Replacing humbucker with single coil

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Does anyone know of a reason for not doing this? I have a guitar with one single coil pick up and one tappable humbucker. I want to replace them both with single coil Strat pick ups. Are there any problems I should be aware of? Would the remainder of the cavity where the humbucker was need filling in with anything?

Thanks.
 
i cant answer that but i do have a question....why in the world would you do that?......
 
i played this setup for years:

Humbucker.jpg


it's not a single coil, it a stacked humbucker, but to answer your question, you shouldn't have a problem, but you may have to change your pots with other values to get the best tone.
 
I'm not positive, but I would think filling in the routed cavity would be a not-so-good thing. I haven't done it, however, so my comment is really just a guess — just what you need, eh? :D

I'm with Gidge on this one, btw. Sounds like you already have two single coils in effect, once you tap the one. Is it because you specifically want Fender replacements in the guitar?
 
What is the goal here?

If you're hoping to get that really 'snarky' (?) Strat 'in-between-the-middle-and-bridge-pickup' sound you need to have a bolt on neck (and it's not such a bad idea if your guitar has a bolt on neck, too! :D )

Tell us what you're going for and one of us has probably already tried it and spent the money and got some results you can use.

foo
 
Thanks for the replies everyone - esp. Sonnix for the piccy.: gives me an idea of what I'll end up with.

I'm not after a Strat sound, particularly. I already have a Strat which is my main guitar. But I have a second guitar which I don't like the sound of. I just want to upgrade the sound to okay, it doesn't have to be perfect. Buying a Fender vintage 57-62 replacement pick up is the cheap option as I already have one which somebody gave me. So for £40 I can buy a second one and, hopefully, solve this little problem. I'm going for the same pick up twice in the hope of avoiding problems matching them soundwise. My first thought was a P90, but the Fender pick up is half the price and if it'll do the job I may as well go with that. I posted the question in case there was some major problem I was unaware of. I didn't think there would be one, but asked just in case. Thanks for your help.
 
buy a fat strat

if you buy a fat strat, you'll get 2 single coils and a humbucker. Alot more variety there because one day, you might want to go back to the humbucker, though I myself prefer playing with the single coil, I do find some really good use in the humbucker, especially with it on with my midle single coil. Gives a unique sound that is a nice change to tone when doing lead.
 
You should get yourself some good pickups, and a new humbucker. The split the coils with a switch. Way more versitility.

Fangar
 
ok you are NOT looking for a Strat sound because you already have a Strat....so you are gonna replace them with Strat pickups?.....sorry, but i just dont get that...if you want a different sound, just try some better humbuckers......
 
My impression was that a humbucker is two single coils wired out of phase to keep out the hum. Then came humbuckers with the coils taps to get the single coil sound as a switchable option.

In theory you should be able to do this and add a switch to get humbucking and single coil options but it sounds like you are going at it the hard way just because you have a Fender Single coil sitting around and you may not like the results any better than what you have.

Its your money, guitar and time but I would do a lot of research on pickup design etc before starting.
 
Just looking at a cheap way - £40-£50 - of changing a guitar with a nasty cheap twang into a guitar which sounds like a guitar. Haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll get a stacked humbucker and an ordinary humbucker and put them in. Maybe I'll just sell the guitar. Just investigating options.
 
If it's a cheap crappy guitar with cheap crappy pickups it won't sound good with good pickups. I hate to disappoint you, but if you have the cheapest plyboard glued-neck strat copy available and you put the best Les Paul/Dimarzio/Fender custom shop humbuckers in it...well, it will still sound like CRAP! Don't waste your money, but save up a little and get a good quality guitar. I have two electric guitars, one fender strat and one Epiphone Les Paul. They sound completely different and I love both of them (although some people might oppose to the Epi, that's a point of discussion).

Take my advice, save your time and money. Throwing a Big Block in your Pinto won't make it a NASCAR-racer...

Dirk Demon
 
The guitar itself isn't that crap - it's a Gordon Smith. They make good guitars, just a little dull. The pick ups have the twang the guitars on a lot of 60s records have. That's what I want to get rid of. It's also an excuse to an experiment with replacing pick ups - something I've often thought of doing but never tried. Just an idea. As I said, my main guitar is a Strat, and I won't be touching that.
 
Okay, seems clear.

I did a replacement job with a Fender vintage single-coil pickup one and it did turn out OK, better sound.

I would keep the bridge humbucker (or get another humbucker, if you want, but no single coil) and put the single-coil near the neck. That'll keep the twang out, and you still have a guitar with a "fat" sound. The routed cavity won't look nice, but you can probably buy plastic or chrome plates for 'em.

Also watch out if you're soldering the wires to the pickups that you don't overheat them...
Good luck,

Dirk Demon
 
I know what I'm talking about,

A friend of mine has a Ford Fiesta (VERY small car, half the size of an escort) and threw in a turbocharged block in it. The car did great on sprints but forget about making turns with it, it's way overpowered. It just wasn't a sports car...

Dirk Demon
 
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