Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

[PDC]

Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Short version: Between the Little ‘78, the Little ‘59 and the Little Screamin’ Demon, which pickup is the brightest / hottest? Which one has bigger / tighter bottom? Talkin’ bridge versions.

Long version: I have a pair of strats. One is alder and has a very ‘balanced’ tonal quality. No real tonal peaks or dips from low to mid to high. Just about any pickup sounds good in it. I’m not entirely sure what wood the other strat is, but it is definitely heavier and brighter sounding. Not bad - but the same pickups always sound a bit edgier and a bit brighter in this other body. It might be hard ash or it might just be a denser, harder chunk of alder?

Both guitars currently have EMG SAs with the EMG ‘fat’ control that makes them (sort of) sound like a humbucker. They don’t sound bad, but DAMN these EMG single coils are NOISEY - especially with the fat control all the way up. And yes, they are wired correctly and properly grounded. (EMG Quick Connect)

I had such a good experience replacing the full size EMG humbuckers in all my Franken-Strats with various Duncans and Jalens that I am ready to go passive with my two traditional strats - but I want them to maintain the traditional single-coil look.

The thing is, the alder guitar is off-white with a white pearloid pickguard and the heavier, brighter guitar is black with a silver pearloid pickguard. So I will use white or maybe cream pickups in the off-white guitar and black pickups in the black guitar. That means that for purely cosmetic reasons, I can’t really swap the pickups between the two guitars. I am hoping to make the right choice the first time around.

Looking for a bit brighter, edgier pickup for the off-white guitar and a bit fuller, warmer pickup for the black guitar. Any first hand experience with these little humbuckers is GREATLY appreciated.

P.S. - I play mostly 80’s style hard rock. I like a gainy, chunky tone, but I like hearing the ‘organic’ qualities of the guitar and amp, string separation, lots of responsiveness with the volume control. I hate to say ‘early VH’ around here, but I loved that VH-II tone that was so ‘woody’ and ‘organic’ compared to the brighter, more fiery tone on VH-I. I also dig a lot of the less-than-full-blast tones on Dokken Back for the Attack. Hence considering the ‘78 and the Screamin’ Demon. But I’ve read several threads and posts on this forum where folks were getting all of those sounds with the Little ‘59.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

couple things... emgs should not be noisy at all, by nature they should have a very low noise floor. also you say you want the traditional single coil look but mention the lil series humbuckers, so i assume you mean you want to keep the single coil form factor?

the lil demon is probably tightest and brightest, the lil 59 has a bigger bottom but isnt as tight. i havent tried a lil 78

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Demon

 

[PDC]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Yeah - I meant the single coil ‘size’ pickups. I don’t mind the dual coil look in the single coil size.
I had used EMG’s for over 20 years - the true humbuckers are indeed very quiet. But their S and SA Single Coils are notoriously buzzy even when properly grounded. Mine aren’t ‘horrible’ but compared to a passive, properly grounded true humbucker, the EMG singles do provide more noise with the SPC control wound up - very sensitive to lights and other electronic devices plugged into the same circuit.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

But their S and SA Single Coils are notoriously buzzy even when properly grounded.

I've used lots of EMG humbuckers, and they've never been grounded. Can't imagine the singles are different.

 

[donaldr]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

I have a 60/S/S set and the S are not noisy. This set is dead quiet even in the more "humming" environment. Have you tried removing the SPC?
I would keep one of your strat with SA set (and fix the noise problem), and go passive with one guitar. Play a couple of months then decide what you like/dislike about the first one to base your decision on where you want to go (vintage sound/modern sound/stay active) with the second one.

 

[PDC]

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Re: Picking a ‘Little’ Pickup

Maybe I exaggerated the noise issue with the SAs. They have more hum than my passive humbuckers, but not to the point where one would think there is a grounding or wiring issue. The SAs are also more sensitive to other electronics running on the same circuit / lights, TV, HVAC kicking on and off. Bigger issue is they just sound sort of flat and sterile, although they have plenty of ‘punch’

I’m thinking of grabbing a black Little 59 neck and bridge for my heavier, brighter sounding black Strat and see how that works before swapping out the pickups in the lighter, warmer sounding white Strat. May go Demons there, or may just go with another set of the 59s.