single coil pickups in RWRP

Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

no.

a humbucker is two coils (one rw/rp) wired series in phase. a typical strat puts two coils parallel in phase. even if you wire two single coils in series, it wont sound like a typical humbucker even if the coils are right next to each other. it will sound thicker and have more output, but will have a quite different tonality. having one coil rw/rp from the other is for humcancelling and to keep in phase.

compare a jb to a stagmag, both are around 16k but one has typical single coil construction and the other has typical humbucker construction and they sound very different
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

For sure two magnet pole, traditional singles does not sound close to a humbucker (such I have experienced with the Stag Mag and related pickups.) But I don't see why you couldn't get closer using something like ceramic singles; two plastic bobbin coils each with steel poles and a bar magnet. Roll two Squier pickups into a PAF format and I wonder what you'd get.

Humbuckers can sound many, many different ways anyway.
 
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Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

no.

a humbucker is two coils (one rw/rp) wired series in phase. a typical strat puts two coils parallel in phase. even if you wire two single coils in series, it wont sound like a typical humbucker even if the coils are right next to each other. it will sound thicker and have more output, but will have a quite different tonality. having one coil rw/rp from the other is for humcancelling and to keep in phase.

compare a jb to a stagmag, both are around 16k but one has typical single coil construction and the other has typical humbucker construction and they sound very different
Would using a boost pedal help make it sound closer to a humbucker pickup?
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

I disagree. You can definitely get very close to humbucker tones with single coils. You just need a bit inventive wiring and balance out the pickups properly.

Couple of tricks to achieve that:

Use 500k pots, single coils in series can be very thick and dark.

Tapping is very useful when trying to balance two SC's in series.

Use separate tone circuit for series. You need it to cut out excess high end, but values need to be way lower than usual. Resistor can be useful to adjust it's effect.

Treble booster does wonders when trying to achieve humbucker tones with single coils ;) Just need to cut excess highs out beforehand, so you get plenty of mids to hit the preamp after the booster.
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

the simple answer is different :) it can be a cool sound but its not the same as a gibson style humbucker
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

The best way I can describe it is that 2 singles in series sound like a traditional humbucker with more mids and the tone rolled down halfway. This depends on the pickups, of course, but that is very generally, the idea.
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

I have a another question. How does RWRP(with two single coil pickups) with high gain sound like compare to a humbucker pickup? Would RWRP(two single coils) be good for Hard Rock or even Heavy Metal?
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

I have a another question. How does RWRP(with two single coil pickups) with high gain sound like compare to a humbucker pickup? Would RWRP(two single coils) be good for Hard Rock or even Heavy Metal?

That depends on pickups, how they're wired and your rig. Definitely they can. But if you're not prepared to experiment it would be easier to just go for humbuckers.

I get killer classic metal tones from SSL-7 and SSL-5. I also have another guitar with Peavey ceramic single and twang banger at the bridge that's still under construction after 4 iterations of wiring. So it's not just "drop them in" job.

Most modders seem to just roll the pickups until they find what works with particular guitars wiring. I prefer to craft the wiring around the pickups.
 
Re: single coil pickups in RWRP

A humbucker is two coils (one rw/rp) wired series in phase.

Hey Jeremy. That's not quite correct. On a Duncan hb'er, the two coils are wound the same direction. (Not RW.) They are then connected out-of-phase. (Finish-to-finish.) That makes the noise cancel. The reverse-polarity magnet, (RP), brings the audio signal back into phase.

To the OP, if both pups are RW/RP, then that fact becomes irrelevant to their sound, whether they're wired in series or parallel. They'll be exactly the same as series and/or parallel of two "regular" singles. The rwrp thing only matters when one is mated to a non-rwrp pup.

And on that note, a regular single, wired in series with an RWRP single, will mimic the sound of a humbucker the same way that a split humbucker mimics a single coil. Close, but no cigar.
 
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