Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

L

lttoler

New member
I am putting together an HH Tele and am looking for some pickups to go in it. I play in a classic cover band doing a lot of Hendrix like stuff, so I am looking for a humbucker with preferably low gain and a great dynamic range.

I have a Pearly Gates plus in a strat, which was suggested to me, but it's not quite there.

Anyone got any suggestions??
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Dimarzio Fred, Duncan Screamin Demon, Duncan Phat cat (more so with Alnico 5 I'd imagine). If it's single coil humbucker, there's also Dimarzio Chopper.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

For the bridge slot, the treble from HfH might be unbearable. For the neck, it should be good.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

I recently bought a Fender HH FSR strat (metallic sunburst) and those pickups might be what you are looking for. I could never find much out about them.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

I highly recommend the Dimarzio 36th anniv bridge in the neck pos. Its good for Hendrix though not clone perfect, but enables you to strum or scream. The attack as a neck pickup is very much in the Hendrix camp: very steel-ish and allows you rip into mighty screaming mids, with a good, chewy, tone-y sustain. However it does retain a certain amount of low end hoggish grunt on the wound strings ( like ZZtop in say, imBad imnationwide, or Arrested drivin while blind). Not totally Strat-y, but halfway there, it has alot of bite, sparkle& it def does what it promises: go from clear to distortion by picking harder. It is unlike the boomy jazzy smoothness of almost every neck pickup ive tried. I avoid that smooth, flutelike roundness. I prefer alot of twang that makes me dig in or stroke it gently. Ex: gtr solo in "You Got Lucky"/TPetty, "dead mans party" o.boingo, " i want candy"- thats what i aim for- blend of surf and grit.
Now mind you, the neck pkup (of the Dmarzio 36th anniv) might be even better, i've only tried the bridge version in the neck position on an Epi thru a crunchy Blackstar.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

+1 on the Screamin' Demon.
Want it to twang? It WILL twang.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Yep, the Screamin' Demon is really single coilish sounding... it's a real oddball humbucking pickup in that respect and has a very unique sound.

One of the best pickups I've ever played... it's too bad that I am used to the JB because I just couldn't deal with the lower output of the SH-12. However, the attack, treble and midrange voicing of the Demon is next to perfect IMHO.

Lemme throw out the DZ Bluesbucker too... it has a lot of the HFH's vibe but is smoother for the bridge if that's an issue.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

I liked both Duncan 59n and DMZ Air Classic on my HSS Legacy because they have this quality that seem to blend better with single coils.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

And when the Demon is split, it sounds even more single coilish.

But the Stag Mag really is two separate single coil pups put together to make a hummer. When split, it IS a single coil pup.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Screamin' Demon, Humbucker from Hell, Fender "Atomic" humbucker. From clips I've been researching, possibly Gibson 498t to an extent?
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

FRED,PAF pro, DEMON, duncan 78, and with a A5 mag the duncan custom/59 hybrid all have a single coil like attack.
Of them the FRED is the most convincing not to mention the FRED has the best harmonics ever in a full bucker.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Suhr SSV

I'm a recent convert ! :arms:
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Dimarzio BluesBucker is supposed to sound more like a P-90 than normal hum so it's hum-cancelling but sounds single-coil-ish with that little bite.

SD Stag Mag which is two genuine singlecoils side by side (which is different from the normal humbucker construction) This should give you authentic SC sounds and ability to get humbucker sounds if needed.

P-Rails should be cool also. You get very close SC, P-90 and humbucker sound from one pickup.
 
Re: Humbuckers with the attack of singles?

Ha! That's ironic, I have one of my favorite pickups combinations installed on my Ibanez JS: A Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon on the bridge and a Dimarzio humbucker From Hell in the neck... I agree they are single coilish sounding and both have some of the most misleading names in the aftermarket pickups industry. I love those pickups and I think it's my "to go" pickup combination for HH configuration guitars.
 
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