I got questions about pickups

[Snaplit]

The Singlecoil/Humbucker configuration.
As I have discovered, you can have many different pickup setups such as (S-S-S) (H-S-H) (H-H).

I couldn't find any information about what the middle coil did in a (HSH) config for example.
-What does it do?

What is the difference between a SSS and HH config, and what play style do they cover individually?

Which is most versatile out of the possible pickup positions you can have? (HSH/SSS/HH. etc)

I've heard much about the Seymour Duncan pickups, thinking specifically about the passive ones, are these made specifically for the metal genre?
-If not, what is the difference between a stock Fender pickup and a Seymour Duncan pickup?
-Why are they better?

I'm in the darkness when it comes to pickups, thanks for helping.

[Flatspotter]

Typically, H-S-H guitars have a 5 position switch, and it works the same as a Strat. Some guitars have the ability to split the humbuckers, too.

Seymour Duncan makes pickups for all occasions, not just metal. Whether they're better than Fenders or not is a matter of opinion.

[Snaplit]

Right, that helped me a bit, how about the sound between HSH and HH, how would the single coil in the middle differ from the HH in sound?

[GilmourD]

Originally Posted by Snaplit

Right, that helped me a bit, how about the sound between HSH and HH, how would the single coil in the middle differ from the HH in sound?

It all depends on how you have it wired. An HSH guitar is capable of having all the tones of an HH guitar with the proper switching.

As far as better or worse... There is no such thing with a quality-made pickup. What you get is different flavors of different. It all depends on what sound you're looking to get. There's lots of variables, though, like what guitar, what pickups, what effects, what amp, etc.

So... What guitar do you have now? What sounds do you want it to have that it doesn't? Give us as much detail as you can about your current guitar and what you want it to do.

[Snaplit]

Originally Posted by GilmourD

So... What guitar do you have now? What sounds do you want it to have that it doesn't? Give us as much detail as you can about your current guitar and what you want it to do.

Truth be told, I actually don't have a guitar yet, I'm just about to start, and I'm trying to pick up as much information as possible to understand and find the perfect guitar for me.

So far the Amp is (probably) going to be the Yamaha THR10, which seems perfect as I live in an apartment.

The music I would like to play is about anything really, from jazz and blues to rock and metal, (probably mostly metal and rock in the Metallica genre) and so the goal for me would be to get my hands on a very versatile guitar that can sound very alike the songs that I listen to (If even possible). I also really like slick clean sounds like this:

But this thread was just gonna be about passive pickups and their effect on the sound, so that I could understand what I am picking.

I'm probably gonna ask for help about what guitar suggestions people have, in a different thread later on.

[bjcarl]

HSH is great for versatility...I don't have a lot of experience with active p'ups, so I'm not the best one to advise you, but a lot of great music-from punk to jazz, & country to metal has been made on passive pickups.

If you're just getting started and have the option, I'd say go passive and HSH is fine...

[onelife]

Humbucking pickups have a warmer but less clear sound than single coil ones. They are louder and that makes it easier to overdrive older style amps but with new ones such as the THR10 single coils will still give you lots of overdrive.

Humbucking pickups are made with two coils and, in some cases, they can be "split" so the coils can be used individually. With a HSH configuration you could have one set of sounds using just the two H pickups (like a Les Paul) and a second set of sounds using one coil in each H pickup along with the middle S pickup (like a stratocaster).I think that would be the most versatile, however, some purists insist that a split humbucker does not sound as good as a single coil.

You may also consider something like this with a single coil P90 in the neck position and a "splitable" Humbucker in the bridge.

[fhh]

Another somewhat common configuration is HSS. Some people prefer HH simply because they're more comfortable with the vacancy in the middle as they tend to hit the pickups with the pick. But that also depends on your playing style and how high you set the pickups.

Some common pickup manufacturers, besides Seymour Duncan, are DiMarzio (mostly passives), and EMG (mostly actives). In many cases guitars come with the guitar manufacturer's branded pickups. The pickup manufacturer alone doesn't say much, as all manufacturers have a variety of types and subtypes.

Versatility can be achieved not only by the pickups but also by switching options for combining different pickups in different ways. Common controls are switches, volume and tone knobs (which are sometimes also push-pull switches). Usually you only have 1 or two pickups wired at a time, depending the switch(es) position.

Metal is usually associated with humbuckers, but also singlecoils are in use. Check out some videos of guitar players/songs to get a rough idea what sounds like what, what to expect from Fender singlecoils or Gibson P90s or passive humbuckers or active humbuckers, etc. But all considered, I don't think worrying too much about pickups is important initially. Better focus on a guitar that's overall decent and nice to play. It's not that you can't play clean with active humbuckers, or can't play distorted with singlecoils.

Also Wikipedia has some useful info on pickups, I suppose.

BTW, for an amp, consider also the Fender Mustangs. They're rather nice and are more flexible than the Yamaha THRs.

[LesPaulFetish]

It's nice that you're thinking ahead. In terms of pickups, if you have never played you probably won't be able to tell a whole lot of difference at first anyway between the subtleties in a pickup (at least I know that wasn't something I paid attention to for a good amount of time). That's something you'll start to pay more attention to later for sure. If you're thinking anything metal, you're going to want a humbucker in the bridge. A humbucker in the neck is also my preference for nice and smooth high gain tones, however a single coil neck has a bunch of benefits in other realms (I prefer their sound when clean, for example). Basically, if you're willing to drop the cash now on a guitar, get a tried and true combo (something like a Seymour Duncan JB/59, Dimarzio Tone Zone/Air Norton) that covers a decent amount of ground. Sets like those work for a lot of people, they'll probably work for you. I don't have too much experience with the Duncan set (ironically, since that's a hugely popular setup) but I like the high output Dimarzio stuff for they tend to be warm and have a tame high end, and are often suitable for heavier music.

Truth be told, how you play, what amp you have, and how you set that amp will all have a much larger effect on your sound than just your pickups. I know it's tough to follow, but if you're a beginner I wouldn't sweat the pickups too much and try to get a guitar with at least a humbucker in the bridge that feels good to you, and looks good (because honestly, that matters; you want to like looking at it because you'll play it more if you do). Pickups can be changed down the road, and that's definitely not something worth sweating at this point.

I know this is a bunch of advice, some that you didn't ask for... But there it is.

Also, this is great advice:

Of course, this is all IMO. Bottom line, I would go HH or HSH because humbuckers tend to be better for high gain metal, though pretty much anything with a bridge humbucker will do (as others said, HSH can offer some quacky tones in the in between positions for some nice versatility). Focus primarily on the feel of the neck and the shape as well as the pickup configuration.

[henry h]

For most versatile, I'd say coiled tapped H/H.

[GilmourD]

 

Originally Posted by henry h

For most versatile, I'd say coiled tapped H/H.

 

I'd actually say HSH with coil taps on the humbuckers... But then again, I'm the weirdo that would give each pickup an on off switch and each humbucker a series/cut/parallel switch. LOL

[wartoxin]

 

 

 

 

 

Truth be told, I actually don't have a guitar yet, I'm just about to start, and I'm trying to pick up as much information as possible to understand and find the perfect guitar for me

 

 

 

 

That may not be possible. Especially since you are asking about pickups... You may get the advice to try as many guitars as you can or something like that. That may help or it may not, deciding what you like best takes experience and tastes change over time.

[GilmourD]

Originally Posted by wartoxin

That may not be possible. Especially since you are asking about pickups... You may get the advice to try as many guitars as you can or something like that. That may help or it may not, deciding what you like best takes experience and tastes change over time.

That's a good point... People always talk about "the perfect guitar". Here's mine.

[Snaplit]

Originally Posted by fhh

BTW, for an amp, consider also the Fender Mustangs. They're rather nice and are more flexible than the Yamaha THRs.

Ah yes.
I have looked at the Mustang amps before, and honestly find them more appealing than the THR10, but I've asked around on the forum about what would be a nice amp that can play versatile and really well at low bedroom volume, and about 80% of the people said the THR10. I should probably look more into the amps before making my decision
I live in an apartment by the way.

Thank you everyone for your input, appreciate it.

After checking the ESP, Jackson, Schecter and Ibanez's sites, it hit me that Ibanez are the only one that sells a few guitars with H-S-H setup, while all the others only got H-H, why is this?

[LesPaulFetish]

Originally Posted by Snaplit

Ah yes.
I have looked at the Mustang amps before, and honestly find them more appealing than the THR10, but I've asked around on the forum about what would be a nice amp that can play versatile and really well at low bedroom volume, and about 80% of the people said the THR10. I should probably look more into the amps before making my decision
I live in an apartment by the way.

Thank you everyone for your input, appreciate it.

After checking the ESP, Jackson, Schecter and Ibanez's sites, it hit me that Ibanez are the only one that sells a few guitars with H-S-H setup, while all the others only got H-H, why is this?

I'm sure they all do it sometimes, however that's a good question. Steve Vai and his tech I believe essentially came up with HSH apparently, and with RG's being based off of Steve Vai's guitar (and RG's being super popular for Ibanez) I guess that's why they use it a lot. It offers likely the most combinations of the fundamental setups you could have IMO.

[dabbler]

 

Originally Posted by henry h

For most versatile, I'd say coiled tapped H/H.

 

Not bad advice, and I might have said it myself... UNTIL I got my SD prails mounted in triple shot rings. Unfortunately, I don't know of any guitar that comes that way (I modded 2s of mine to get it), but THIS if the most versatile. Humbuckers, series/parallel, single coils, AND.P90s. Not the best st any of them, but good... and definitely the most versatility!

[Danhedonia]

This may not be popular advice, but honestly, I think you should try to spend as little as possible until you get some experience. Borrow or lease equipment ....etc.

Why? For example, I am fairly sure that after six months of playing you will be far more interested in the different, available neck profiles than pickup types. And as far as amps go - what if you take to guitar quickly and start a band? The THRs have no output jack (someone correct me here if I'm wrong) which means you will struggle to play over a drummer, at best.

Etc. etc. etc.

You simply don't know what your preferences or needs are, yet. And gear ain't cheap.

There are great deals on used guitars on CL, and I'd start there. Pick up a decent little practice amp (a Vox Pathfinder 15R will be more than adequate, and far cheaper than the THR10) and just play. My .02.

[Doctor49]

Originally Posted by Danhedonia

This may not be popular advice, but honestly, I think you should try to spend as little as possible until you get some experience. Borrow or lease equipment ....etc.

Why? For example, I am fairly sure that after six months of playing you will be far more interested in the different, available neck profiles than pickup types. And as far as amps go - what if you take to guitar quickly and start a band? The THRs have no output jack (someone correct me here if I'm wrong) which means you will struggle to play over a drummer, at best.

Etc. etc. etc.

You simply don't know what your preferences or needs are, yet. And gear ain't cheap.

There are great deals on used guitars on CL, and I'd start there. Pick up a decent little practice amp (a Vox Pathfinder 15R will be more than adequate, and far cheaper than the THR10) and just play. My .02.

this
absolutely this.

play as many as you possibly can.