2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

[Diminished Triad]

Many from JeffBlue to Peter Frampton use 3 humbuckers. What is the sound difference a middle humbucker gives that can't be produced with just a neck and bridge combo? Considering the choice of 2 or 3 humbuckers on a tele....and was headed towards 2 when I saw JeffBlue's latest and so figured I'd ask from those way more experienced. 2 or 3?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: 2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

I can only speak to having 3 mini-humbuckers. My Firebird has 3 vintage mini-humbuckers, and wired the Gibson way, it sounds a bit like the bridge/middle setting of a Strat; it actually has a slight twang to it for a Gibson but certainly not the twang of Strat. With bridge/middle together it loses a little bite on the top end compared to bridge alone, some warm bass comes in, but the combination still has strong enough mids to drive distortion in an amp. It's a complex sound, hard to describe, but I have found it useful as a middle tone between bridge and neck. With the 3-PUP wiring, the transition from bridge to neck is less dramatic to my ears.

When I bought my Firebird, someone had done a Rickenbacker wiring where the middle pickup was wired to it's own volume, and at that time it had modern overwound mini-HBs. With that wiring I had to mix the middle with the outside bridge and neck PUPs. That wiring sounded different to me, possibly from the extra volume control in the mix. The middle pickup made everything sound darker until all the way up, then it was bright and fat, without any kind of twang.

Sorry I don't have experience with 3 full-size HBs, so I don't know if that helps.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: 2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

Definitely interesting and does help....thanks!
Anyone else try 3 humbucker set up?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

I have three humbuckers in a modified PRS EGII. It sounds like a cross between an SG and a Stratocaster.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: 2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

It depends on how you have it wired. In general middle humbuckers share the same problem as middle single coils because they are louder than the bridge and neck positions. With a Les Paul/SG the middle humbucker is always on and wired to its own volume pot. This takes some getting used to because it is very thick and you need to learn where to set the volume to get contrasting tones when used with the bridge and neck. You can also wire the middle to a push/pull pot so that you get the normal LP wiring and just add the middle pickup.

A more interesting twist is to use a clean, low output middle and then use a 5-way rotary for strat style switching. Or set it up for virtual humbucking by combining the split bridge with split middle or split middle with split neck.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: 2 or 3 Humbucker Tele?

...
With a Les Paul/SG the middle humbucker is always on and wired to its own volume pot.
...

Hmm, not sure what year or which models were like this, but all the schematics I can find (that aren't signature models or some other odd model) seem to have middle + bridge tied together.

http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/LPCustom3PU.PDF
http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/solid.gif
http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/FirebirdVII.PDF

You are right about the middle overpowering the bridge. I forgot about that. I had to lower mine to get things in balance.