I'm angry at my Surfers

[dasfonzie]

Aright this has been a problem that's been buggng me since I put these guys in my Strat.

I love the tone they give, especially with a little overdrive. But if I switch from paying chords to a lead line (a run of single notes) I have a huge decrease in volume. So much that I have to play with the the volume knob, which is difficult (for me) while playing. This doesn't happen with my Strat that has buckers in it. I can't remember if this happened with any of the other single coils I had.

Is this a common probem? Or is there some wiring gone bad?

 

[Curly]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

are you switching positions, or just playing leads with the same settings?

 

[jony]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Eric Johnson does have that issue.. He said it in tonequest interview.

I guess a overdrive pedal in your chain to push the amp harder might help you out there.

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

are you switching positions, or just playing leads with the same settings?

No I'm not switching pickups or anything if that's what you mean. I only have one volume knob on my Strat in any case and all the pups are about the same volume. It wouldn't bea problem if every time I wanted to do that I switched channels on my amp as I have indiviudal volume controls. But that's not always the case. I don't want to HAVE to do that ya know?

Also I have been interested in gettign a good pedal anyhow just have a different tone to spice tings up. (Although I do love me Traynor's OD)

Both the SD Pickup Booster and that Blues Saraceno Pedal looked good. Are there any other good ones? I know people rave about modded TS9s but I'm not much of an electrician. Although it might be fun to learn that type of hting :33:

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

After reading Lew's thread about those Classic Stacks, do you think throwing those in would help my problem?

 

[jony]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Classic stacks arent any more powerful than traditional strat pickups

 

[Xeromus]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

The SD pickup booster is an amazing pedal.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Might sound naive but still: Are you adjusting the power with which you pick the strings when you switch from chords to single runs. Rory Gallagher is the master of this, and frankly speaking for me strats are suckers from which the notes have to be sequeezed when playing single notes.

B

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

You have to work harder to get the notes to have authority with single coil pickups....It's easy with humbuckers....The strat rewards us with great note articulation and a nice variety of different tones and timbres...

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

I damn near break the strings now. Could it be the 9 gauge strings too?

 

[itbepopples]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Try playing your chords lighter to match the volume of your leads. Then, adjust the amp/setup accordingly. Other than that I can't offer any advice that I'd expect anyone else to follow.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

To my way of thinking, humbuckers naturally compress the sound more than single coils. Maybe it's got something to do with the way they roll off some high end. Try using a compressor pedal, at a light setting it may help. Or just play around with your amp settings and touch to find the feel you're looking for. You shouldn't be playing hard enough to break strings, back off and let the pickups and amp do the work. Humbuckers are more forgiving, but single coils have a sweet pureness of tone that they can't match. It does take more work, though. I think it's worth it.

 

[ponch]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

I think if you did put an overdrive pedal into the mix it would help out a bit & useing it as a booster, on the other hand you could go active.:?: I would if i was a better guitarist.:dot:

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Single coils like the Surfers simply do not sound like full size humbuckers and the difference is especially evident when I solo on the bridge pickup. The truth is, I love soloing on a bridge humbucker because I get that classic "humbucker through a Marshall " soloing tone that we all know and love: Clapton/Cream...EVH...etc.

But I love playing rythym with single coils!

You'll never really get that same thick, midrangey tone of a bridge paf or hotter humbucker from a Strat single coil...it just isn't there.

Eric Clapton's tone changed dramatically when he switched from Gibson guitars with humbuckers to Strats with single coils. It's not because the Strat single coils are "defective" or anything...they're just differant and don't push the front end of the amp into soaring overdrive like a paf or hotter humbucker will.

Many of us play both Gibsons and Fenders...like Hendrix did.

The search for getting both tones in one guiar has been a quest many of us have been on.

I think I've found it and the answer is a bridge humbucker (like the JB) and neck and middle Duncan Classic Stack Plus noiseless pickups.

Lew

 

[MDS]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Word.

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

I understand what your saying Lew

But it just bugs to designate this guitar as " rythym guitar" you know?

I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with it

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

I understand what your saying Lew

But it just bugs to designate this guitar as " rythym guitar" you know?

I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with it

You need a guitar with humbuckers for when you're in a humbucker through a Marshall kinda mood and want to wail....and a guitar with single coils when you're in a Strat mood.

That's just the way it is... :beerchug:

If you love both tones you need both types of guitars.

Lew

 

[ErikH]

Re: I'm angry at my Surfers

Reading this reminds me of Tony Iommi's story of how he ended up playing the SG on the first Black Sabbath album. He was playing Strats before they started recording. Had the pickups not fried in the Strat, we would've heard the first album, and maybe more, with single coils. :eyecrazy: :scared: