Both Humbuckers

[Clint 55]

Re: Both Humbuckers

It's a special kind of quack unique to humbuckers that you have to get used to. It also takes a bit of tweaking to get right. The right pickups and settings. It isn't like throwing any strat pickups in a guitar and ending up with usable in between tones. Usually if both pickups each have bass and bite, you can find a unique sound that you like. The first thing that sound makes me think is classic rock:

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Both Humbuckers

I use middle positions on my Pauls and 335s. But I solo on the neck pickup a lot. I use whatever fits the song.

I will say that on one of my Les Paul Supremes that has the horrid, stock Gibson 490R/498T pickups, I tend to play exclusively in the middle position. The tonal difference between these pickups is too extreme...when I change from one to the other I want to run back and change my amp settings. The 490 is too muddy and the 498 is too bright and edgy. By keeping both pickups on and making adjustments to the tone controls or changing the volumes to affect the blend, I can keep the overall tone consistent without drastic change.

But I RARELY EVER use the middle pickup by itself on a Strat! ??????

Bill

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Both Humbuckers

In Parallel; standard setup.

Does anyone actually use this position? How about for non-Jazz? Or under gain? How?

I use it a lot, but I also have blend pots on my middle position on two of my guitars.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Both Humbuckers

Middle is one of those treasures. When the two pickups combine the right way its heavenly. Some pickups just don't have it, despite each one being stellar in its own rights.
P90's in particular I've found to have great cluck.

I'm not a fan of selecting B&N on a strat though......something just seems not right with that combo to my ears. Although that once again could be the pickups I've tried it with.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Both Humbuckers

One of my Les Paul Supremes that has the horrid, stock Gibson 490R/498T pickups, I tend to play exclusively in the middle position. The tonal difference between these pickups is too extreme...when I change from one to the other I want to run back and change my amp settings. The 490 is too muddy and the 498 is too bright and edgy.

I know exactly what you mean. They go out of their way to make each pickup exactly the same output resulting in neither of them sounding right on their own. The neck ends up sounding like a Bass Six and the bridge sounds like a cheese grater. WHY!

I'm a fan of traditional sounds and equipment, but manufacturers using output levels that were standardized in the 50s bugs me. At least as some of their main models. Since they wouldn't have to lift an eyebrow to change 1k here, 2k there, and make something that still sounds vintage correct but improved for the 21st century.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Both Humbuckers

Middle is one of those treasures. When the two pickups combine the right way its heavenly. Some pickups just don't have it, despite each one being stellar in its own rights.
P90's in particular I've found to have great cluck.

I'm not a fan of selecting B&N on a strat though......something just seems not right with that combo to my ears. Although that once again could be the pickups I've tried it with.

im the same way. love the middle position on a lp for example but b+n on a strat does nothing for me

I know exactly what you mean. They go out of their way to make each pickup exactly the same output resulting in neither of them sounding right on their own. The neck ends up sounding like a Bass Six and the bridge sounds like a cheese grater. WHY!

I'm a fan of traditional sounds and equipment, but manufacturers using output levels that were standardized in the 50s bugs me. At least as some of their main models. Since they wouldn't have to lift an eyebrow to change 1k here, 2k there, and make something that still sounds vintage correct but improved for the 21st century.

the 490 might be close to a 50's pup in some ways but the 498 is a very different beast. changing 1k or 2k will change things a lot! 8k vs 10k of the same wind/wire is a massive difference and wont sound vintage correct to people that actually appreciate those tones. luckily there are tons of pups out there to chose from and amps that will take even the wimpiest pup and still throw fire out of the speakers

 

[TVFV]

Re: Both Humbuckers

Yes, I like it for cleaner blues and especially for strumming type clean parts where the neck is too woofy and the bridge is too barky.

Apparently my Les Paul is a dog. :chairfall

The adjectives used to describe tone make absolutely no sense to me...

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[Clint 55]

Re: Both Humbuckers

^ Too much tone.

 

[akio]

Re: Both Humbuckers

I never liked both humbuckers in parallel either, so I wire one of them out of phase permanently. This usually gives me a third nasal under high gain tone, although it's not very useful clean.

 

[vinnie1971]

Re: Both Humbuckers

I like both pickups in parallel especially clean for lead - Jimmy Page, B.B. King and so many others if my favourite guitarists use this position.

2 of my humbucker guitars I have them with switchable out of phase. Not only is out of phase a usable tone clean (especially with separate volume controls or a blend pot ) it's a fantastic tone, and put to great use by Peter Green, Snowy White, Gary Moore ,Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Freddie King, Andy Summers and even Carlos Santana used a clean or low to moderate gain with out of phase.
I don't think there's any such thing as bad tone on certain combinations, it's whether or not you can make that tone work with your style of playing.
I mostly play clean or low gain so I really want to hear that tone and use it to full effect and get the most out of it's voicing.



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[EAProwlerB]

Re: Both Humbuckers

I like both in series out of phase.