if you want single coil sounds. If this is your first guitar, I would avoid a tremelo all together, it can be a pain in the ass to set up for beginners.

[the_gunslinger]

IMO your thinking way too much about it. Just go to a guitar store and play a bunch and see what feels most comfortable and sounds best to you.

By the way, the part at 3:20 is just the neck pickup by itself. Also IMO, a middle pickup is really not needed for rock and metal, and can get in the way of picking(at least it does for me), you can pull some really nice clean tones from a HH setup as well, plus you can always coil tap it if you want single coil sounds. If this is your first guitar, I would avoid a tremelo all together, it can be a pain in the ass to set up for beginners.

[spacequixote]

Personally I prefer HH. While I do love the middle pickup on strats, I think it looks cleaner, no pickup to get in the way, less string pull, and you can get nice clean tones with high output pickups with coil split or series/parallel switching.

[spacequixote]

Personally I prefer HH. While I do love the middle pickup on strats, I think it looks cleaner, no pickup to get in the way, less string pull, and you can get nice clean tones with high output pickups with coil split or series/parallel switching.

[Canadian Jeff]

I prefer HSH but can get by on either. I have guitars that are both.

[Canadian Jeff]

I prefer HSH but can get by on either. I have guitars that are both.

[billybilly]

All things considered, I find the best clean tone for me, inclusive of HSH and HH guitars is the bridge on full and the neck bucker split. I arm all my HH guitars with individual coil splits so I can use either the neck or bridge in conjunction with one another split or full. I don't think you need an HSH but that's my opinion.

[billybilly]

All things considered, I find the best clean tone for me, inclusive of HSH and HH guitars is the bridge on full and the neck bucker split. I arm all my HH guitars with individual coil splits so I can use either the neck or bridge in conjunction with one another split or full. I don't think you need an HSH but that's my opinion.

[Sillypeoples]

Thanks for posting the video,

My pup selector goes all over the place depending on what track, all my keepers are HSH, and I am starting to think some splits on the humbuckers would be nice as well....because going to the neck sometimes is a little fuzzy, would be nice to clean that up.

The video gives a really good example of how to run a guitar through the paces, and it was interesting that he wasn't impressed with the guitar, but really played it well, and got great tone. I wonder if he has a Jcraft or Prestige as his number one, because that's about the only way up I think.

I had to check out his recording software, where he is a fine direction to head off too....that ambient modern lead, just love it.

My son uses Fruity Loops, he's using Reason...worth mentioning, as in the video it's stated there is some synth stuff going on. Very cutting edge, very cool.

Again thanks for the video, all around great!

[Sillypeoples]

Thanks for posting the video,

My pup selector goes all over the place depending on what track, all my keepers are HSH, and I am starting to think some splits on the humbuckers would be nice as well....because going to the neck sometimes is a little fuzzy, would be nice to clean that up.

The video gives a really good example of how to run a guitar through the paces, and it was interesting that he wasn't impressed with the guitar, but really played it well, and got great tone. I wonder if he has a Jcraft or Prestige as his number one, because that's about the only way up I think.

I had to check out his recording software, where he is a fine direction to head off too....that ambient modern lead, just love it.

My son uses Fruity Loops, he's using Reason...worth mentioning, as in the video it's stated there is some synth stuff going on. Very cutting edge, very cool.

Again thanks for the video, all around great!

[Snaplit]

Thanks for your reply so far

Originally Posted by the_gunslinger

a middle pickup is really not needed for rock and metal

Rock and metal is not the only thing I'll be playing, thus my search for the most versatile pickup setup.

I would like to have a tremolo, so I don't have to buy a whole new guitar or re-setup my guitar later on.

My question about the middle single coil, if it will be humming or not, and what could make it hum, still remains.

[Snaplit]

Thanks for your reply so far

Originally Posted by the_gunslinger

a middle pickup is really not needed for rock and metal

Rock and metal is not the only thing I'll be playing, thus my search for the most versatile pickup setup.

I would like to have a tremolo, so I don't have to buy a whole new guitar or re-setup my guitar later on.

My question about the middle single coil, if it will be humming or not, and what could make it hum, still remains.

[Ancient Mariner]

My *personal* opinion is that you're overthinking the whole thing far too much, and that you'd be better off picking up a cheaper guitar to start learning on & developing a sense of what you like before burning real money in a direction that is informed by the tastes you have developed from playing.

HH or HSH? Again a personal opinion, but I think single coils are easier to play for a beginner, though they don't sound so good for super-high gain stuff. Hum isn't really a big deal most of the time, especially if you have decent cables & shield your pickup cavity. Stuff that will make it hum will be CRT monitors (if you still have an old one) dimmer switches & bad fluorescent light fittings. I've only ever had a hum problem when trying to record sat in front of a CRT monitor.

Another personal opinion - single coils in HSH guitars tend to be bland, especially in the lower & midrange end of things, and don't really offer any advantages over HH. However humbuckers in those guitars are also often not great, especially if wound hot, and can be dull & muddy when clean.

So my advice would be to get somethig good but cheap - like a used Yamaha Pacifica 112 - learn to play a little, develop your ear and your skill, then buy something that will do what you want. It's surprising how guitars I thought I'd love, don't play or sound anything like as rewarding when I actually got to try them properly (I'm talking Gibson, PRS etc here).

[Ancient Mariner]

My *personal* opinion is that you're overthinking the whole thing far too much, and that you'd be better off picking up a cheaper guitar to start learning on & developing a sense of what you like before burning real money in a direction that is informed by the tastes you have developed from playing.

HH or HSH? Again a personal opinion, but I think single coils are easier to play for a beginner, though they don't sound so good for super-high gain stuff. Hum isn't really a big deal most of the time, especially if you have decent cables & shield your pickup cavity. Stuff that will make it hum will be CRT monitors (if you still have an old one) dimmer switches & bad fluorescent light fittings. I've only ever had a hum problem when trying to record sat in front of a CRT monitor.

Another personal opinion - single coils in HSH guitars tend to be bland, especially in the lower & midrange end of things, and don't really offer any advantages over HH. However humbuckers in those guitars are also often not great, especially if wound hot, and can be dull & muddy when clean.

So my advice would be to get somethig good but cheap - like a used Yamaha Pacifica 112 - learn to play a little, develop your ear and your skill, then buy something that will do what you want. It's surprising how guitars I thought I'd love, don't play or sound anything like as rewarding when I actually got to try them properly (I'm talking Gibson, PRS etc here).

[Help!I'maRock!]

i prefer two pickup instruments.

[Help!I'maRock!]

i prefer two pickup instruments.

[kayd_mon]

Any two humbucker guitar is perfectly versatile enough to go from clean to metal, provided your amp or pedal is capable of the task. You will probably spend most of your time using just the neck or just the bridge in an HSH guitar. Having the single coil in the middle is ok, but I don't think it's terribly necessary. I prefer the middle position of a two humbucker guitar than sound of just a middle single coil.

As for the hum, it should only do that in pos. 3 of an HSH guitar.

Also, as a beginner, you should worry less about how versatile your guitar is supposed to be. Your chosen amp will do everything you need, and you'll learn the skill to do the rest. Plenty of people use single-coil-equipped Teles to do what you're looking for - it's all in how you learn to adapt to your gear. Basically, you can read up on specs and get what's supposed to be designed for what you want, but you should look first for a guitar that feels comfortable in your hands.

[kayd_mon]

Any two humbucker guitar is perfectly versatile enough to go from clean to metal, provided your amp or pedal is capable of the task. You will probably spend most of your time using just the neck or just the bridge in an HSH guitar. Having the single coil in the middle is ok, but I don't think it's terribly necessary. I prefer the middle position of a two humbucker guitar than sound of just a middle single coil.

As for the hum, it should only do that in pos. 3 of an HSH guitar.

Also, as a beginner, you should worry less about how versatile your guitar is supposed to be. Your chosen amp will do everything you need, and you'll learn the skill to do the rest. Plenty of people use single-coil-equipped Teles to do what you're looking for - it's all in how you learn to adapt to your gear. Basically, you can read up on specs and get what's supposed to be designed for what you want, but you should look first for a guitar that feels comfortable in your hands.

[the_gunslinger]

Originally Posted by Snaplit

Rock and metal is not the only thing I'll be playing, thus my search for the most versatile pickup setup.

I would like to have a tremolo, so I don't have to buy a whole new guitar or re-setup my guitar later on.

All I'm saying is that I don't think you quite know what your getting yourself into with a floating tremolo. It's a high maintenance bridge, takes a while to adjust and change strings, and if it's not set up right will not stay in tune. You can easily wear down the posts if your not careful, trying to adjust the action, which I've seen many people do, and wonder why it alway's won't return to pitch after a divebomb. Which is why I suggested avoiding a tremolo all together, it can be a real hassle if you don't know what your doing. If the guitar won't stay in tune, you'll be less likely to play it.

Second as far as pickup configuration and versatility, like said above, you can pretty much adapt to anything, it really comes down to how versatile you are as a player.

[the_gunslinger]

Originally Posted by Snaplit

Rock and metal is not the only thing I'll be playing, thus my search for the most versatile pickup setup.

I would like to have a tremolo, so I don't have to buy a whole new guitar or re-setup my guitar later on.

All I'm saying is that I don't think you quite know what your getting yourself into with a floating tremolo. It's a high maintenance bridge, takes a while to adjust and change strings, and if it's not set up right will not stay in tune. You can easily wear down the posts if your not careful, trying to adjust the action, which I've seen many people do, and wonder why it alway's won't return to pitch after a divebomb. Which is why I suggested avoiding a tremolo all together, it can be a real hassle if you don't know what your doing. If the guitar won't stay in tune, you'll be less likely to play it.

Second as far as pickup configuration and versatility, like said above, you can pretty much adapt to anything, it really comes down to how versatile you are as a player.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I suggest one of these, inexpensive, well made, and versatile.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I suggest one of these, inexpensive, well made, and versatile.

[Help!I'maRock!]

additionally, don't let anybody tell you that you can't play blues or jazz on a "metal" guitar. play whatever you want on whatever you want. most guitars are simply fashion statements.

[Help!I'maRock!]

additionally, don't let anybody tell you that you can't play blues or jazz on a "metal" guitar. play whatever you want on whatever you want. most guitars are simply fashion statements.