Reason 4 having different Pick-up Configurations???

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by harmonizer, Apr 25, 2011.

  1. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    ok. m not asking abt the difference between single coil pickups and humbuckers..... :)

    i want to know :

    * why some guitars have H-H config, some have S-S-H and S-S-S config??
    I've also seen H-S-H pick-up style

    * Can a H-H guitar produce a loopback/feedback ?? And Can a S-S-S guitar control the feedback?

    * which pick-up style is best for a clean sound and which one is for a distorted sound?

    I searched the internet but dint get exactly what i asked here......and i dont think these are illogical questions.... :)
     
  2. bcrich

    bcrich New Member

    * It's a very basic element, It all depends on what kind of music you play. People who play metal/rock and distorted stuff prefer Humbucker pickups. So they have the H-H pickup configuration. People who play softer, cleaner, poppier (which is gay ;P) music like Blues, jazz, crunchy etc. Prefer single coils so they have the S-S-S pickup configuration. But most of the people prefer both Humbuckers and Single-coils on their guitars for both hard and soft music, so they have configurations like H-S-H, H-S-S or even S-S-H.

    *It depends on many factors like the distance of your guitar from the amp while playing and the distance of your pickups from your strings. I don't know much in depth about the feedback as it never really occurred with me. So ask anyone else about it.

    *The single coil pickups are preferred for clean sound and the Humbuckers for the distortion sound (mentioned above). The position of the pickup also matters, a lot. The bridge pickups tends to be brighter and good for metal/rock, crunch and all about distortion and the neck pickups tends to be for much warmer and clean sound but also good for shredding and sweeps and stuff.

    Hope this works out for you! :)
     
  3. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    thanks for this point man :) was very helpful
     
  4. GhostofHendrix

    GhostofHendrix New Member

    Paul Gilbert uses a S-S-S pickup configuration. :p
     
  5. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    There is a simple reason for that.
    These configurations are all based on personal preferences.
    And personal preferences don't follow any logic or reason.

    Some ppl like the single coil sound at bridge, some ppl like it at neck.
    Some ppl like humbuck sound at bridge, some at neck.

    Some ppl like the combined sound of neck single + bridge humbuck, some ppl like the sound of bridge single + neck humbuck.

    Which is best for clean and which for distorted?
    Bridge Humbuck on distortion sounds more jagged and "distorted". And allows better feedback
    Bridge humbuck on clean sounds plain jane normal. Nothing exciting.

    Neck humbuck on distortion sounds sweet and rounded with keyboard like sustainy tone.
    Neck humbuck on clean sounds sweet and rounded. But plain again.

    Bridge single coil on distortion sounds noisy and clangy.
    Bridge singe at clean + At low distortion/overdrive it sounds fantastic for funk and blues.

    Neck single on distortion sound smooth and rounded, but not enough sustain.
    Neck single on clean - great blend of smoothness and clang.

    What I would prefer:
    Bridge position, distortion - humbuck, clean - single
    Neck position, distortion - humbuck, clean - single


    What does this mean?
    Get a split output from humbucks to get the single coil sound.
    H H config.

    Well there are two types of gays also: top and bottom.
    so even they can have different preferences ;) (like S or H)
     
  6. bcrich

    bcrich New Member

    First of all the things in this world, I said GAY for pop only. F-O and die peacefully if you think Gilbert belongs to Pop.

    And it's all about preference dude, he uses humbuckers in his Ibanez PGM Series. But he's the best, no matter what kind of pickup he uses!
     
  7. bcrich

    bcrich New Member

    Hehe! I second that. Pop IS Gay, actually! Jonas Brothers use SG's with humbuckers but the music, even the SG and Les Pauls would be ashamed of being in those girly hands!
     
  8. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    bwahahahaahahaha
     
  9. bcrich

    bcrich New Member

    Hey you have any doubts now, or everything is clear? Lemme know! :)
     
  10. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    so many thanks :):):)
     
  11. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    somebody teach me about feedback :):):)
     
  12. Torvoraptor

    Torvoraptor New Member

    Lots of other factors are involved too-

    In HH guitars, there is a pretty big difference in the sound of the two humbuckers- so by playing with the volume knobs you can get an interesting mix of sounds in the mid position in a Les Paul style guitar- (although I'll be the first to admit that the clean bridge sounds boring... I'd replace it but I'd rather save the cash for my next guitar)

    In SSS and HSH strats and ibanezes, I was disappointed because I went in thinking 'more pickups = more different sounds', which was really not the case- the positions of the pickups and combinations matter just as much, if not more, than pickup types. So in a strat/GIO I found only 2 real sounds I liked out of the 5 (more pickups = less difference in distance = less difference in the composition of sounds), and not being able to combo the neck and bridge just seemed lame.

    So don't make the noob mistake I did, and think more pickups = good. It's a lot more subtle than that. Having a guitar with extra pickup slots can be useful at times, specially if you have 3 very different pickups with distinct sounds.

    What I've come to realize though... is, that if you're a Les Paul user you'll probably want to switch the bridge pickup for a single coil, (I know I do, although it's great for a crunchy overdrive), a strat user will likely try to get a humbucker in the bridge, and a superstrat user will try to rewire his HSH to get the 2 humbuckers to work together without the single-coil.

    https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BCK6LXgp...AAAABA/MKYwgdrWzoQ/s1600/squier_51-butter.jpg

    surprisingly this is one of the most versatile cheap guitars in existence.
     
  13. wylder

    wylder Member

    Dude, getting a S-S-H or a H-S-H would be ideal for the maximum variety of tones.
    You also don't want too many options as while playing live, getting the right pick up can be a problem if you have too many options.

    Anyway pick up companies now come out with such a range of p/ups that you can convert humbuckers to single coil sound and you get stacked single coils that have output like humbuckers. Also, now they produce pups that are eq'd so differently that you can get usable clean tones from bridge pups too. Most manufacturers now produce noiseless single coils so that they are humbucking and can be used with high gain amps without uncontrollable feedback.

    Your best bet is to start from the setup that the artist you most want to sound like has.
     
  14. dpnkr

    dpnkr New Member

    @harmonizer : what exactly do you wanna know about feedback...how to create or to remove it??
     
  15. harmonizer

    harmonizer The Son of the Moon

    to creat with H-H and to remove from S-S-S :):):):)
     
  16. wylder

    wylder Member

    Getting feedback should be the same with single coil or humbuckers - turn up the amp and move closer to it. Gain definitely helps so if you are using any pedals, turn up the gain on it.
    To remove feedback do the opposite.

    The reason why feedback occurs is quite simple - resonance. This is the tendancy of a body to vibrate strongly when its natural frequency (or a harmonic of it) is sounded near it.

    If the volume is sufficiently high, the string resonates and vibrates strongly. This inturn further increases the volume causing more resonance and so on.
     
  17. dpnkr

    dpnkr New Member

    well you can get feedback(musical one) by setting up your amp on high gain and playing guitar right in front of it...i mean really close

    For removing feedback from single coils do just opposite of that( eg. adjust tone and volume knobs, lower the gain and play significantly distant from amp)....
    For removing non musical feedback try getting high quality pickups or potting existing ones and make sure they are fixed completely in their place......:)
     

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