Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
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ItsaBass
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Regular Fender Strat wiring has had a tone control on the bridge pickup for quite some time now. MIM models used vintage+5-way wiring up till the ‘00s, and I’m not sure if they still do; they might have started putting the bridge pickup on a tone control now (standard U.S. wiring). Even the reissue oriented American models have come that way since 2012.
I still say just don’t use the split alone. A split standard output humbucker is too thin and weak to tonally balance with two Texas Specials, and using the tone knob is only going to tamp it down even weaker. It mainly exists to be split when you are: 1) in position 2 on the switch (bridge/middle “notch” position), and/or 2) using heavy distortion and need lots of clarity from your pickup (weak output and minimal low end).
Regular Fender Strat wiring has had a tone control on the bridge pickup for quite some time now. MIM models used vintage+5-way wiring up till the ‘00s, and I’m not sure if they still do; they might have started putting the bridge pickup on a tone control now (standard U.S. wiring). Even the reissue oriented American models have come that way since 2012.
I still say just don’t use the split alone. A split standard output humbucker is too thin and weak to tonally balance with two Texas Specials, and using the tone knob is only going to tamp it down even weaker. It mainly exists to be split when you are: 1) in position 2 on the switch (bridge/middle “notch” position), and/or 2) using heavy distortion and need lots of clarity from your pickup (weak output and minimal low end).
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St_Genesius
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Pump the brakes, chief. You've got, what, seven settings on that guitar and one of them too bright. Hardly cause for dumping it and starting over. I think every instrument I own has at least one setting I almost never touch.
Pump the brakes, chief. You've got, what, seven settings on that guitar and one of them too bright. Hardly cause for dumping it and starting over. I think every instrument I own has at least one setting I almost never touch.
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Adding a tone control to the bridge is almost a necessity on any Strat for me. I like having one for the neck & middle, and one for the bridge. A small wiring change in your guitar will almost certainly solve this.
Adding a tone control to the bridge is almost a necessity on any Strat for me. I like having one for the neck & middle, and one for the bridge. A small wiring change in your guitar will almost certainly solve this.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Linking the bridge tone to another pickup is highly undesirable for me. There are no two pickups on a Strat that I ever want being at the same tone setting, so doubling up pickups on the same tone control necessitates constant tone knob fiddling with the way I play. I absolute hate G&L's PTB system for this reason. Makes everything a master control...and I never want a bass cut on a Strat anyhow.
Even if I did want or need a tone control on the bridge pickup, I would rather pull it from one of the others in order to get it...or wire the Strat for T/T/T, and give up the volume knob (which I almost never use on a Strat). I'd pull it off the middle pickup if I thought I needed it on the bridge. I rarely tamp down my middle pickup, so I could live without a tone knob there.
I set my Strats/amps up so that the middle pickup is the "home base" tone. Then the neck is one darker, and the bridge is one brighter, and you're good. There's no situation in which I would want the bridge pickup, but with the tone rolled back; I'd use the middle pickup if I wanted that. I only use the bridge pickup when I want a ton of brightness...e.g. when deliberately using extreme "twang," or driving the amp into breakup – to help retain clarity. Same reason (but less extreme) that you'd use the strangle switch on a Jaguar: to remove low end for a cleaner output from the guitar, which then retains more clarity when it heavily breaks up in the amp.
The other key is lowering your other pickups so everything is more balanced in terms of output.
FWIW, I wire my Strats without notch positions (3-way switch). I never use those tones (I don't like the frequency notching), and they just get in the way of me quickly returning the switch to the middle poisition while playing.
The Strat and the Jazzmaster are the two things that Fender got totally right within the first few months of production, IMO. For the things I play, vintage Strat and Jazzmaster wiring cannot be improved upon.
Linking the bridge tone to another pickup is highly undesirable for me. There are no two pickups on a Strat that I ever want being at the same tone setting, so doubling up pickups on the same tone control necessitates constant tone knob fiddling with the way I play. I absolute hate G&L's PTB system for this reason. Makes everything a master control...and I never want a bass cut on a Strat anyhow.
Even if I did want or need a tone control on the bridge pickup, I would rather pull it from one of the others in order to get it...or wire the Strat for T/T/T, and give up the volume knob (which I almost never use on a Strat). I'd pull it off the middle pickup if I thought I needed it on the bridge. I rarely tamp down my middle pickup, so I could live without a tone knob there.
I set my Strats/amps up so that the middle pickup is the "home base" tone. Then the neck is one darker, and the bridge is one brighter, and you're good. There's no situation in which I would want the bridge pickup, but with the tone rolled back; I'd use the middle pickup if I wanted that. I only use the bridge pickup when I want a ton of brightness...e.g. when deliberately using extreme "twang," or driving the amp into breakup – to help retain clarity. Same reason (but less extreme) that you'd use the strangle switch on a Jaguar: to remove low end for a cleaner output from the guitar, which then retains more clarity when it heavily breaks up in the amp.
The other key is lowering your other pickups so everything is more balanced in terms of output.
FWIW, I wire my Strats without notch positions (3-way switch). I never use those tones (I don't like the frequency notching), and they just get in the way of me quickly returning the switch to the middle poisition while playing.
The Strat and the Jazzmaster are the two things that Fender got totally right within the first few months of production, IMO. For the things I play, vintage Strat and Jazzmaster wiring cannot be improved upon.
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St_Genesius
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Me too. Without it, Bridge Only on a Strat ranks below even Neck Only on a Tele for me.
Me too. Without it, Bridge Only on a Strat ranks below even Neck Only on a Tele for me.
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
This I can agree with. I did grow up playing a 1982 Strat that had a master tone control. So I got really used to using one on all 3 pickups.
This I can agree with. I did grow up playing a 1982 Strat that had a master tone control. So I got really used to using one on all 3 pickups.
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
thank you guys I’ll check all the options.
One more thing, months ago I was getting this noise tremolo effect on the middle and neck pickup when playing certain notes on the neck. Specially the g string. I was told to just push the pull pieces down. So I did and the noise went away like 80% but now that I wanna cover some Steve and Hendrix stuff and can get a good tone. I have to raise all the presence and treble up.
thank you guys I’ll check all the options.
One more thing, months ago I was getting this noise tremolo effect on the middle and neck pickup when playing certain notes on the neck. Specially the g string. I was told to just push the pull pieces down. So I did and the noise went away like 80% but now that I wanna cover some Steve and Hendrix stuff and can get a good tone. I have to raise all the presence and treble up.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
That noise is what happens when you put a single coil pickup too close to the strings. Usually people lower the whole pickup to fix this problem. It can be dangerous to push the magnet pole pieces up or down in a single coil because it can break the wire and leave you with a dead pickup.
That noise is what happens when you put a single coil pickup too close to the strings. Usually people lower the whole pickup to fix this problem. It can be dangerous to push the magnet pole pieces up or down in a single coil because it can break the wire and leave you with a dead pickup.
DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
The closer to the bridge a pickup is, the brighter it sounds. Also on a Strat there’s no tone control for the bridge pickup.
If you adjust your amp for a bright neck pickup sound the bridge will sound like an ice pick.
This is one reason people started putting humbuckers at the bridge on Strats. They are fuller sounding.
You can get single coils that are wound hotter to sound darker, or single coil size humbuckers. Either would fix the problem.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The closer to the bridge a pickup is, the brighter it sounds. Also on a Strat there’s no tone control for the bridge pickup.
If you adjust your amp for a bright neck pickup sound the bridge will sound like an ice pick.
This is one reason people started putting humbuckers at the bridge on Strats. They are fuller sounding.
You can get single coils that are wound hotter to sound darker, or single coil size humbuckers. Either would fix the problem.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
This is traditional, but usually not the case these days. American made non-reissues have had bridge tone controls for a long time now, and even reissue models have had modern (i.e. tone on bridge) Strat wiring since 2012. MIM Standards to a point had vintage (no tone on bridge) wiring (with the exception of a 5-way instead of a 3-way).
This is traditional, but usually not the case these days. American made non-reissues have had bridge tone controls for a long time now, and even reissue models have had modern (i.e. tone on bridge) Strat wiring since 2012. MIM Standards to a point had vintage (no tone on bridge) wiring (with the exception of a 5-way instead of a 3-way).
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
I agree 100%, my recommendations are to wire a tone pot to go to the bridge or master tone, and to put a humbucker/high output single coil in the bridge.
Higher output tends to send a stronger signal, particularly in the midrange, which is often what you really want for a bridge pickup in particular. Another thing I've found that works well for specifically Strats is to combine either tone mod and higher output bridge with slightly angling the bridge pickup down towards the treble end, which softens the attack. Note this will also affect your quack sound in position 2.
I agree 100%, my recommendations are to wire a tone pot to go to the bridge or master tone, and to put a humbucker/high output single coil in the bridge.
Higher output tends to send a stronger signal, particularly in the midrange, which is often what you really want for a bridge pickup in particular. Another thing I've found that works well for specifically Strats is to combine either tone mod and higher output bridge with slightly angling the bridge pickup down towards the treble end, which softens the attack. Note this will also affect your quack sound in position 2.
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Helix, that is Line6, I believe?
I had a POD Pro once, and there are settings for input impedance for guitar.
You could try and play with that a bit, maybe if there on Helix which I believe exist.
Maybe there are other settings too, like hb or sc mode or similar.
With POD Pro I had issues with overs peak led lit for even medium output humbuckers - so ditched it.
If you make a guitar processor and it does not fix normal hb input, then something is wrong.
Helix, that is Line6, I believe?
I had a POD Pro once, and there are settings for input impedance for guitar.
You could try and play with that a bit, maybe if there on Helix which I believe exist.
Maybe there are other settings too, like hb or sc mode or similar.
With POD Pro I had issues with overs peak led lit for even medium output humbuckers - so ditched it.
If you make a guitar processor and it does not fix normal hb input, then something is wrong.
Fender_Punk
BerriesAndCreamologist
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
You can change that. I'd suggest rewiring the tone knob for the middle pickup to the bridge position.
You can change that. I'd suggest rewiring the tone knob for the middle pickup to the bridge position.
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
Me too.
I would not want my Strat wired so one tone control is connected to both the neck and middle.
I never use the middle pickup by itself. Only in combination with either the bridge pickup or neck pickup and if they each have a tone control it'll affect the middle pickup too when they're combined.
But for me, my bridge pickup has to have a tone control so I can dial that treble down when I'm soloing for that Eric Clapton woman tone and Eric Johnson's violin tone. And my own tone.
Me too.
I would not want my Strat wired so one tone control is connected to both the neck and middle.
I never use the middle pickup by itself. Only in combination with either the bridge pickup or neck pickup and if they each have a tone control it'll affect the middle pickup too when they're combined.
But for me, my bridge pickup has to have a tone control so I can dial that treble down when I'm soloing for that Eric Clapton woman tone and Eric Johnson's violin tone. And my own tone.
Pete Stevens
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
I wouldn't mess with it. Connecting the tone pot to the bridge will likely dull the sound in humbucker mode.
I wouldn't mess with it. Connecting the tone pot to the bridge will likely dull the sound in humbucker mode.
Gtrjunior
New member
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
When I rewired my LP I installed coil split push/pulls for tone knobs....I NEVER use them.
When I rewired my LP I installed coil split push/pulls for tone knobs....I NEVER use them.
Re: Why my bridge single coil sounds harsh and lots of treble?
I use split humbuckers all the time, but they are what they are- thinner, noisier versions of the humbucker. Still a useful sound, but certainly not as big sounding as the full version. A tone knob helps.
I use split humbuckers all the time, but they are what they are- thinner, noisier versions of the humbucker. Still a useful sound, but certainly not as big sounding as the full version. A tone knob helps.
