pickup placement

[capnkid]

I want to build a guitar that does everything I want, so it will have a floyd rose and 1 humbucker and 1 single coil.
I really like the 72 tele pickup configuration with the humbucker in the neck position and the single coil in the bridge position.
I wonder if I build one with the pickups placed like this, will the humbucker sound full and meaty, and will the single coil get me some fender tone?

 

[AlfredB]

there are just soooo many variables in between ... stuff like wood, paint (or lack thereoff) neck, nuts, etc...

ever picked up 2 US-strats ? ... even made from the exact same spec materials at the very same day they can sound significantly different ...

so its VERY hard to say - but if you twist my arm my answer would be YES ... mostly b/c Hums in the neck tend to sound full and meaty and singles are commonly associated with fender ...

cheers
alfred

 

[Hard2Hear]

If you want LOTS of tones, think about doing a H-S-H setup with splittable humbuckers. Then you can get about any tone you can think of out of an electric guitar. Set it up with jimmy Page wiring and you can get about 30 different sounds out of one guitar!!

H2H

 

[Light]

There are a lot of variables, but a couple of general guidelines.

The further from the bridge, the fuller, warmer, bassier, and louder the sound will be. The closer to the bridge, the brighter, thinner, and quieter the sound will be.

Humbuckers have less high end information because their width means that you run into phase cancellations with longer wavelengths than with narrow single coils. This is a big part of why humbuckers tend to be warmer and fuller than single coils.

The sound of the bridge pickup from a Strat or Tele comes as much from the ANGLE of the pickup as the position of the pickup. You will never recreate the sound of a Tele or Strat bridge pickup by taping a humbucker, because the humbucker does not have the angle.

The type of saddles on a guitar make a BIG difference in sound of a guitar. Teles with the three barrel saddles sound a lot different from Teles with the six Strat type saddles, which is why some people are willing to live with the intonation problems inherent to a three saddle bridge. A Floyd Rose will sound drastically different from any fix bridge, thinner and brighter, and with much less sustain.


And of course wood makes a big difference. Look on Warmoth's website to get an idea of what different woods sound like.


Finally, do not make the mistake of trying to recreate the sound of a particular guitar in a new design. A new design is going to be just that; New. You can try and have it lean in a certain direction, and you can get in the ballpark, but you will not recreate the sound of another guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Dani Pace]

A friend of mine has a tele with a single coil at the bridge and a dual at the neck. He modified it and put a strat 5 way switch in, connecting each coil on the neck pup like seperate pups. It's a minor modification but it made a major difference in the sound. It works somewhat like a coil tap but has more variety to choose from.

 

[Clive Hugh]

Another way to get the best from both worlds is to use 250 pots on the H/B, I've just done this with my strat, H/H both 250k pots and I'm happy as a pig in the proverbial.
Hi Dani.
Clive

 

[seismetr0n]

i'd say slam as many pickups as possible into the space between the neck and bridge, depending on the neck legnth you could probably fit a H-s-s-H in there, or at least a s-s-s-H, then add as many switches and knobs as you can imagine, dont be dictated by whats been done before

gl

 

[visa]

i'm no expert but wouldn't a high number of pickups decrease the sustain of the strings?

the magnetic fields will probably pull the strings down quite a bit.

 

[Light]

i'm no expert but wouldn't a high number of pickups decrease the sustain of the strings?

the magnetic fields will probably pull the strings down quite a bit.

Not if you set it up right.

The problem with all those options is that most people who have them end up only ever using like one or two sounds because it is too confusing to try and play with all the switches while playing. Notice, however, that I said MOST people. There are exceptions.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[ez_willis]

There are a lot of variables, but a couple of general guidelines.

The further from the bridge, the fuller, warmer, bassier, and louder the sound will be. The closer to the bridge, the brighter, thinner, and quieter the sound will be.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

I swear I learn more stuff about guitar mechanics and guitar tones from you than I ever have anywhere else. You know your shit! Props!!

 

[timmerman]

I swear I learn more stuff about guitar mechanics and guitar tones from you than I ever have anywhere else. You know your shit! Props!!

You would expect so eh from somebody who builds-and repairs guitars for his living?!!

 

[ez_willis]

You would expect so eh from somebody who builds-and repairs guitars for his living?!!

I would expect he would know as much but not be inclined to share that knowledge so freely all the time.

 

[timmerman]

I would expect he would know as much but not be inclined to share that knowledge so freely all the time.

That is very true Ez, and Light seem to be great for sharing all this info, he is really very enthousiastic about the whole guitar-thing. I guess you need to be if you work in that business [same as being a player] you need to be really passionate about these things otherwise you would come across a bit like a mail-order shop.....................there is already enough plastic popcorn around, so let us be happy with the builders-and repair guys who really care.

 

[Light]

A little background about the guitar comunity. The most classic example of the attitude which pervades the comunity is also one of my favorite storys.

Taylor, of course, was the first company in the acoustic industry to start using CNC machines in a major way. A few years latter, and seeing the success Taylor was having with them, Martin started investing in CNC machines. As soon as Bob Taylor heard about this, he sent the Martin company complete copies of all of Taylors CNC files, just to help Martin figure out how to use the machines.

This act which, in just about any other industry, should have been considered as pretty much capital corporate espionage, happened as a matter of course in this industry (though I hear Chris Martin was shocked as hell). It saved Martin months at least, and probably years, in creating all of their own programs.

But the thing is, and the reason Bob would give that stuff to Chris, is that it simply doesn't matter. It gives Martin nothing in terms of making a copy of a Taylor, because Martin couldn't sell a Taylor copy. And Martin's sound is not the Taylor sound, so knowing how Taylor builds their guitars can only hlep Martin to figure out how to build their own guitars more efficently.

Of course, it is also important to note that both of these companies are privately ownd corporations, Taylor by Bob and his partner, whose name is escaping me (which is exactly how he would want it), and Martin by Chris. This would never happen over at Gibson.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi