thick & rich DISTORTION from a single p/u?

[threshhold2]

can rich distortion be produced with a single coil pick-up (strat like guitar), or does it take a guitar with humbuckers to get that sound?

 

[tarnationsauce2]

You can get humbuckers that fit in a single spot.
Such as Seymour Duncan Hot Rails.

 

[Greg_L]

can rich distortion be produced with a single coil pick-up (strat like guitar), or does it take a guitar with humbuckers to get that sound?

a true single-coil (like on a stock strat) will never sound as fat and rich as a humbucker. theyll always sound 'twangy' no matter how much overdrive you slap on the amp. reason: the pickup takes its signal from a narrower range of the vibrating string. the bridge pickup is particularly bright as its near the bridge and picking up a high harmonic. humbuckers are basically just 2 singles stacked next to eachother and slightly out of phase so they dont hum. the two poles of a humbucker take its signal from a fatter area of the string, so they create a fatter sound. you can switch a strat to use 2 pickups at once, but theyre so far apart from eachother that you just get the sound of 2 singles operating at once instead of a fat humbucker sound. bottom line: if you want a humbucker sound, get a humbucker. those hotrails mentioned previously sound pretty nice in a strat.

 

[legionserial]

I always had the same problem when I first got my strat. Was convinced ther would be some way to get the kinda distortion out of it but to no avail. So I stuck one of those hot rails in, and it sounded totally sweet. Its still my main guitar and I use for pretty much everything. Suits me fine for my death metal recordings as much as it does for anything else

 

[Codmate]

I've got an American Deluxe Strat which has a feature called S1 switching.
Here's a PDF that explains the feature:
http://www.fender.com/products/s1/pdf/AmericanDeluxeStratSSS010-1200.pdf

While the S1 switching won't make the single-coils sound like humbuckers, it does round out the distorted sound somewhat. You end up with something that sounds somewhere in-between a humbucker and a single-coil.

 

[ggunn]

... humbuckers are basically just 2 singles stacked next to eachother and slightly out of phase so they dont hum. ..

Um, no. Humbuckers are indeed a pair of single coil pups, but the hum cancelling is accomplished by winding one of the pickups in the opposite direction and reversing the polarity of its magnet(s). That makes them pick up a signal from the string in the same polarity with each other, but any ambient hum is picked up in reverse polarity by the second coil, hence the cancellation or "bucking" effect.

 

[Greg_L]

Um, no. Humbuckers are indeed a pair of single coil pups, but the hum cancelling is accomplished by winding one of the pickups in the opposite direction and reversing the polarity of its magnet(s). That makes them pick up a signal from the string in the same polarity with each other, but any ambient hum is picked up in reverse polarity by the second coil, hence the cancellation or "bucking" effect.

thats what i meant. 'polarity' not 'phase'. i worded it incorrectly. sorry.

 

[ggunn]

thats what i meant. 'polarity' not 'phase'. i worded it incorrectly. sorry.

Yes, and not slightly out of phase but 180 degrees out (= reverse polarity) with respect to ambient RF, but in phase with respect to string vibration. It's a simple, elegant solution to hum, though somewhat of a compromise in tone, IMO.

 

[pikingrin]

All I gotta say here is that if Jimi could do it, so can you...

 

[rory]

All I gotta say here is that if Jimi could do it, so can you...

I'd agree... I have played for years with strats and have gotten some pretty hairy, muffed out sounds. Pedals are my best friend along with a nice, 1 channel tube amp.

Go listen to siamese dream and tell me thats not some thick distortion.

 

[killmachine]

all depends on what you want. Personally although I've not gotten around to Mod my strat. I honestly think that those mini-humbuckers have the overall best definetion and clarity for pickups especially in a distorted type setting.

 

[hiwatt357]

Throw anything through a Big Muff, and it will grow some hair.

However, I've been able to get better distorted tones (without pedals) from a Tele than I've ever been able to get with any Strat I've played.

It's all personal preference, but if you're looking to get rich(er) distorted tones from a single-coil, I'd go Tele before Strat.

 

[Fade]

You can get humbuckers that fit in a single spot.
Such as Seymour Duncan Hot Rails.

That's what I run on my Strat. Made a huge difference for the better. Awesome mod for what it costs.