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Yes, humbuckers are "fat but dull". I tend to prefer single-coil nowadays, for this very reason. To each his/her own.
Originally Posted by MichaelJohnson@noirmusic.
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07-20-2016 08:46 AM
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I don't hear them that way. I like both types of pickups. I think singles have a ton of character, but buckers to me sound very clear and bell-like. Different sounds, but both good. Originally Posted by MatsP
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I wouldn't use the words "clear" and "bell-like" in the same sentence as "humbucker". Listen to a Stratocaster or Telecaster, THAT's bell-like for ya. With some reservations for people hearing things differently Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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The major problem with single-coils is of course the hum. Hence the word hum-bucker Originally Posted by MatsP
I wouldn't use the words "clear" and "bell-like" in the same sentence as "humbucker". Listen to a Stratocaster or Telecaster, THAT's bell-like for ya. With some reservations for people hearing things differently But you can't have it all, can you...
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To each his own. I've heard very few guitars more bell-sounding than my Ibby with Super58s through my Dr. Z. Originally Posted by MatsP
I wouldn't use the words "clear" and "bell-like" in the same sentence as "humbucker". Listen to a Stratocaster or Telecaster, THAT's bell-like for ya. With some reservations for people hearing things differently
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I think folks have different ideas as to what the term "bell-like" means or sounds like. When you ring a bell you hear a strong transient attack (like striking a gong or popping a cymbal with a drumstick), with a ringing, long decay.
I have owned many guitars with humbuckers. Mose are or have been Gibson guitars, one is a Heritage, one is a Gibson copy from Japan with Super 58 pickups, and one is a custom archtop with an exotic European pickup. I also have a couple of Fender-type guitars and have owned many more.
The humbuckers, to me, get the strong transient attack that you might associate with a bell. However, they don't have the clear, strong top end that a bell or cymbal has. This is simply endemic to the nature of a humbucking pickup. The pickup samples the string at two points that are relatively close together. As such, it cancels the frequencies with wavelengths that are shorter than the distance between the two coils at which the pickup is sampling the string. Thus, a humbucker is going to shun noise, but at the expense of suppressing the true high end of the sound envelope.
There is simply NO humbucker that has the high end of a Fender single coil--except perhaps a stacked-coil humbucker. Fender single-coil pickups get a clear tone that is right from the steel guitar playbook.
There is a place for both kinds of guitars. My entire adult life, I have made a place for both a Gibson and a Fender guitar in my collection of guitars.
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For most of my life I have always had, at a minimum, a Les Paul, a 175, a classical and a Strat.
I have played many, many jazz gigs on a strat.
IMO, Leo gave us one of the best guitar designs of all time.
Here is my all time list:
Torres Classical
Martin Dreadnaught
Selmer Oval hole
Gibson L-5
Gibson Super 400
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson 175
Gibson 335
Fender Tele
Fender Strat
IMO, all other guitars are derivative...YMMV
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I play a Telecaster with Bill Lawrence "noise cancelling" pickups, a twin blade in the bridge and a 202N in the neck which is a stacked humbucker. The pick ups are great, maintain the traditional character of the "Tele sound" but quiet. I will say they are slightly less bright/ bell like than a single coil.
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I have played Strats for jazz for the last 4 years, and have gone through some holoow and semi hollow guitars, and keep coming back to the Strat. Now I just picked up 2 24 fret HH Strat hardtails, a Schecter C1 Classic with SD JB and Jazz pickups, and a MIJ Jackson with 2 59's, and have been enjoying them tremendously.
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I use my Strat style guitar at jazz gigs.Attachment 34318Attachment 34319
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I recently picked up a Fender FSR Strat - MIM standard, tobacco burst, rear rout - for $350 off CL. The pickups were a mix and I had a DiMarzio 51 that I installed in the neck position. I put some 0.011s on it and had my tech set it up. Looks and sounds great. I basically do standards. It isn't Wes or Joe, but it has a nice musical tone.
Last edited by Bach5G; 08-04-2016 at 12:58 AM.
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My first electric was black American Strat.
I do not know why but I never bonded with it and went through quite a few axes in a search of hollow grail:
1. Ibanez AS120 (still have it - nowadays as synth guitar - loaded with Classic 57s)
2. Gibson 335 (gone)
3. Gibson Firebird (gone)
4. Gibson SG '61 RI (gone)
5. Gibson LP Studio (gone)
6. Gibson LP Goldtop (gone)
7. G&L ASAT Bluesboy (great geet but truss rod quit so I traded it for...)
8. Gibson SG '61 RI (again... but gone)
9. d'Angelico EXL (still have it hoping one day will bond with it - upgraded pickup to real KA)
10. Custom headless by Chris Forshage - Telecaster configuration (fav for fingerstyle playing)
11. Prestige Musician Pro (great pawnshop find - very unique sonically - because of 20 fret neck)
and then...
12. Lonestar Strat (HSS)
Had it for few years (old trade for acoustic) but it was jut collecting dust. With saddle and locking tuners upgrade it seemed like a neat guitar but I guess I had a blindspot on Strat because it was my first and I did not love it. Until I started rehearsing for jazzy Christmas gig (couple vocals, guitar, bass, sax and percussion/vocal) and on a whim I took that Strat to rehearsal. And liked it a lot - it sustains, you can make it percussive or glossy or snappy (I always liked electric piano). It cuts through. And there is something about it neck - I look at it and I see possibilities - ideas to explore - no idea about that part - why Strat makes it so much easier than most of my other guitars. Took it to the jam few days ago and noticed that I had to be careful EQing the amp - it was easy to step on bass player's toes when playing chords on neck or neck/middle settings - I think next time I play with them I will use bridge-middle for chords and neck position for solos (a bit edgier than 2nd position). But I still dig it a lot - even though I think it is harder to play straight to amp (I used EP booster and Diamond compressor going into Evans 150W solid state). So who knows maybe the illusion is here to stay and it is a new blues mobile ;-)Last edited by woland; 11-09-2017 at 11:10 PM.
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The neck on my strat crapped out this year, so I stuck the pickup in a hollow body:
Strat pickup in my archtop - VIDEO CLIP ADDED
Strat is a fine guitar for jazz, and any style really..
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I really like the sound of single coil pickups the best. Buckers have their place, but single coils have so much personality. Originally Posted by woland
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If it works for you - there isn't a thing to argue with about that! Originally Posted by woland
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strats can be nice jazz guitar...esp with some flats and the neck pickup lowered into the body a bit...the strat design with the strings close to the body and the back trem cavity system, can give it a loud natural clean acoustic quality
plus you can play with the pickup heights to give you nice warm quack with the middle pickup added...for variation!
also, the 25.5 scale can really get you some solid clear bass tones
cheers
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Hmm interesting idea with flats. Might naturally darken the tone too. I will run it through my luthier friend - see if he has any brand suggestions. I have it set up with Pyramid 10s (roundwounds. I really like Pyramids - they are sivery bright but they also have rounded tone - not abrasive at all. You are right about 25.5" and clarity of bass tone - I never thought about that part. That custome headless guitar has fanned frets - 25" on treble side and 25.5" on bass side. Best of two worlds. But it also creates it's own set of issues - Harmonics are hard. Dirt pedal that work like a charm on Strat may sound strange on that headless guitar. Originally Posted by neatomic
Last edited by woland; 11-10-2017 at 08:40 AM.
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Great story! Just go ahead!
In my band (dr, double bs, cl & Mallet Kat marimba/vibes) the bass player warned me many years ago about stepping on his toes. This made me to search ways to avoid it. This lead me to a style where I play chords mostly on three strings (2, 3 & 4) and since our key is mostly C (its another story...) I work mostly in 5-9 position.
I am surprised how much variation You find in forms of chords in those three strings. Don’t worry about root note, there’s a bass player for that!
Then I try to avoid large movements too (to keep me better in my register) so that is the other part of my ’dogma’. Makes the prethinking harder to figure out how to play but usually I end up to quite melodic progressions.
Of course I use very much the 5th string too and why not all, but with the forementioned three the chords cut thru just fine.
The solos are another thing, of course. Then I need all the strings to stumble with!
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If I could have one and only one guitar it would be a stratocaster (I have 4). Luckily for all of us, we can have more than one guitar.
"Beware of the man with one guitar, he can probably play".
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I have always picked up my Strat more often than any of my other guitars. TI Jazz 12's tuned down a step is my set up on my Strat hardtail partscaster. Pretty basic.
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Yeah - same here. Originally Posted by rhoadsscholar
ROFL at you quote - very true. I know somebody that has big collection of guitars
including $3500+ custom made ones and top notch boutique amps and pedals.
And for quite a while he spent his time perfecting one ACDC riff over variety of gears...
And then maybe U2 riff over delays. And at the same time I see great local jazz cat
playing same beat-up Les Paul Jr through some inexpensive pedals and making amazing music.
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Interesting idea (tuning down) - I just watched Tim Lerch YT video few days ago explaining how he tunes Originally Posted by lammie200
down his Tele(s) when working solo or with vocalist - some very convincing example - man is a monster
player and great teacher.
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100% correct - I do the same (2-3-4 strings and 4 through 10 positions)- if I know the song well I can play around with voice leading - stay is same range and maybe add occasional note on top string. But if I never played the song (and this happens about half of the time at any given jam - I only started coming to jams about 2 years ago so I am in "beginner" category) then I often fall on simple "big" shapes. Need to work on rootless shapes much more, Originally Posted by Herbie
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I'm not a Fender guy at all, but I can't deny that a strat is the most comfortable piece of wood one could ever hold against their body! It just melts into you.
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I could never manage to get a good jazz sound out of a strat. It always sounds a little too "sproingy" for me, IYKWIM. But I have heard other people manage it. Tony Greaves who's a terrific player, and gives lessons online plays a strat and sounds pretty darn credible on it. Worth noting is the pickups. Something like Texas Specials which are designed to maximize the twang probably aren't going to be a great sound for jazz.
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A really nice pickup in a cheap guitar
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