Att slide players. May I have your attention please

V

Van B.

New member
Hi guys,

I have a minor problem and I hope you can help me.

My slide guitar is an alder RW neck s-style partscaster. It has at the moment QP in the neck. I really like it. A rich and muscular singing tone for slide. Alas the last few gigs have been very noisy. No idea if there is something wrong with the pub's electricity or with the lights. Anyway horrible noise has become a serious issue. Guitar's groundings are OK. That's not the problem.

I guess it is time to find a noiseless SC size humbucker. Lil 59 and Cool Rails have been in my mind. Can you guys recommend me which one would be better or do you have some else SD pickup in your mind?

The stuff I play is blues and classic southern rock.

So all ideas are welcome, especially from you who play slide.

Thank you

Yours

Van B.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Just normal single coil interference, by the sound of it. (Doesn't matter how good your grounding joints are.) Dimmer light controls in the room do not help.

IMO, Li'l '59 and Cool Rails should be fine for your preferred styles.

Alternatively, if there is space beneath the pickguard, you could try fitting a concealed RP/RW QP pickup to act as a noise-cancelling coil. Set really low, it should sense enough of the hum source(s) to cancel them but not enough string movement to generate a pitched signal.

One of Fender's own MIM models employs this principle. The schematic is available in their Support web pages.

EDIT: If you want to keep a single coil like tone and are willing to alter (or replace) your pickguard, I can vouch for the suitability of the DiMarzio Bluesbucker. (Apologies to our host but for what the OP desires, the BB is a brilliant choice.)
 
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Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

the dummy coil has never worked for me, either doesnt cancel enough hum or changes the tone too much. i am admittedly a tone snob and would rather deal with the hum than put up with a tonal sacrifice.

i play single coils (and slide) alot and many of the pubs i play in have crappy/dirty wiring. in most places its not too bad, as long as you are quick with the volume control when you arent playing. in the places it is bad i have one strat setup with the new duncan stacks and i really like em. nice and quiet and they still sounds like single coils.

they dont have a qp version but they do have custom and hot versions. the lil 59 sounds good too. actually i love the bridge version in the middle position for slide
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Hi guys,

Thank you very much of food for thought. I am afraid that the dummy coil idea don't work. I have played a buddy's guitar with dummy coil and the tone was... a class of it's own. Not for me.

The stacked SC could be the solution. There is no better tone than strat's neck SC. Maybe Yngwie's signature pickup can also shine in slide playing.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Maybe it's just me, but I think the best tones for slide playing always came from Humbucking p'ups. Specially that Firebird from Johnny Winter... not to mention Derek Truck's SG.

I think a Little '59 would get you there, and in a Strat, most players use the middle p'up alone, some use the bridge p'up, I don't think I've ever known any slide player using the neck p'up.

But what do I know, huh?
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Hi guys and especially you LtKojak,

True are your words about using humbuckers to get the righteous slide tone. JW and DT are amazing slide players and both have a tone of their own. The FB mini has been in my mind, but unfortunately it will need some woodwork / routing with my guitar.

It is also true what you say about using only the middle pickup in strat to get the righteous slide tone. My right hand's picking technique just don't like the middle pickup in slide playing. Perhaps the Lil 59 can be the correct choice.

I really like the QP's fat and juicy tone in the neck position, but as I said earlier, the noise has become a serious issue.

Anyway thanks to all who have given good ideas.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

LtKojak said:
Maybe it's just me, but I think the best tones for slide playing always came from Humbucking p'ups. Specially that Firebird from Johnny Winter... not to mention Derek Truck's SG.

I think a Little '59 would get you there, and in a Strat, most players use the middle p'up alone, some use the bridge p'up, I don't think I've ever known any slide player using the neck p'up.

But what do I know, huh?
Click to expand...

As a matter of fact I believe Derek Trucks spend most of his time on the neck!
Well thats what I read or heard in an interview, can't remember where.

And thats why I'm also looking for a small ceramic humbucker for my tele neck. So I can use it exclusively for slide. But I can't decide between so many options! Lil59, cool rails, duckbuckers, vintage rails, hot rails, stacks etc etc... even a minihum its an option. Can't find arguments to decide. Help!? :scratchch
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

I've always thought that pickups with a pronounced midrange (P90, various ceramics) make the best slide sounds, but I'm no expert.

While we're on the subject, I've goofed around occasionally for years, but I want to really learn to play slide. Any tips for a n00b? I know open E tuning, higher action, but little else. Do you use higher string gauges? I've got a glass slide, it's always sounded a little funky to me, what difference is there by using an aluminum or brass one?
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

single coils are great for slide, so are neck pups. derek trucks lives on his neck pup. 99.99% of the time thats what he is using.

in my tele i have an antiquity II firebird neck pup and its fantastic for slide. just played it at the gig last night and the tone was killing.

i use 11-50 strings, standard tuning, medium high action, and glass slides.

there are a few threads on "how to play slide" do a search and im sure youll find a couple good ones. it all really comes down to practice just like everything else. give me a guitar with 9's and low action and i can still play slide on it, not as well but well enough. different types of slides sound different. i like glass but sometimes use brass. i dont like steel unless its very thick and then it gets too heavy and unwieldy. a deep well socket can be cool though. ceramics and porcelain are also used and can sound good. it really comes down to preference. if you have a glass slide already use that until you are good enough to form an educated opinion.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

I just put this on a different thread. Indonesion Squier Bullet RW fretboard, I'm thinkin 59 in the neck position,500k pots,1 Vol. 1 Tone, no switch and use it for slide. What do you guys think? Can I get a Blank pickguard?
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

P-90, 59, Strat Single, Tele Single are all good for slide. Johnny Winter has used them all at one time or another. Muddy Waters also used a variety of guitars over the years. It's really in the technique to get good slide. I will admit that some humbuckers just don't sound great for slide. I like P-90s and PAF humbuckers, but I get good results with the EMG SAs in my Strat.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

this cheap guitar will be for slide I just dont want to go crankin all my knobs when i switch from my Schecter.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Grenade said:
I just put this on a different thread. Indonesion Squier Bullet RW fretboard, I'm thinkin 59 in the neck position,500k pots,1 Vol. 1 Tone, no switch and use it for slide. What do you guys think? Can I get a Blank pickguard?
Click to expand...

It's probably S-S-H routed. You may want to check before you order anything.
 
Re: Att slide players. May I have your attention please

Van B. said:
Hi guys,

Lil 59 and Cool Rails have been in my mind. Can you guys recommend me which one would be better or do you have some else SD pickup in your mind?
Click to expand...

Lil 59 is definitly brighter than your QP. I would vote for CustomStack Plus or the Cool Rails.
 
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