Couple of questions

[John Smith]

Hi, I'm new here and was just wondering a few things . . .

1. Can you make any guitar sound ALMOST the same as any other guitar by simply changing the pickups? Like can you overcome the sound of the wood, string gage, etc?

2. What are the best ways (or types of pickups that can be used) to make a single coil guitar sound like a humbucker and vice versa?

3. Thanks, you guys all rock!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Couple of questions

Hi, I'm new here and was just wondering a few things . . .

1. Can you make any guitar sound ALMOST the same as any other guitar by simply changing the pickups? Like can you overcome the sound of the wood, string gage, etc?

2. What are the best ways (or types of pickups that can be used) to make a single coil guitar sound like a humbucker and vice versa?

3. Thanks, you guys all rock!

1. ALMOST? I'd say Yes. Putting a full size humbucker like a 59B, Custom, or Custom Custom in a Strat and plugging it into a cranked Marshall will make that Strat sound almost like a Gibson Les Paul or SG with humbuckers through a cranked Marshall. ALMOST...the tone will not be identical but it'll be close enough to satisfy Eddie Van Halen...cuz that's just what he did!:laugh2:

2. See answer #1.

3. Yes...we do! Thanks!

 

[Jester700]

Re: Couple of questions

It really depends on what you mean by "almost". Enough to fool Joe average? Probably. Enough to fool a guitar player? Probably not.

I mean, if you want to play southern rock, you COULD do it on a humbucker equipped basswood superstrat with a floyd. You'd get by most people easily. But guitar totin' Skynard fans will laugh at you. Of course, part of that is subculture and has nothing to do with how it SOUNDS, but it WILL sound a little different. Same goes with country music and a tele, early Dire Straits and a strat, etc.

Woods, construction, etc. all play a role. But IMO (and people disagree here) pickup type & placement make the biggest difference. A strat with a bridge humbucker sounds more "paul" than "strat" to me, though it's different from either.

Best way to make a single sound like a bucker is combine it with another single so it IS a bucker. Or replace it with a bucker. You can roll off the highs, but the response is just *different*. Same going the other way, except you can split a bucker so it's a single. Usually a tinny, wimpy single, but still a single.

My thing over the last couple years has been to get one guitar to do credible sounds of singles AND buckers. It's a little convoluted, and not perfect. But I don't care about a "PAUL" sound, I just want, say, a "neck bucker" or "bridge bucker" sound. Same with strat sounds. Same with a tele sound (which has been the most challenging).