Middle Single for H/S/H

[acosmicmessenger]

Hi there...

I have been thinking lately of switching out my middle single coil on my Brian Moore c90 (mahogany body/maple cap, maple neck, rosewood board)... right now, the pickups are JB/alnicoII single/Alnico II pro.

The main sounds i use the middle pickup for are the bridge humbucker split with the middle single, and the neck humbucker split with the middle single. I typically use these for clean rhythm and mildly overdriven lead work.

The problem is lately i have been thinking these sounds are a bit weak and mushy... especially the neck/middle combo. Given that i really enjoy the sound from my neck humbucker, i don't really want to mess with it. So, my question is, if i replace the Alnico II single with a slightly higher powered pickup (maybe the Vintage or Quarter pound) that it will give these sounds a little kick in the ass.

Any recommendations?

Thanks so much.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

i think using a brighter spankier pup like the ssl1 would help the mushy part, the weak part should be adjustable with the height of the two pups

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

that's a good point about the pickup height... I'm pretty new to the ways of the pickup... it was never something i really gave much thought to... i'll mess around with that this week before i go buy anything new.

 

[Artie]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

Here's another thought. I found that lately, my two favorite tones are, when using my Strat, the middle and bridge in series, and when using my twin-'bucker Tele, both pups split, in series. Having the two coils in series, rather than parallel, beefs up the tone a bit, but still maintains some of the "notch tone" character. Its like a happy median between humbucker and single.

It requires a little more creative wiring, but I think its worth it.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

in my H-S-H, i put a push/pull on the middle pup (i have a duck, but recommend a VR instead for guys looking for something closer to a traditional tone) ... this lets me get combos (inners, all, outers) of the neck and bridge together by popping out the middle ... i still have the traditional H-S-H 5-way combos too ...

you might really dig a CR or even a HR in the middle if a bit more 'oomph' is what you're after

t4d

 

[DracoAran]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

How about a Custom Staggered (or flat) Tapped.
Two different output levels, and bright enough.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

Whenever I'm splitting I prefer to use a true single coil rather than a SC sized bucker just so the notch positions still cancel hum.

As for recommendations... the QP is a very fat, very huge sounding pickup, that I fear would greatly overpower the a split APH-1. Tonally I'm not sure I'd like that match, either. I'd probably be more inclined to try a vintage or vintage hot single coil.

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

Whenever I'm splitting I prefer to use a true single coil rather than a SC sized bucker just so the notch positions still cancel hum.

As for recommendations... the QP is a very fat, very huge sounding pickup, that I fear would greatly overpower the a split APH-1. Tonally I'm not sure I'd like that match, either. I'd probably be more inclined to try a vintage or vintage hot single coil.

I forgot to mention that... i do want to stick to true single coils to keep the hum-cancelling in the positions i mentioned. Point taken about the QP...

Here's another thought. I found that lately, my two favorite tones are, when using my Strat, the middle and bridge in series, and when using my twin-'bucker Tele, both pups split, in series. Having the two coils in series, rather than parallel, beefs up the tone a bit, but still maintains some of the "notch tone" character. Its like a happy median between humbucker and single.

It requires a little more creative wiring, but I think its worth it.

when wiring in series, are those positions still hum-cancelled? And honestly, i would like to have the general "stratty" sound... just give what i currently have a little more oomph.

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

also, if i decide to go with a new pickup, will i need to buy one that is RW/RP?

 

[tone4days]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

how about a new classic stack plus? ... you can use it by itself and it cancels hum ... and when you combine it with a split humbucker (n or b), you can split it to retain hum cancelling ... i think it comes in a 'hot' version if you want more beef

just a thought

t4d

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

I think the single coil size pickup that sounds best combined with full size humbuckers is the new Duncan Stack Plus. You'll also have three humcancelling pickups. Lew

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

i WAS going to try to avoid changing the wiring in my guitar being that A) i generally like the setup and B) i have very limited knowledge on wiring pickups.

The idea was to just directly replace one pickup with another to keep wiring confusion minimal... BUT this custom stack idea sounds interesting...

 

[MikeS]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

how about a new classic stack plus? ... you can use it by itself and it cancels hum ... and when you combine it with a split humbucker (n or b), you can split it to retain hum cancelling ... i think it comes in a 'hot' version if you want more beef

Great idea, although not possible with a standard 5 way switch. The wiring gets a little more complicated if you want to make the notch positions quiet.

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

if it makes any difference, my guitar has a Schaller Megaswitch, and the tone pot is a push/pull.

 

[DracoAran]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

Don't use a RWRP in an H-S-H setup, unless you're splitting the humbuckers by sending Red and White to Hot.

If you're doing the conventional split of Red and White to Ground, get a normal wound middle single coil.

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

i think the REd and White ARE hot in mine...

so to clarify, if Red and White wires are hot for my humbuckers, i should get a RW/RP single?

 

[DracoAran]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

I am not sure if you are confused about which wire is hot, or if you actually have the coils of your humbuckers wired in parallel??.

Artie is the wiring guru. He should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Artie]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

i think the REd and White ARE hot in mine...

so to clarify, if Red and White wires are hot for my humbuckers, i should get a RW/RP single?

Not exactly. The normal way to wire a Duncan is green to ground, black to hot, and red & white together. What Sarge is saying is: if you want to split to the stud coil, tie red & white to ground, then use a "normal" wound/polarity single. If you want to split to the screw coil, tie red & white to hot (black) and use a RW/RP for the single.

So . . . the first thing you want to do is verify that you're using green for ground and black for hot. Then we can go from there.

Artie

 

[acosmicmessenger]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

ok, i know for a fact that the screw coils (outside) are active while the humbuckers are split.

and i may be interpreting my switch wrong, but i THINK i meant to say that I am using the red and white for the coil tap of both humbickers (this makes the screw coils active when split, right?).

and as a followup question... if i wanted to try the stud coils as the active ones during split-mode, would i just switch the red & white wires with the Green and Black wires?

 

[Artie]

Re: Middle Single for H/S/H

ok, i know for a fact that the screw coils (outside) are active while the humbuckers are split.

and i may be interpreting my switch wrong, but i THINK i meant to say that I am using the red and white for the coil tap of both humbickers (this makes the screw coils active when split, right?).

and as a followup question... if i wanted to try the stud coils as the active ones during split-mode, would i just switch the red & white wires with the Green and Black wires?

The green always stays to ground, and black always to hot, (the switch). If you connect red/white to green, (ground), you have the stud coils. Red/white to black gives you the screw coils.

For example, I always take the bridge red/white to green, and the neck red/white to hot. That gives me the stud coil of the bridge and the screw coil of the neck. It remains humbucking.

Edit: In the above, when I say "green always to ground, and black always to hot" I mean in conventional humbucker wiring. There are exceptions, of course.