Forums > Electric Guitar > Single-Coils or Humbuckers??
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Forums > Electric Guitar > Single-Coils or Humbuckers??
Original message:387 days 15 minutes ago
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Well, what do yo think?
Single-Coils for clean, warm sound and humbuckers for heavy distortion?
Or Humbuckers for bluesy clean sounds and single-coils for decent rock distortion??
What do you prefer?
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Reply:386 days 22 hours 39 minutes ago
Member: johnny cox
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I use humbuckers for rock,blues,jazz and single coils for country (Chicken Pickin)
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Plug in, turn up and spank the plank
Reply:386 days 22 hours 26 minutes ago
Member: RuiOlasBrandon 's
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Cool. Any more suggestions??
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Reply:386 days 21 hours 43 minutes ago
Member: Dorian Bakx
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I use Humbuckers for strictly my rhythms & passages; will use them in any solo situation that covers from open string(any) to the 9th fret (80% of time)... not higher.
For my single coils i mostly used for covering the rest of the neck (9th fret up) in solos (the neck position) and exclusively for acoustics & cleans (middle pos. with the humbucker splited sometimes) 99% of time...
but that just me...
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Reply:386 days 21 hours 8 minutes ago
Member: ibzRG
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Whatever gives me the right feel at any given moment. In distortion I use both. In clean I lean towards the singles.
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Reply:386 days 20 hours 23 minutes ago
Member: Zanary
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I like both, though on Strat-style guitars I like a bridge 'bucker mixed with the neck/middle singles.

On a mahogany guitar...P-90s are the only singles that sound good to me (or close copies thereof).

The best thing about singles is their heightened sensitivity, compared to 'buckers. You can really color single coil sounds with EQ and tone knob adjustments. Buckers tend to be less resilient.
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Reply:380 days 18 hours 5 minutes ago
Member: Shane
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Most of the time I play my Strat on middle and bridge pick-up. It's a bit smoother and not as harsh than just the bridge pick-up. If I need a warmer, fuller tone I'll use my mahogony Schecter with humbuckers. It's great, but my Strats are a bit more versatile and they cut through the overall sound and can soar above the music without increasing volume or overpowering the rest of the band.
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Reply:380 days 17 hours 50 minutes ago
Member: RuiOlasBrandon 's
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Cool... I like to use Humbuckers for Clean sound Reggae. With distortion it gets a bit heavier..
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Reply:380 days 17 hours 33 minutes ago
Member: dcunning30
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It depends. Since I mostly play metal, I use humbuckers almost exclusively, even for clean tones. But when I want that bite that only a single coil gives, then I use my fat strat and use the middle pickup. Usually when I'm messing around with blues. Everyone has their preference, this is just mine.
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Reply:380 days 16 hours 3 minutes ago
Member: collisi0n
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i use two strats, one SSS and one HH. the humbucker is definitely better for hard rock and even stuff like queen, surprisingly (but not really considering how hopped up the red special is). the single coil sound is good for stuff like funk, blues, etc.
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Reply:380 days 14 hours 45 minutes ago
Member: shanejohnson2002
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I really like both. For jazz, blues, and most clean or slightly overdriven work, I like using the neck single or neck / mid combined. For rock, obviously a bridge humbucker is the way to go, but sometimes (especially for rhythm guitar) I prefer the trashy sound of a bridge single coil.

I have "discovered" a really interesting tone with the neck / middle singles. I play through a good amount of gain (my tubescreamer maxed out on the clean channel), and I roll the tone knob back to just 2-4 above all the way down. When I do this, it gets really cool, weird vocal-like harmonics that come out of the sound, especially when doing legato runs. I like to use it on ballads and laid-back fusion stuff.
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Reply:380 days 8 hours 11 minutes ago
Member: Night Owl
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It really depends on what I'm doing. If I'm playing lead (unlikely) or soloing (even more unlikely) I'll use a single. For rythm (which I play 95% of the time) I use a humbucker along with a good amount of distortion.
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Currently working on my new album "Mythology", Due this Spring!
Reply:379 days 14 hours 35 minutes ago
Member: RuiOlasBrandon 's
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Ok... I play solo and lead, the biggest part of my practise time, so I feel more comfortable with humbuckers!!
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Reply:378 days 20 hours 49 minutes ago
Member: duane
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I play solo and lead, the biggest part of my practise time,

Please, take the time to learn chords, voicings, inversions,etc. LOTS of people can solo, few can comp.
Reply:378 days 20 hours 36 minutes ago
Member: Richey
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SCs for cleans and light overdrive; HBs for heavy stuff.
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