MG Eddie
New member
Ok so I have a tele with single coils that I usually play with the switch in the center position using both pickups simultaneously. What is the difference between this and using a guitar with just 1 humbucker?
S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
I don't own/play a Tele, but I do have a Westone Thunder 1A, and a Washburn X-30- both have two humbuckers, and a coil tap switch (turns the buckers into single coils,) so I have something of a controlled comparison. I can play it as 1) a HB in bridge, 2) a HB in neck position, and 3) a single coil in each. I just plugged the Washburn in, and this is what I heard:
Switch in center position, coil tap out (singles,) I hear a smooth tone.
Switch in bridge position, coil tap in (HB,) I get a more twangy tone (everybody knows that, I am sure.)
Switch in Neck, HB, more mellow.
All that is what you would expect, of course. Nothing proven, I think.
So, I left 3-way switch in center position, and went back and forth between two HB's, and two single coils. Only real change- stronger with HB's, a touch of SC quack (although far less than I hear from my Strat,) with the SC's.
But I don't think I have really proven or discovered anything. The different pickup config. sound different. Yeah, no big surprise.
Most guitars with one HB have it in the bridge position. A tele set up has one bridge/one neck pup. The bridge HB sounds more twangy than the two single coils. I think I already said that.
So, I don't think I have answered your question. They are different, but this is so much an apples/oranges comparison as to be a meaningless comparison. Sorry I can't give you something more concrete or perhaps satisfying, but it is what it is.
Switch in center position, coil tap out (singles,) I hear a smooth tone.
Switch in bridge position, coil tap in (HB,) I get a more twangy tone (everybody knows that, I am sure.)
Switch in Neck, HB, more mellow.
All that is what you would expect, of course. Nothing proven, I think.
So, I left 3-way switch in center position, and went back and forth between two HB's, and two single coils. Only real change- stronger with HB's, a touch of SC quack (although far less than I hear from my Strat,) with the SC's.
But I don't think I have really proven or discovered anything. The different pickup config. sound different. Yeah, no big surprise.
Most guitars with one HB have it in the bridge position. A tele set up has one bridge/one neck pup. The bridge HB sounds more twangy than the two single coils. I think I already said that.
So, I don't think I have answered your question. They are different, but this is so much an apples/oranges comparison as to be a meaningless comparison. Sorry I can't give you something more concrete or perhaps satisfying, but it is what it is.
muttley600
Banned
Totally different. You are not getting the same thing at all. The tele pickups are picking up vibrations from different parts of the string for a start. They are also not humbucking and are wound differently. Thats just the pickups. What are you after doing? If you want a humbucker sound you need a humbucker..
TelePaul
J to the R O C
I think I understand your line of thinking here OP. When I first got a guitar with RW/RP pickups, I was surprised with how much hum-cancelling they achieved. That's pretty much where the similarities end though. Also, I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of one humbucker guitars feature it placed in the bridge position. They give a very upper-mid-rangey, nasally (though not unpleasant) tone. IME, RW/RP single coils in the middle position provide a rounded tone, retaining core individual frequencies while losing some of the spongey overtones I'd normally associate with Tele pups. As a position it can seem to me a bit sterile at times, but cleans up really well, especially with some comp.
MG Eddie
New member
Well I also have a first act guitar that I tricked out that only has one humbucker pickup. I mostly just wanted to know what other people had heard, because with the tele it sounds the closest to a humbucker when its using both pickups. I know that the humbucker sound is probably different but I really could tell much of a difference.
S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
The problem with trying to make this kind of comparison, is you have so many variables to try to control, and you will still not be able to control all (or even a significant number) of them- maybe not even be able to control enough of them to make a meaningful comparison. I think I came about as close as one can, using real-world guitars- I controlled for every other guitar-construction feature, by using the same guitar, controlled for pickup placement as much as I could, etc., and even that was inconclusive.
BUT, if you have little or no experience with a HB-equipped guitar, and your question is "How should I expect a guitar with a single HB to sound DIFFERENT from my Tele?" then that is a much easier question to answer. The HB-equipped guitar will, in most cases, play a bit louder, may have a richer tone at the expense of some clarity, and (if the two pups on your Tele are NOT reverse-wound from each other and thus do not provide for hum-cancelling,) will be produce less hum when not being played, or played softly.
BUT, if you have little or no experience with a HB-equipped guitar, and your question is "How should I expect a guitar with a single HB to sound DIFFERENT from my Tele?" then that is a much easier question to answer. The HB-equipped guitar will, in most cases, play a bit louder, may have a richer tone at the expense of some clarity, and (if the two pups on your Tele are NOT reverse-wound from each other and thus do not provide for hum-cancelling,) will be produce less hum when not being played, or played softly.