who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

appar111

New member
I love me a good high gain strat neck pickup tone and a good fat neck humbucker sound, but when it comes down to the bizness of just rockin' out, nothing's quite like a single bridge pickup guitar. Whether it's an esquire, a junior or a single humbucker strat, nothing quite has the attitude and look of a single bridge pickup beast.

Who here's with me! And if so, let's see your single bridge pickup axe!
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

Big fan of single bridge pickup setups. I have a couple.

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Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

i do; i do.

i have many multi-pickup guitars, and i use them and love them, but the single pickup ones are my main gigging guitars. no muss, no fuss. just show up and play. ''fiddly'' guitars and neck pickups are better suited for the studio ime.

i have two esquires [soon to be three when my current build is done], a les paul jr., a les paul melody maker [basically a jr.], and a g-and-l rampage.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

yeah-uh, ItsBass! that collection sounds like a good one!

and I'm totally diggin' that white SG, ErikH!
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

i wish i could go back in time when my guitars were being made and stop the dude from routing the neck pickup cavity. i prefer single pickup guitars, but unfortunately the guitars that i like don't have that option.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

SO simple and yet so pleasing. I love my single hum guitars.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I've barely played any of my other guitars since finishing this one.

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Currently got an EVH Frankenstein pickup, sounds fantastic. The Titanium saddles, brass baseplate and titanium sustain block make this guitar sound so killer. Amazing articulation and tone,
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

My 60s SG Junior absolutely rips. I cant hardly go into my music room without plugging my SG into my old 1482 and rocking out.

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Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

Gots me a "SuperTele" with an Invader in the bridge and a Gothic SG with a D-Sonic in the bridge. \m/ I spend way more time playing rather than fiddling around. It also seems to add to the tone. Maybe since there's less string pull. IDK.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I've barely played any of my other guitars since finishing this one.

f1673f046f7411e2be0322000a9f38f1_7.jpg


Currently got an EVH Frankenstein pickup, sounds fantastic. The Titanium saddles, brass baseplate and titanium sustain block make this guitar sound so killer. Amazing articulation and tone,

that looks very close to mine! Mine's got a vintage strat trem and a CBS headstock strat neck, but there's something about the white body/black pickguard combo that I love... Very Jake E Lee, Johnny Ramone....
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

that looks very close to mine! Mine's got a vintage strat trem and a CBS headstock strat neck, but there's something about the white body/black pickguard combo that I love... Very Jake E Lee, Johnny Ramone....

Yeah, it just looks simple and purposeful. I've got two guitars like this, the strat and an Ibanez RG450 that I've refinished in white, with a black carbon fibre look pickguard. Love the look.

The combo of the bridge, stainless steel frets, and a good sounding alder body and single piece maple neck really allow the strat to sing.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

i wish i could go back in time when my guitars were being made and stop the dude from routing the neck pickup cavity. i prefer single pickup guitars, but unfortunately the guitars that i like don't have that option.

I think it's often a marketing thing. I don't think many players realize how much the neck pickup's presence in the guitar impacts the sound of the bridge pickup; most probably see it as an unqualified gain over having only a bridge pickup.
 
who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I don't have one...yet. An Esquire is definitely on my list.

I'm curious, though. Do you guys who think it affects the tone of the instrument believe that the difference stems from the lack of a pickup or the lack of extra routing in the body? And in what way do you think it changes the sound of the guitar?
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I brought this baby home just last Friday. It's a keeper!

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Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I don't have one...yet. An Esquire is definitely on my list.

I'm curious, though. Do you guys who think it affects the tone of the instrument believe that the difference stems from the lack of a pickup or the lack of extra routing in the body? And in what way do you think it changes the sound of the guitar?

if anything, it's lack of magnetic pull from the neck pickup. i don't buy the idea that ''missing'' wood under the guard impacts the tone of an electric guitar. three reasons - 1] the amount of wood is very small in relation to the whole body. 2] two of my hands-down best sounding guitars have ''swimming pool'' routs, and a third [probably my best sounding and most resonant guitar] is single pickup, but routed for a neck pickup anyhow under the guard. 3] factory esquires and broadcasters/nocasters/teles shared bodies from the time the esquire was re-introduced in early 1951, i.e. they have the same routs. [this streamlined production, and made factory or dealer ''upgrades'' to two pickups a cinch.] yet despite sharing bodies with teles, esquires still sound different...more ''open.''
 
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Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

I'm curious, though. Do you guys who think it affects the tone of the instrument believe that the difference stems from the lack of a pickup or the lack of extra routing in the body? And in what way do you think it changes the sound of the guitar?

I think it's the magnetic field of the neck pickup. I think the geometry of the situation lends itself to the neck pickup having a bigger effect on the bridge pickup than the other way around. When I had my Kramer Focus 1000, everything sounded so clear, no matter how much gain I was using. (I should have sold a kidney or something instead of that guitar.)

Anyway, it seems like it would be easy to test the theory, using some blind listening with a guitar with a neck pickup that can be taken out easily. It shouldn't even matter if it's connected or not. It would be fun to listen to determine whether one could hear the difference, and it would be fun to analyze the vibrational characteristics with and without the neck pickup present.

Now, I also think the degree of the effect should vary with things like the iron content of the string, the pickups' distances from the saddles, the neck pickup's distance from the strings -- that sort of thing. It's probably possible to set many guitars up so that the impact is reduced or exacerbated.
 
Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars?

the single pickup ones are my main gigging guitars. no muss, no fuss. just show up and play. ''fiddly'' guitars and neck pickups are better suited for the studio ime.

No fuss with what? Fiipping a toggle? I can't imagine that exceeds anyone's skill level. Look at all the keyboard buttons you had to hit to type that post.

BTW, I don't own any single PU guitars.
 
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