The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary

View Poll Results: Single coils or humbuckers

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  • Single coils of the Gibson variety: P90s, CC etc.

    47 39.50%
  • Single coils of the Fender variety: Tele, Strat etc.

    32 26.89%
  • Full Size Humbuckers

    65 54.62%
  • Mini Humbuckers

    6 5.04%
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Posts 26 to 50 of 61
  1. #26

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    HBs, CCs, and P90s. I’m a fan of all three.

    Single Coils or Humbuckers – what do you prefer and why?-a71910a5-4ab1-4a66-9ca3-1593362c6b9b-jpg

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  3. #27

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    For playing with others I prefer single coils (CC) simply because they seem to work better (i.e. clearer) with my main amp (Henriksen Alfresco 12" open back) and preference for thick rounded picks as well as my picking technique. But the buzz can be kind of annoying sometimes for home practice so I prefer HBs for practicing.

  4. #28

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    I chose mini-humbuckers, which I recently discovered via the cumbersome Firebird, but I enjoy the bite of a single coil and the warmth of a humbucker.

  5. #29

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    P-90s. I like the clarity over HBs and the grit over most other single coils.

  6. #30

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    Single coils have a more open and 3D sound to me. More scooped perhaps. But they can also be thin and bright.
    Humbuckers tend to sound more congested and less articulate but they are fatter and less bright in general.
    I use both but if I could only have one, that would be single coils probably.

    You can get good results by using EQ to make single coils sound like humbuckers but not the other way around in my experience. I mean you can cut the mids and a humbucker will sound like a single coil but it won't be as sweet and multidimensional. You can't put the 6k+ frequencies back but you can filter them.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    ....
    You can get good results by using EQ to make single coils sound like humbuckers but not the other way around in my experience. I mean you can cut the mids and a humbucker will sound like a single coil but it won't be as sweet and multidimensional. You can't put the 6k+ frequencies back but you can filter them.
    According to this all you need is a 10 dB boost with an EQ pedal to bring 6K+ frequencies to the single coil level:
    https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/re...-df-v3_WEB.jpg

  8. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by medblues
    According to this all you need is a 10 dB boost with an EQ pedal to bring 6K+ frequencies to the single coil level:
    https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/re...-df-v3_WEB.jpg
    That graph cannot be correct. You need to boost vintage Strat single coils to get to the signal level of hot humbuckers?
    Obviously it's the opposite. In fact many amps provide attenuated input for humbuckers.

  9. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    That graph cannot be correct. You need to boost vintage Strat single coils to get to the signal level of hot humbuckers?
    Obviously it's the opposite. In fact many amps provide attenuated input for humbuckers.
    You have a good point if the dB they have on the y axis is correlated with the voltage output of the pickup. I suspect they superimposed different graphs to demonstrate relative frequency content difference without standardizing for the voltage output of each pickup. Let's not forget however that there are low output humbuckers (many early ones including PAFs) and they have high frequency content that can be boosted so I don't think humbuckers are entirely devoid of 6K+ Hz frequencies and the upper limit is determined by probably the guitar speakers not the pickups.

  10. #34

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    I like them all and they all have their place....tele strat gibby, etc. Use them all where/when applicable!

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by medblues
    According to this all you need is a 10 dB boost with an EQ pedal to bring 6K+ frequencies to the single coil level:
    https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/re...-df-v3_WEB.jpg
    yes, and an amplifier and speaker that will reproduce frequencies above 5kHz. Most guitar speakers cut off about there, so boosting 6kHz+ doesn't help very much.

  12. #36

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    Full size humbuckers for me, especially a good PAF or early Patent #.
    But also have a soft spot for original Charlie Christians

  13. #37

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    I am always smitten by the sound of the MHS neck pickup in my ES 175 ‘59 RI VOS. It has all the HB warmth but also the bite and clarity of a single coil. I don’t have a lot of technical knowledge about pickups, but I understand that these p/u’s have a lower wind than ‘57 Classics, for example. I definitely hear a difference when compared to the ‘57 in my L5CES.

  14. #38

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    Personally I use humbuckers to get clean mellow tones - fingerpicked solo arrangements or warm melody lines. Single coils goes for all kinds of overdriven sounds, even with high gain. However speaking of single coils I mean humbuckers in split coils mode. This split coil option is great for somebody, who wants to have both in one guitar. I know, that split coil humbucker is not the same as pure single coil, but I find it close enough. Today You can get even humbucker, typical single coil and P90 in one pickup (SD P-rails). New Godin Montreal Premiere is equiped with this pickups.

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    yes, and an amplifier and speaker that will reproduce frequencies above 5kHz. Most guitar speakers cut off about there, so boosting 6kHz+ doesn't help very much.
    I fully agree with you (see my following comment above). In addition, people may hear very high or very low frequencies that are not physically produced by the speaker (e.g. missing fundamental) and attribute this to upstream components (correctly or incorrectly).

  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    I have a Lil 59 in a Strat copy that is less dark than the usual HB, possibly because it's narrow like a single coil (senses a shorter length of string, which can sound like an increase in highs). It can sound good.
    The main reason humbuckers are brighter on a Fender-style guitar is the longer scale length (usually 25,5"), which pushes the emphasis upwards in frequency.

  17. #41

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    Singlecoils every day of the week.
    I prefer Telepkups, Franz and De Armond/Dynasonic-types.
    Singlecoils got the least loss in tone, therefore more tonal range, dynamics and attack.

  18. #42

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    I like them all, but I find that I have only single coil now: Tele, P90 Les Paul, Danelectro U2 with the lipsticks. The P90 gives me the best combination of warmth and clarity.

    That said, I had an LP Studio Mahogany with Bursbuckers that I foolishly sold. That was a magical combination that makes me want a humbucker LP or an SG.

  19. #43

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    P90s generally, Guild's Franz p/us especially

  20. #44

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    md........yes to Franz pickups especially.......

    Sometimes I think about sneaking a Franz under the P-90 cover on my '52 ES-150.
    But then I have a '53 Guild X-100 that's already there so its best to enjoy the different flavors!

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by zizala
    md........yes to Franz pickups especially.......

    Sometimes I think about sneaking a Franz under the P-90 cover on my '52 ES-150.
    But then I have a '53 Guild X-100 that's already there so its best to enjoy the different flavors!
    …and afaik they won‘t fit. Franz are one of the most underrated Pickups ever by the way. Amazing unique.

    By the way- it‘s also the rich brightness of singlecoils. You can always turn less but you can‘t add it. Treble is a good thing. Listen to Julian Lage.
    Last edited by Stefan Eff; 07-05-2021 at 01:33 AM.

  22. #46

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    True single coils are my very least favorite build of pickup. I like the way they sound when I hear others play them, but I don't really like their brittle sound. Everything else that is meaty I love, including the fat single coils like P90s or Jazzmasters. I think I'm a humbucker man at heart tho. I like the grit and punch of the 2 coils. Any kind of hum count me in, full size, mini, or sc size. I want to make a 3 coil humbucker for jazz.
    Last edited by Clint 55; 07-06-2021 at 02:54 PM.

  23. #47

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    I like the clarity of single coils but can really dig the sound of a neck humbucker, too. Last year I got a Yamaha Revstar with p-90's, so that is another sound I have been digging a lot. It's all good!

  24. #48

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    My Trenier Jazz SPECIAL lam-top has a Kent Armstrong singlecoil floater attached to the pickguard and it will mos def stay there : the guitar has a beautifully balanced, warm, clear and still punchy tone, with enough "zing" to it for old-style 4-2-the-bar comping when needed but with a turn of the tone pot it's as velvety as you like it. OTOH my 2 other archtops (Victor Baker/KA PAF + Super-400CES/orig. PAF) def. sound best with their respective humbuckers and will also stay unchanged.

  25. #49

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    I'm poor enough technique wise to sound bad with anything; I'm just happy to be playing, so "all of the above" for me

  26. #50

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    The hum that I get with single-coil pickups drives me nuts. However, the tone I get with single-coils--especially with P90 pickups--makes it worth the struggle.

    Humbuckers are deliciously quiet, but they are sort of a yawn.