Statocaster/Telecaster Clean out of a Humbucker?

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zrockisaddictin

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all right can anyone help me out and point towards a direction that can help me emulate the telecaster/stratocaster single vintage pickup tone in my humbuckers?

just make it really smooth and clean as theirs
 
It may not be possible to do it well. Some modellers (my Digitech RP50) is supposed to be able to make a humbucker sound like a single coil, but I've not tried it.
 
apl said:
It may not be possible to do it well.
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I agree. However, I would point out that some humbuckers are designed to have that single coil sound. An example would be the ones that come on the humbucker-equipped telecasters. These sound remarkably like a Fender single coil, but they are not, they are 'buckers.

However, if the humbuckers in your guitar are designed to sound like more traditional humbuckers (i.e. the Les Paul sound), then you're pretty much out of luck. Note that this is still true, even if the pickups have coil tap ability. I have a Schecter with a Duncan '59 in the neck position, and a JB at the bridge. Even with the coil tap activated, it doesn't really sound anything like a Fender single coil sound. (The JB sounds closest, just because it's so bright.)

About the best thing you can do to approximate that sound would be to use heavy equalization to pull out much of the mids, and add in some highs. Do everything possible to keep the amp sound clean, too. This won't sound perfect (or even real close), but it's about as good as you're going to get.
 
all right so low mids and high highs, im listening

so im guessing im kind of out of luck witha vintage guild with a single humbucker that has some 20-30 years on it? :D
 
that low mid high high thing really really made a difference holy crap i can barely tell the difference, im trying it out on my schecter omen 6 deluxe and its really... freakishly similar, like im playin a tele, thx alot man
 
zrockisaddictin said:
i dont understand
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Some guitars have a switch wired to turn on only half a humbucker. This is called tapping a coil. It doesn't mean you strike it repeatedly.
 
Oh, I meant to add that I'm working on having a stratty guitar and a humbuckery guitar 'cuz it's just better.
 
true, haha i dont have that option, anything perhaps i can do to the humbucker like cover it with something or idk lol

the tip earlier opened up really similar tone so im happy with that bu theres always room for improvement
 
No, APL, I'm not talking about a switch he may already have. A decent guitar tech can coil tap any humbucker. You simply change the leads coming out of the humbucker. Instead of one combined signal from the 2 coils, you get 2 independant signals. Its not something I'd do myself with no experience, but its an easy job for a tech. And would be especially useful on a guitar with only one pickup.

H2H
 
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Play the bridge pickup and strike the string close to the bridge. It's a step in the right direction.
 
zrockisaddictin said:
true, haha i dont have that option, anything perhaps i can do to the humbucker like cover it with something or idk lol

the tip earlier opened up really similar tone so im happy with that bu theres always room for improvement
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Well, a strat clone can be done pretty cheap. I started with a $90 Squier, got parts on ebay, sold the original parts on ebay, and got a decent quacker for not too much.
 
I would go the tech route. A properly tapped humbucker can do the following:

Provide single coil sound
Provide out of phase sound
Provide full humbucker sound.

You can also add a tone carving tone potentiomenter, lots of kits out there, to scoop or push your midrange.

Or you can just add a strat pickup between your humbuckers, not for the faint of heart.

Actually an inexpensive strat might be your best bet or one of the Nashville teles which has both tele and strat pickups.
 
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thx for all the help guys, wont really experiment on my schecter since im keepin it out of any danger becaue i want to sell it, but i think ill make my own tele, buy some parts off ebay and some stores

thx for he help though alot of things did help
 
Hard2Hear said:
tap a coil.
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There it is. Beat me to it.

I have a Fender HH that is factory-tapped with a five-position switch to do both a reversed-polarity single-coil Stratocaster quack and a single-coil rhythm in addition to the three normal humbucker settings - neck, bridge and both.

Works relatively well.
 
Hard2Hear said:
tap a coil.

H2H
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We have a winner....


Sort of.

They don't sound perfect, because they are wound to be part of a humbucker. Also, unless they are at the same angle as the bridge pickup (and of course in the same place) they will not recreate the sound of the bridge pickup. That angle is NOT just there for looks, it is a big part of the bite of the bridge pickup in a tele or a strat (not to mention the difference between a Strat and a Tele, which has a greater angle than a Strat).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I think you can emulate the sound with a coil tap type of thing...but because of the bridge plate, angle of the bridge pickup, etc. etc. etc....you're not going to get all that close.

LL
 
I can't help you with how it was done, but..

for years everyone I new always debated whether the intro to 'Sweet Home Alabama' was a Tele or a Strat. Turns out it was a Les Paul. :confused:
 
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