Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
- Thread starter ebagjones
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ebagjones
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
chadd, it’s funny you bring that up because I was thinking of looking for a “big” sounding amp once I sell my Bad Cat for my single coil guitars. The Dual Rec was on my list to check out.
chadd, it’s funny you bring that up because I was thinking of looking for a “big” sounding amp once I sell my Bad Cat for my single coil guitars. The Dual Rec was on my list to check out.
donaldr
Well-known member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
Funny, yesterday I "accidently" stopped on the Soldano model when looking for amps on my Eleven Rack to play with my Strat. Never liked that amp with my LP and 3 super Strats. But with the vintage output single coil the sound is really good and is rocking the house!!! (crunch and drive channels)
Funny, yesterday I "accidently" stopped on the Soldano model when looking for amps on my Eleven Rack to play with my Strat. Never liked that amp with my LP and 3 super Strats. But with the vintage output single coil the sound is really good and is rocking the house!!! (crunch and drive channels)
chadd
Well-known member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I have a Road King and prefer that, or the Roadster, to the other Recto amps. A little darker, smoother and maybe a little less gain than the others. They need to be at above bedroom levels to open up a bit, but good tones are available at reasonable volumes. The spongy and tube Recto setting go a long way towards helping get a good tone at those levels
I have a Road King and prefer that, or the Roadster, to the other Recto amps. A little darker, smoother and maybe a little less gain than the others. They need to be at above bedroom levels to open up a bit, but good tones are available at reasonable volumes. The spongy and tube Recto setting go a long way towards helping get a good tone at those levels
B
Ben1962
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Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
Nope
Nope
GreatGreen
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I like single coils better than humbuckers for high gain, but it's a closer race than people might think. My telecaster sounds surprisingly saturated and clear into a modern high gain amp. The noise makes it basically unusable though.
I think the perfect bridge humbucker would have the noise cancellation and midrange presence of a standard humbucker, but with an extended high frequency peak just a touch below what you normally find in a single coil to avoid sounding thin or shrill.
So basically, the best all-around high gain setup I've found is a medium output (of very slightly lower than medium) pickup -> boost -> good high gain amp.
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I like single coils better than humbuckers for high gain, but it's a closer race than people might think. My telecaster sounds surprisingly saturated and clear into a modern high gain amp. The noise makes it basically unusable though.
I think the perfect bridge humbucker would have the noise cancellation and midrange presence of a standard humbucker, but with an extended high frequency peak just a touch below what you normally find in a single coil to avoid sounding thin or shrill.
So basically, the best all-around high gain setup I've found is a medium output (of very slightly lower than medium) pickup -> boost -> good high gain amp.
Metalman_666
Well-known member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I am usually a high output humbucker guy, but really enjoy the sound of neck singles under gain, and my G&L Comanche Z-coil pickups have a great in-between sound. With the PTB setup I can dial in the snappy sound of single coils but with a bit more girth that somehow still lets the snap through.
Jari in Wintersun has great single coil metal tone!
But, for really heavy chugging and soloing, humbucker is where my heart is. Perhaps a lower output wind would tickle me more than my Crunch Labs these days
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I am usually a high output humbucker guy, but really enjoy the sound of neck singles under gain, and my G&L Comanche Z-coil pickups have a great in-between sound. With the PTB setup I can dial in the snappy sound of single coils but with a bit more girth that somehow still lets the snap through.
Jari in Wintersun has great single coil metal tone!
But, for really heavy chugging and soloing, humbucker is where my heart is. Perhaps a lower output wind would tickle me more than my Crunch Labs these days
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Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I love crunching singles, but most of my performance guitars are single sized with noise reduction to avoid noisy gigs.
From bardens to cool rails, the reduced "window" that the pup sees is more important to me than simply using a single coil...
At home and in the studio, my real singles get to play.
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I love crunching singles, but most of my performance guitars are single sized with noise reduction to avoid noisy gigs.
From bardens to cool rails, the reduced "window" that the pup sees is more important to me than simply using a single coil...
At home and in the studio, my real singles get to play.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Jeffblue
Well-known member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I love my Gibson Les Paul and my Precision Kits LP, both loaded with Seymour Duncan 59/JBs, but I seem to favor my SD loaded teles more. Even at high gain, they maintain more note definition and articulation. All my guitars sound great and if they don't, I change them until they do or I let them go.
I love my Gibson Les Paul and my Precision Kits LP, both loaded with Seymour Duncan 59/JBs, but I seem to favor my SD loaded teles more. Even at high gain, they maintain more note definition and articulation. All my guitars sound great and if they don't, I change them until they do or I let them go.
Diego
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
Some of my favorite high gain tones came from single coils:
Dogman by King's X: Strat into a Mesa Boogie Rectifier of sorts.
Terria by Devin Townsend: Strat into a Rectifier too I think, with a ****load of delay.
Biffy Clyro: Killer tones live and in the studio, Strat into Marshalls and Fenders.
I've got a Tele with hot single coils, but that doesn't work for me, really. I like the tone of low output single coils for this purpose, they keep things dynamic even if under heavy gain. Overwounds compress too much and they usually have something odd in the mids I don't really like.
I borrowed a Strat with Duncan YJMs and that didn't cut it either. Thry sounded a bit dark and were too hot. I think the Strat was a bit of a dog to begin with, though. Didn't have much snap.
Some of my favorite high gain tones came from single coils:
Dogman by King's X: Strat into a Mesa Boogie Rectifier of sorts.
Terria by Devin Townsend: Strat into a Rectifier too I think, with a ****load of delay.
Biffy Clyro: Killer tones live and in the studio, Strat into Marshalls and Fenders.
I've got a Tele with hot single coils, but that doesn't work for me, really. I like the tone of low output single coils for this purpose, they keep things dynamic even if under heavy gain. Overwounds compress too much and they usually have something odd in the mids I don't really like.
I borrowed a Strat with Duncan YJMs and that didn't cut it either. Thry sounded a bit dark and were too hot. I think the Strat was a bit of a dog to begin with, though. Didn't have much snap.
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NegativeEase
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I prefer it for saturated leads and really technical stuff -I like the attack and liveliness better of single coils
for straight bombastic riffs -I prefer Humbuckers.
I has a set of active Bartolini Beast Humbuckers in one of my guitars with a custom wiring/preamp setup that really can give you both worlds as good as I've ever seen.
I prefer it for saturated leads and really technical stuff -I like the attack and liveliness better of single coils
for straight bombastic riffs -I prefer Humbuckers.
I has a set of active Bartolini Beast Humbuckers in one of my guitars with a custom wiring/preamp setup that really can give you both worlds as good as I've ever seen.
murat
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I've used DiMarzio Injector in Ibanez FRM100 guitar. What a beast! Tons of clarity and snap without harshess and noise. They're super tight but not thin and harsh like true-single coils (under high gain) and have much higher output. In between humbucker and single but closer to the singles. They might be the best pickups I've ever tried for drop tuning and complex rythyms, even in the 24,75 scale guitar like FRM. Definetely recommended!
I've used DiMarzio Injector in Ibanez FRM100 guitar. What a beast! Tons of clarity and snap without harshess and noise. They're super tight but not thin and harsh like true-single coils (under high gain) and have much higher output. In between humbucker and single but closer to the singles. They might be the best pickups I've ever tried for drop tuning and complex rythyms, even in the 24,75 scale guitar like FRM. Definetely recommended!
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
Here’s an old Bartolini “mini beastie” passive humbucker. I bought this for my Rick 4001 in 1976. Sounds a lot like a single coil.
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Here’s an old Bartolini “mini beastie” passive humbucker. I bought this for my Rick 4001 in 1976. Sounds a lot like a single coil.
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NegativeEase
New member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
Wow, never seen one but I bet in 4001 it sounds awesome -My Bartolini Beasts are for a six string guitar that Mike Pedulla made back in late 70s(he doesn't make any guitars anymore and he's back to small batch bass building again) . -I've asked him and even his wife to make be another guitar just like it multiple times but they can't keep up with what they have to do now. Mike doesn't measure when he's doing neck profiles -all feel -and it's really magical.
Here’s an old Bartolini “mini beastie” passive humbucker. I bought this for my Rick 4001 in 1976. Sounds a lot like a single coil.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow, never seen one but I bet in 4001 it sounds awesome -My Bartolini Beasts are for a six string guitar that Mike Pedulla made back in late 70s(he doesn't make any guitars anymore and he's back to small batch bass building again) . -I've asked him and even his wife to make be another guitar just like it multiple times but they can't keep up with what they have to do now. Mike doesn't measure when he's doing neck profiles -all feel -and it's really magical.
Juanhanglo
Active member
Re: Anyone else prefer high gain with single coils???!?
I like single coil sized humbuckers. does that count?
series, parallel, whatever. the narrow width brightens things up a bit, while the dual coils fatten the midrange. the narrow width also kills some of the bass which makes driven tones tighter. the best of all worlds!
only thing that stinks is the lack of choices as compared to full sized humbuckers.
I like single coil sized humbuckers. does that count?
series, parallel, whatever. the narrow width brightens things up a bit, while the dual coils fatten the midrange. the narrow width also kills some of the bass which makes driven tones tighter. the best of all worlds!
only thing that stinks is the lack of choices as compared to full sized humbuckers.
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