Just can't get into single coils

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peckhart

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I've been playing humbucker equipped guitars for as long as I can remember. I have had a few Strats along the way...one with a humbucker bridge, which suited me fine. I like the distinctive sounds a Strat style guitar provides and every few years go down the path to have that option in the arsenal and I always just fight with them and never vibe with them.
Wanted to play more funky type stuff a while back and bought a new Strat Elite. Super nice guitar and feels fine to play, but single coils just feel so weak to me and I struggle to get good inspiring sounds and response out of them. The Strat cluck sounds are only good for so long and when I want to get some singing lead tones it just feels like a strain to get there.
Been trying with a Bogner Helios (played around with both channels on both Hot and Plex inputs) and a Bad Cat Hot Cat combo. Maybe its just time to stop forcing something that just doesn't work for how I play and what I want to hear and feel.

Any way....maybe others have some insightful thoughts or experience before I throw in the towel.
 
I have struggled with single coils since 85' when I started playing guitar. I have bought so many Stratocasters over the years, would keep them for awhile, and then sell them off. A Strat with a humbucker is cool but I get that feel out of a Charvel and prefer those for that setup.

With that said, last year I finally found a Stratocaster with single coils that works for me and that I love. I tried out an Eric Clapton Signature Strat on a whim, not knowing what to expect. The guy in the store told me that the guitar had a treble bleed knob and a built-in boost. I grabbed the guitar, plugged in, and purchased in about 10 minutes total. I had never done that with a guitar in my life.

When I have the boost knob all the way down to zero, you get the quacky, typical Strat tones with a lower gain, etc. When I crank it to 10, I swear it is like having a humbucker! I play around with the settings all the time. Sometimes I'll do a 5-5-5 with volume, tone, and the boost. Sometimes I'll dime every knob. There are so many great settings. Do yourself a favor and try one of these out. Mine is a 91' and I got it for $1000 used. Feels great, sounds great, etc. So glad I got it and is my only single-coil guitar.
 
Connect the bridge pickup to the tone knob and roll it back to 7 or 8. Otherwise the Strat bridge pickup is hopeless.

I really enjoy Strats and single coils, but they aren't humbuckers and just wont sound the same. Just have to accept that and roll with what they do well, which IMHO is have a chime and bite and articulation that humbuckers don't have.

If you switch back and forth between guitars with humbuckers and ones with single coils, you may want a clean boost pedal to up the level of the single coil guitars so that it matches up better with your other pedal and amp settings that you use with humbuckers.
 
I had a strat that I struggled with.. had CS57 pups in it... sounds amazing but too straty.. I saw this video.. compared the jb jr, called Duncun told them what I was shooting for and asked them about this pickup.. I ordered one.. Its great!! It cleans up nice as well.. plays well with the other 57 pups..

Hot Stack Plus Strat Bridge Pickup, Black
Higher Output than Classic Stack Plus
Hum Cancelling "Negative Hum" Design
DC Resistance 20.3k :D
Alnico 5 Rod Magnets


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpFnR8STyl8#
 
mrhiwatt":2htymvj0 said:
Try p90
Click to expand...

It’s a very different kind of single but this for sure.

I’ve really liked the sound of someone punishing Fender style singles but couldn’t get with singles either until I found the P90.
 
I've always hated single coils but here lately I find myself splitting my humbuckers when I'm playing leads and I'm actually enjoying it. But if I'm playing anything with a chord or some chugs then no just no.
 
Try some hotter true single coils (Di Marzio FS-1s or SDS-1s for example ) and a different spec volume pot ( like 300-375K Ohm instead of 250 K), next try a different boost pedal ( I like the DOD OD 250 type with single coils, sounds fat, the Yngwie spec DOD pedal works great too and it’s cheap). If those don’t work, try a stacked humbucker set of pickups with 500K volume pot, and if that doesn’t work, try a side by side single coil sized humbucker in the bridge position only. One of these options should work.
 
I would change the cap values and make the second tone knob also work for the bridge.

I have a 2000's MIM that I got a few weeks ago with pickups from an 1980's 57RI pickups that has PIO caps of a different value. That is the first strat that I have ever loved. I have owned well over twenty over the years (a lot were flips for profit), and none stuck for more than a few years.

Also its cheap and IMO worth trying is the fender TBX circuit.
 
Was in the same boat. I've been a humbucker / LP guy most of my life and only recently, after many attempts, found a single-coil Strat I can use for rock / hard rock.

In the end, several suggestions here came into play for me: A hotter, slightly darker bridge pickup with a dedicated tone knob rolled back just a bit and a good boost/od. Those two things did the trick for me. Always dug John Norum's Strat tones, but could never quite get there.

Tried a 'The Edge' signature Strat recently on a whim and the FS-1 bridge pickup was exactly what I'd been in search of and missing. I've never had luck getting a good bridge sound with the tone rolled off on other Strats, but for whatever reason, it works really well on that guitar. FS-1, large headstock, tone rolled down, Timmy boost, life is good! :rock:
 
Thanks all. Some good suggestions and I sight here. I dont really want to put any money into so I think I'll try boosting with some tools I have on hand.
 
Though not as powerful, single coils are extremely articulate. If your chops are weak, they will expose you. They're also picky about what amp you plug them into. My favorite pairing: Van Zandt singles, Tele bridge, Gibson or Tyson Tone P90's into VOX AC15. Ritchie Blackmore's Marshall's use VOX AC30 guts. One or two them were built that way by Marshall, though they will never admit to it. Use a treble booster or similar device to get the most out of them. I've gotten so use to P90's, my humbuckers choices are limited.

I'm a huge Ritchie, Rory, Brian May fan so...



 
Strat tones primarily come from the neck and middle pickup anyway. Go back to an HSS Strat and have the best of both worlds.

Also, single coil players put a lot of emphasis on the tone knob. Most of these players seem to have a common thread of running the bridge tone knob about half way.
 
nevusofota":j8rejqn1 said:

Strat tones primarily come from the neck and middle pickup anyway. Go back to an HSS Strat and have the best of both worlds.

Also, single coil
  • players
put a lot of emphasis on the tone knob. Most of these players seem to have a common thread of running the bridge tone knob about half way.
Click to expand...

That is the truth.
 
swamptrashstompboxes":3pgdcx9p said:
nevusofota":3pgdcx9p said:

Strat tones primarily come from the neck and middle pickup anyway. Go back to an HSS Strat and have the best of both worlds.

Also, single coil
  • players
put a lot of emphasis on the tone knob. Most of these players seem to have a common thread of running the bridge tone knob about half way.
Click to expand...

That is the truth.
Click to expand...

+2 The strat neck tone is dynamite, the bright SC on a strat is okay once you add the tone knob. That is why I am a fan of fat strats. I still want to try a plate under the bridge SC on a strat.

By contrast the Tele bridge is where its at. If you put in a 4 way switch you get both pickups in series as a option, which is pretty cool.
 
nevusofota":3c1b6mp8 said:
Strat tones primarily come from the neck and middle pickup anyway. Go back to an HSS Strat and have the best of both worlds.

Also, single coil players put a lot of emphasis on the tone knob. Most of these players seem to have a common thread of running the bridge tone knob about half way.
Click to expand...
When playing my Strat, I spend 80% of my time between the bridge and middle pickups. I place emphasis on the volume knob, tone knobs occasionally. When playing my P90 LP, I'm usually in the middle position, with a slight dip on the neck volume.
 
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