Will an EQ pedal get me a humbucker sound?

L

Lomo

New member
I like strats with single coils, but sometimes I want more of a humbucker sound. Will an EQ pedal be able to get me close to a "humbuckery" sound? What's recommended, running the EQ before or after the overdrive pedal?
 
No, it won't. The sound of a humbucking pickup comes primarily from the increased length of string which is sensed by the pickup. The added length lowers the frequency at which the pickup starts to have phase cancelations. This effects not only the frequency range (though that is there, of course) but also the envelope of the sound (the ADSR, if you are a synth person), and those effects on teh envelope are increased by the added pull from the magnets. If you want the sound of a humbucker, you are going to need a guitar with humbuckers.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
For about the same cost as an EQ pedal, you could purchase a single coil humbucker (Duncan JB Jr. for instance..) and have it installed. You could also have it set up for "coil tapping" with a mini toggle switch......that way you could still have that single coil sound when you wanted.

Rick

PS- The cost of the pickup would be about the same as a good EQ pedal. Then there's the labor/parts to install. Most shops will install the pickup for free if you purchase it through them though.
 
WERNER 1 said:
For about the same cost as an EQ pedal, you could purchase a single coil humbucker (Duncan JB Jr. for instance..) and have it installed. You could also have it set up for "coil tapping" with a mini toggle switch......that way you could still have that single coil sound when you wanted.

Rick

PS- The cost of the pickup would be about the same as a good EQ pedal. Then there's the labor/parts to install. Most shops will install the pickup for free if you purchase it through them though.
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The problem with that is the single coil sized humbuckers still only pickup a single coil's length of string. They just don't do it for getting that humbucker sound. Don't get me wrong, they can sound cool. They just won't sound like a full sized humbucker.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Lomo said:
I like strats with single coils, but sometimes I want more of a humbucker sound. Will an EQ pedal be able to get me close to a "humbuckery" sound? What's recommended, running the EQ before or after the overdrive pedal?
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Not really. You can fatten up the sound some with an EQ, but the SC transparency and definition is still there. I've run an EQ with my tele before to boost the lower-mids and low frequencies when I needed to cover HB ground before. It never sounded like a HB, but it did just enough to help fill out for the sound I needed. Hope this helps.
 
Yeah, this is true, ...but it's a pretty good step in the right direction :)

My buddy has one of his American strats set up like this, and he always amazes me with the sounds he gets witht that thing.........Personally I'd just drop an SH-6 (Or PA-Tb2-b :D ) and be done with it. :D :eek:

Rick
 
Light said:
The problem with that is the single coil sized humbuckers still only pickup a single coil's length of string. They just don't do it for getting that humbucker sound. Don't get me wrong, they can sound cool. They just won't sound like a full sized humbucker.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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I tend to disagree. I've heard stacked humbuckers that sound every bit as good as a humbucker, and even better than a lot of "stock" humbuckers.
 
cactuseskimo said:
I tend to disagree. I've heard stacked humbuckers that sound every bit as good as a humbucker, and even better than a lot of "stock" humbuckers.
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What he is saying is not that it sounds better or worse, just that it sounds different. There are phasing issues that a humbucker introduces by the way it is constructed; it picks up a different set of harmonics in each coil because the two coils generate signals from points at different distances from the bridge. The way these two similar but different signals interfere with each other are what make the humbucker "sound".
 
Light said:
No, it won't. The sound of a humbucking pickup comes primarily from the increased length of string which is sensed by the pickup. The added length lowers the frequency at which the pickup starts to have phase cancelations. This effects not only the frequency range (though that is there, of course) but also the envelope of the sound (the ADSR, if you are a synth person), and those effects on teh envelope are increased by the added pull from the magnets. If you want the sound of a humbucker, you are going to need a guitar with humbuckers.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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Good post.. I learn everyday.
 
cactuseskimo said:
and even better than a lot of "stock" humbuckers.
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Well, that would be a value judgment, and I tend not to get involved with that on other peoples guitars. But you yourself are saying they sound DIFFERENT, which is exactly what I said. If you WANT it to sound like a full sized humbucker, you need a full sized humbucker. There is NO way around that, because a full sized humbucker introduces phase cancellations which are not present on a smaller pickup. This is simple physics here, not an opinion. If you like single coil sized pickups, then use them. Myself, I like them both, and would rather have a couple guitars with the different options available so that I can get the right sound for the song, and not worry about the rest.


Light

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