Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

[JohnnyGuitar]

It's only my impression lately, and I might be wrong,
But...
There's some sort of attitude that guitarist who use single coils have that's more capricious then guys who use humbuckers -
Always trying to nail that vintage strat voicing...
No hum canceling pup can nail the tone of a true humming single coil
No split humbucker can catch the true voicing of a vintage SC
The stagger, the output...
The quack and the thwack and the twang - there are not enough words in the dictionary to describe what we are trying to say...

I just don't hear it from humbucker users.

So,

Are single coil users too fastidious?

 

[Pierre]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

I didn't notice at all. I'm more picky about humbucker sounds myself.
Fact is though, I play with gain. And the differences are pretty much always more noticeable with a cleaner sound in my experience. Except of course for things like tight low end and compression.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

...I was fastidious about humbuckers til I gave up on em :laugh2:

Honestly I DID think the split sound I could get out of a DD was great, but

Always trying to nail that vintage strat voicing...

is a no for me I was picky about humbuckers because yeah, they don't generally twang much, and also I couldn't find a humbucker with enough clarity... That's what really bothered me. Distorted or not.

Til I gave up cause nearly any old single coil will do really :laugh2: As long as the output isn't too high... I find that an EQ is enough to cancel out any differences in sound that originate from different pickups anyway...

So I guess I'm fastidious in a way, but not really. I like many other pickups, lace sensors (any amount of coils) and Gibson humbuckers are really the only ones offensive to me. Fender wideranges and gibson P90s though...

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

So,

Are single coil users too fastidious?

No. I enter into evidence the many people who have reently taken to mixing and matching various magnets and coils to create (and then unload via the Trading Post) "hybrid" humbuckers. HB guys are just as bad as SC guys.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

You've clearly never visited the Les Paul Forum :laugh2:

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

I think all vintage players are in the same boat, trying to find the ultimate PAF, etc. Good point on all the hybrids too...

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Can't agree about the hybrids - they are more about experimentation then being a tone snob.
Most guys have a different definition of the right PAF tone... it seems like players think that there's more involved in getting "vintage" single coil tone then getting "vintage" bucker tone.

I've heard the phrase - "split humbuckers and noiseless SCs would never sound right" in different variations too many times... I actually never heard a player using humbuckers talking about authenticity...

I actually don't believe that getting good single coil tone is really hard or possible only with regular single coils.
I also don't think that vintage Strat tone is the same for everybody... Jeff Beck, Hendrix, SRV, Knopfler or 70's Clapton sounded almost nothing alike so I don't believe the whole authentic/vintage mambo jumbo - but nevertheless, it exists.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

"Fastidious" You mean like washing your hands a lot? Hmmm....

 

[Pete Galati]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Well, I prefer humbuckers, and...

No hum canceling pup can nail the tone of a true humming single coil

I'll agree with that. Humbuckers can't duplicate a single coil sound. Can't come even close.

No split humbucker can catch the true voicing of a vintage SC

I'll agree with that too. Split humbuckers don't sound as good as a humbucker or a SC pickup.

But I prefer the sound of out of phase humbuckers in a Hamer or Les Paul to a Strat. In the right situation though, there's nothing better than a Tele.

Pete

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

You've clearly never visited the Les Paul Forum :laugh2:

Absolutely true, and I'm a member -- not only of the forum but of its ultra-exclusive internal club, the Circle of Humbucker Fastidiousness.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

I'll agree with that. Humbuckers can't duplicate a single coil sound. Can't come even close.

I'll agree with that too. Split humbuckers don't sound as good as a humbucker or a SC pickup.

Thank you for proving my point. :cool2:

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

To add on to my post, I think a SC lets more of the player through, so that accounts for the wide range of desired vintage strat tones. But for me, throw some APS or SSL-1's in there and I'm golden.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Trust me....we get plenty twitchy about humbuckers.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Actually I don't think you can generalize about SC vs. HB players. I count myself a SC player, just because I'm playing my Nashville Tele more than my Schecter PT lately. The single-coil sound works better for the music I've been playing at church.

I like the tone I'm getting, but I've been having a hum problem. Consequently, I'm about to switch to humcancelling SC-sized pickups. If they even get 'close' to my present tone, I'll be happy. For me close enough is close enough, and the hum problem outweighs the tonal fine-tuning.

I also have a coil-split switch on my PT. No, it doesn't get the the exact tone of my single coils, but it'll save me if I break string have some other failure of my Nashville during a gig.

So for me, the practical concerns of light gigging with only two guitars outweigh the fastidiousness of which you speak. Non-gigging blues lawyers with a large collection and unlimited funds might have a different set of priorities, but that's not a line drawn between SC and HB.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Fastidious!? Capricious? Woah there Johnberthy, watch the big words! It's screwing with my brain.

Single coils are more dynamic, humbuckers are easier and more stable. Good buckers and good singles both sound phenomenal, just different.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Good buckers and good singles both sound phenomenal, just different.

True dat.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

I also don't think that vintage Strat tone is the same for everybody... Jeff Beck, Hendrix, SRV, Knopfler or 70's Clapton sounded almost nothing alike so I don't believe the whole authentic/vintage mambo jumbo - but nevertheless, it exists.

I agree. Whenever I play an A5 pup equipped strat I feel like I sound terrible.

Tele pups, I understand them, P90 pups, I understand them. But for the life of me I don't understand strat pups by and large. My strat with the APS (N/M) and CS A2 bridge is the only strat I can get along with.

Luke

 

[Pete Galati]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

Thank you for proving my point. :cool2:

Your point being?

I usually use humbuckers, because they work better for me in most situations. It's not posible to duplicate the sound of single coil pickups with them though.

Pete

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

It's true. Single Coil players are much better dressers, better at doing crossword puzzles and meticulous about oral hygiene. Stats bear it out.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Are Single Coil Users More Fastidious Then Humbucker Users?

i do notice though, that SC players are going strictly after classic sounds- HB players do that too, but there is a little more experimentation I guess. Usually the great SC sounds people point to on current recordings are classic snarky twang (which I love too), but you don't see the variety in SC sounds like to did 40 years ago: Blackmore's strat sounded nothing like Page's Tele, and even among strat players- Clapton and Hendrix had really nothing alike in their sounds. Its almost like the 'classic strat sound' is so iconic that no one is daring to make something that is classic 40 years from now.