So as a chap who switched to single coils in my early 20s, going back to humbucker I can find them quite nasal, overly thick, maybe lacking in chime etc. Someone smart suggested that Humbuckers really like British style driven amps like the Marshall JCM800 – and it turns out they were totally right….
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I actually decided to buy an Ibanez AZES with a humbo because you used it in your review a lot and I liked it. Before I only played an SS Tele
The best guitar is the one that serves the song you are trying to get out of your head. If it calls for humbuckers, use them. If you need single coils, use them. We don’t have to love a particular guitar type, and hate something else. They are just different colors to paint with, and each guitar and pickup configuration has its own merit. I made this mistake by believing that I would absolutely NEVER own or enjoy a traditional telecaster configuration… I was so wrong! Now I love it! What I have learned is that it doesn’t have to be so black and white. 🤘🏻
at 2:10 I was really expecting, "so, I used to have three legs"
Also, I'm available via google meet for a private squat jump lesson. Never scrape your shins again with my three patented techniques!
Well, I really love humbuckers with a JCM800 type of amp, gives the clarity and detailed high end just like single coils… but on the other end, I also REALLY love them with an AC30 (more particularly the Nembrini one) on pretty much every pickup positions except the bridge humbucker (although, the neck humbucker gives a very sweet rounded tone for darker leads.. and I like that when you pick softly, it sounds dark and smooth, but when you dig in, it gets clearer.. some sort of "dynamic treble", along with the dynamic gain response). A while back, i was all about very detailed and clear tones, but now I also enjoy darker tones. It all depends on the song and the mood. I also LOVE the Suhr PT100 from Plugin Alliance, which is somehow a blend in between a Plexi and a JCM800 type of amp (amazing!). I’m mainly using an Ibanez MM1.
Would love to hear this similar sound on a helix bruv
So cool intro
You have demoed so many new guitars, can you give a review on the strengths and weakness of each and the best fit. I know you did this already for each but not relative to each other.
Sounds really good! Suits you 👍🏻
Single coils and humbuckers do different things in my experience. Depends on what you’re after. On the Fractal, try one of the plates or cathedral reverbs and turn the decay time up. You won’t get as much low end build up as you do with the plex or cloud delays. For lead scenes also give a try to engaging the fat switch from the ideal tab and use the CC Boost from the preamp tab.
I've mostly played humbuckers. I picked up a Strat partscaster a while ago (mostly Warmoth parts) with Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot pickups, but I hardly ever play it despite it being a fine guitar in terms of feel. Those pickups just sound so screechy and thin to me. (There's also the issue of the wiring in my 100+ yr old house producing really bad hum in single-coils.) I don't know if my issue is with single-coils or just the Fralins. I've really liked some Fender Strats I've played, so maybe it's the Fralins.
I really like Fender and Boogie tones from favorite players, but when I started using modelers, I could never get the tones I wanted from those models. I eventually gravitated to JCM800 models, which really surprised me because I don't much gravitate to Marshall tones (well, except for early Di Meola, but he dialed them in somewhat uniquely). My main electric is a Yamaha SA 1100 (335-like); the pickups are really good, and it works really well with JCM800 models. But maybe I'm not really dialing in a conventional Marshall tone. I tend to zero-out the presence, for example (sort of what your high cut does). —Tom
Cute dog, I've only just discovered the 2204 Mod in the HX Stomp and I'm really digging it with both single coils and hum buckers. It can often be difficult to tame the high end on a 2204 when you are using single coils and I find Teles work better than Strats. On my physical 2204 it can be nice to have the extra push from a hum bucker to drive the front end of the amp harder.
Can I request you review the Charvel D22 with the single coils? Thinking of getting one. 🙏🏻
IMO, mid to high output HBs that I have tried sound like crap. Low output or “ vintage” sound the best. Try a set of SD 59s. I think you will be surprised
Interesting…have you ever thought about making this a dog–centric channel?
I definitely prefer the sound of single coils. And I most certainly do NOT like humbuckers that sound too mid-rangey or too hot or compressed. I did put a pair of Dimarzio Eric Johnson humbuckers in one of my guitars, and they might just be my all time favourite pickups. All the chime and none of the hum. Changed my mind about humbuckers. They don't all have to sound "bad". (IMO)
Single coils sound good, but sound better when stacked because the stacked coil acts as a humbucker, therefore no 60 cycle hum. Malmsteen has a drop in pickguard with attached stacked coils , pre-wired available, requires two wires to be soldered to complete installation.
Over the past couple of years, I went from an Esquire dude back to an Explorer dude. Getting the HX Stomp and rediscovering Marshall-y sounds was what did it for me. There's definitely something about that top end sizzle and tight bottom end that just works so well with humbuckers. It's more broad than single coils, so you need to have the bandwidth in your band mix to pull off that sound, but man it's something special.
I was a straight-in, cranked-amp player with the Esquire but I was struggling to cut for solos and have enough body to the tone. Single coils can sometimes need a bit of massaging from pedals, but the more scooped sound stacks on itself nicely with lots of delay, reverb, modulation, etc. I'm noticing that humbuckers sound more 'complete' straight in to a driven amp, with inherent mids and compression that single coils lack, but there's also more bandwidth so I feel that I have to be more judicious in my use of effects because it's easier to over-do it.
I love fender amps with humbuckers. I love AC15/30 but I Always struggle with how dark it can easily get. And I love vox for chimes so it's a love hate relationship with the bucks.
Filtertron style humbuckers are one thing, but PAFs for cleans are a challenge. You get heavy pick attack and ice picks unless you compress your signal. But nothing in this video is anything close to what I call Clean.