Nice single-coil jazz tones

[Oscar67]

Watching Robben Ford play his Tele neck pickup on Sophisticated Lady made me wonder why the humbucker is the prevalent jazz pickup. There’s nothing thin about his tone (though that Dumble might help …) and it’s very warm, yet it doesn’t take as much “sonic space” as a PAF style humbucker. The sound is very open.

For jazz purposes I’ve never really taken single coils seriously, apart from the wonderful P90 of course. So I grabbed my PRS DC3, plugged it into various amps and A/B’d with some humbucker equipped guitars: an Eastman with a SD Jazz, a Collings with a floating Kent Armstrong, a Gibson Custom ES335 reissue and a PRS NF3 (which has 57/08 humbuckers with narrowed coils that sense a much smaller section of string).

I was somewhat surprised that switching from the DC3 to a humbucker always gave me an initial ‘ouch!’ response. Even the narrow field buckers of the NF3, which are the most articulate and detailed pups I know, initially sound cluttered in the mids and much less open. After some time, my ears get used to the humbucker again. Now the DC3 single coils are NOT like a Strat’s. They’re PRS’s take on a single coil and sound warmer, fatter and more woody. This video makes the difference obvious, though it makes the DC3 sound dull which in reality it most certainly is not.

Anyway, I find the neck pup of my DC3 to be warm, articulate, woody and open and it’s a joy to use for jazz(y) purposes. Another lesson learned.

[marcwhy]

A luthier friend of mine builds wonderful archtops; if it were up to him, he'd put tele neck pickups on all of them, but the customers want humbuckers.

[wzpgsr]

It might be related to single-coil noise, not tone.

[sgosnell]

Humbuckers were invented to... buck hum. Single-coil pickups produce hum and noise in many situations. Humbuckers are usually very quiet.

[st.bede]

The real question is what single coils in what guitar. My experience suggests that a typical neck SC in a tele works better then a typical neck SC in a strat. Why this is, I am not sure. Then again I could be wrong.

There is also the problem of hum, which I think can be a little more of problem with jazz. There tends to be a lot more space in jazz comping, then other styles.

If I had to reduce (maybe to the point of ludicrousness), there are three(ish) approaches to jazz guitar “tone”. One is the thick thumpy thing. The second is the piano-ist sometimes old(ish) sound. Third is a, hey since we are doing fusion, why not add some more dirt. (Of course this is painting with a wide brush to the point where, I think Bob Ross might even complain).

I think the piano-ist sound does often include a SC PU on an acoustic archtop. However mini-HB are often used. I wonder if that is about hum.

I am just stuck out here in the country, far away from the bright lights of the city. (Karma is brutal. Oh I miss those shinning lights). Please feel free to enlighten me, if I have totally figured things out wrong.

[Oscar67]

Hum never stopped the country guys, or a gazillion blues guys, or Mark Knopfler. I’m guessing that most jazzers prefer the tone of ‘buckers and consider their lack of hum as a very pleasant extra. I can understand that, I love the tone of the ‘buckers in my guitars. Yet I was surprised by the A/B’s I did. When I pick up a guitar with ‘buckers in the morning, it sounds great. But played immediately after a good SC, it doesn’t sound that great. And then after a while my ears adjust to them and all is fine again. But there’s certainly a place in jazz for non-P90 SC’s, the Tele neck pup and PRS’s pre-Silver Sky SC’s being good examples. I’ve always been fond of the effortless playability and the superb in-tune-ness of my DC3 and I’ll be using it a lot more from now on.

[Bop Head]

The real question is what single coils in what guitar. My experience suggests that a typical neck SC in a tele works better then a typical neck SC in a strat. Why this is, I am not sure. Then again I could be wrong. […]

The typical strat has the tremolo springs that contribute to the sound.

[st.bede]

The typical strat has the tremolo springs that contribute to the sound.

I never thought of that... that makes a lot of sense.

[rpjazzguitar]

One of my friends gets terrific tone out of every guitar he plays, including jazz sounds from a Tele with a single coil.

But, when I try to do it, the highest notes are too thin sounding.

That's a shame, since SC pickups usually sound better to me on comping and mid range soloing.

I sometimes use the coil split option on my Comins GCS-1 -- and it often sounds better than non-split. But, I'm prone to forgetting which position the switch is in and screwing something up.

[Bop Head]

Just posted this in another thread.

[sgosnell]

We quickly get used to the sounds we hear, and those tend to sound better than whatever follows. Try playing a humbucker first, then switching to a single coil, and see if your preference is still the same. I do like single-coils, and especially the DeArmond Rhythm Chief. But I mostly play at home these days, and can overcome pickup noise by moving around. That's not always possible in other venues, especially bars with miles of neon and fluorescent lighting and free wifi. For those, humbuckers are more reliable, and the tone matters somewhat less than when playing at home or recording. In the end, it's whatever you prefer. A veritable plethora of options is available.

[rpjazzguitar]

My American Std Stratocaster has three SC pu's. If I mix neck and middle, the hum (if any) stops.

As I understand it, the two single coils are wired, in some models, in such a way as to become a humbucker, in effect.

In my Yamaha Pacifica 012, I have a Seymour Duncan Lil 59. I prefer it to the middle pu (stock), but, tbh, they don't sound as different as you might expect.

[Oscar67]

We quickly get used to the sounds we hear, and those tend to sound better than whatever follows. Try playing a humbucker first, then switching to a single coil, and see if your preference is still the same.

Did that. The openness and uncluttered, warm sound of this SC is appealing no matter what. I wouldn’t call it a preference and I’m not parting with my humbuckers . But for sure it is a very pleasant addition to my palette of tones. I’m guessing that these particular PRS SC’s (and possibly also the Tele neck pup) not only lack the typical midrange bump of a humbucker but also lack some of the high-end tail of Strat-style SC’s. So they’re open sounding but not trebly.

[Oscar67]

My American Std Stratocaster has three SC pu's. If I mix neck and middle, the hum (if any) stops. As I understand it, the two single coils are wired, in some models, in such a way as to become a humbucker, in effect.

Certainly. Most SC guitars are wired like that. The hum goes away but the sound changes a lot. You get some more high-end chime and of course that clucky-ness. Some of the woodiness disappears.

[guavajelly]

Like 15 years ago I had a trio and a carved Eastman archtop. It sounded good for the first set but then the drummer had a beer in the break and played just a hair louder. Then the howling became a problem. I could handle it but it was limiting, I could not sustain notes in the lower register.
Then on a whim I brought my tele to a recording session. It was liberating. I played the recordings to friends and they said it sounded like me anyway. It's always about the player, not the gear. The gear is just for us to enjoy.

[whiskey02]

[John A.]

Did that. The openness and uncluttered, warm sound of this SC is appealing no matter what. I wouldn’t call it a preference and I’m not parting with my humbuckers . But for sure it is a very pleasant addition to my palette of tones. I’m guessing that these particular PRS SC’s (and possibly also the Tele neck pup) not only lack the typical midrange bump of a humbucker but also lack some of the high-end tail of Strat-style SC’s. So they’re open sounding but not trebly.

Generally speaking, tele pickups are more mid-rangey sounding than strat pickups, especially early 50s-early-60s ones (RF’s 60 is an especially fat sounding one). Preferences around that underly a lot of the pickup swapping that people do with both strats and teles.

[garybaldy]

Generally speaking, tele pickups are more mid-rangey sounding than strat pickups, especially early 50s-early-60s ones (RF’s 60 is an especially fat sounding one). Preferences around that underly a lot of the pickup swapping that people do with both strats and teles.

In the 90s I swapped the Fender neck pickup on my Tele for a Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro Tele neck because the original was microphonic.
I was playing country at the time. Would that SD pickup be considered suitable for jazz/

[John A.]

In the 90s I swapped the Fender neck pickup on my Tele for a Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro Tele neck because the original was microphonic.
I was playing country at the time. Would that SD pickup be considered suitable for jazz/

No. The wires are the wrong color for jazz.

[pauln]

My Strat Plus came stock with the original Lace Sensor pickups (called the "Gold" ones after they made additional varieties). They use weaker magnets and more of them - instead of generating six fields in a line across the strings they generate two lines totaling 36 fields that overlap multiple strings, respond to more sounding string length, and have a more complex harmonic tone.

I have mine lowered very close to the pick guard; that additional distance (wider aperture) from the strings increases all those characteristics. They also have an inherent slight natural compression as you play further up the neck, so the usual single coil peakiness, spikiness, is suppressed right where needed.

Because of their design they are absolutely noiseless, even on stages with strings of LEDs, light dimmers, speed controlled ceiling fans, etc.

I've played it for 34 years, the last 25 performing jazz... I use all three pickups, great tones for jazz.

[garybaldy]

No. The wires are the wrong color for jazz.

I'm so glad I'm colour (color) blind!

[charleyrich99]

Has anyone tried splitting coils on a floater pickup?