Anything that combines the qualities of humbuckers and single coils in one pickup?

Ultimately I want an ES 335 style guitar but I want the sound to be not muddy. I envision a guitar with the upper 3-4 strings sounding like a humbucker on a 335 and the bottom 2-3 strings sounding like that of a stratocaster.

Is there any pickup out there that can achieve this?

Do you require humbucking? If not, I'd look at some of the single-coil-in-a-humbucker-package offerings that various folks have out.

Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with a Duncan Phat Cat. It's a P90 that drops right in to the humbucker hole. Articulate, rounded cleans, and facemelting dirt. I love the things. I've got two full sets in a couple different guitars now.

I don't know about sounding exactly like a 335 but I just got a Telecaster FMT today that has a coil tap in the volume pot that allows you to switch between humbucker and single coil. (I hope to give my full impression of the guitar on this board soon.)

There must obviously be other guitars out there that do this and I'm sure anyone handy in basic electronics could rig something like that up. That wouldn't be me:oops:

I guess what I was getting at was I love semi-hollow and hollow body guitars but hate the typical muddy sound the lower strings get. I love the snappy clear sound of a strat on the lower strings.

I realize some of this has to do with the scale lengths of the guitar types but I wondered if there is such a thing as a pickup that is half/half. (ie. single coil on the bottom 3 strings and humbucking on the top). Maybe this is crazy but I just wondered. Perhaps there are humbuckers that fit the bill?

I put GFS Nashville Retrotrons in my semi-hollow, and they are definitely sharper and twangier than any other humbuckers I've used. Since they're meant to be budget substitutes for FilterTrons, I imagine real FilterTrons or TV Jones pickups would do even better.

Hmm, to me Twang sounds like country. I realize this is a tele forum. I am more interested in jazz and blues and basically want a hollow body without the muddy lower frequencies that seem to come with the package.

No such thing I'm afraid. You either get clarity on all 6 strings or none of them.

I haven't tried it yet, but the GFS Dream 90 (http://store.guitarfetish.com/dr90husip90w.html) sounds pretty promising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhjUFaaQio0

Yeah, I actually bought a set of Dream 180s and they were quite muddy sounding on my el cheapo semi hollow guitar. Maybe a p90 style pickup is the way to go on a hollowbody to get the sound I want.

look under a different rock, hollow body, no mud...
Quality is way up now too :wink:

15h-b_R-poU

Try one of our own Telenator's uber tweaked Fender Wide Range pickups. I'm kinda fussy and I loved 'em. There may be one in the classifieds here. Or, PM the dude.

How about a Charlie Christian-type? www.vintagevibeguitars.com make the HCC, a humbucker-sized blade pole single coil, kinda like a cross between a P90 and a Charlie Christian; it ahs the openness and snappy attack of a single-coil, but is full, warm, and round like a humbucker; should work very well for jazzy & bluesy tones.

Thanks johnnylaw!

The WRHB's do indeed sound exactly like the answer to the question.

I guess what I was getting at was I love semi-hollow and hollow body guitars but hate the typical muddy sound the lower strings get. I love the snappy clear sound of a strat on the lower strings.

I realize some of this has to do with the scale lengths of the guitar types but I wondered if there is such a thing as a pickup that is half/half. (ie. single coil on the bottom 3 strings and humbucking on the top). Maybe this is crazy but I just wondered. Perhaps there are humbuckers that fit the bill?

Some possibilities (within easy reach):


minibuckers
running your full humbucker equipped guitar into the #2 input of your amp rather than the #1 to reduce the amplitude of the input signal which is what causes the muddiness
adjusting the height of the humbucker so that the bass end sits a bit further from the strings
lower output full humbuckers. I replaced the ceramic Classic 57s on my 2002 ES345 with VintageVibe AlNiCo 2 humbuckers. I told Pete that I was after that "Kenny Burrell" tone - and he delivered (as usual).

TV Jones TV Classics in humbucker cases will do EXACTLY what you want. Not cheap at $135ea., but I have to tell you that they have a lot of magic about them. It's the sound of a humbucker with that top-end chime and articulation you hear in the best FilterTrons. The Classic Plus has a bit higher output, but still retains the tone.

Seymour Duncan P-Rails . .

P90, Stratty Singlecoil rail pickup, PAF-like in parallel mode and a nice high-output humbucker in series-mode. Sure, not all at the same time . .

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/progressive/prails_shpr1/

These will go into one of my future projects.

One more vote for GFS: on my 335-ish guitar I've got a couple of Alnico Fat Paf that are coil-tapping: when you set them as single-ciol, the sound doesn't change but for a sensible bass reduction: nice feature, two pup's in one.

As jrfrond has written, TV Classics might be what you're looking for. Another alternative would be Harmonic Design Z-90s. I put a set in my Sheraton and I've been very pleased.

http://www.harmonicdesign.net/allpages/gibsons.html

Good luck.

Maybe something like a low-output humbucker, like a Lollar Imperial or a Duncan Jazz.

P90 all the way. I have a GFS P90 in the neck position on one of my teles, and it has the fullness of a humbucker with the better definition of a single coil. Great for jazz too.

+ 1 for the P-Rails. Installed a set in my Squire Custom II a few weeks ago. Go from twang to heat to fat to mellow just flicking switches. Gonna be a long time exploring all the possibilities. Do find my settings leaning more to P90 though.

Ultimately I want an ES 335 style guitar but I want the sound to be not muddy. I envision a guitar with the upper 3-4 strings sounding like a humbucker on a 335 and the bottom 2-3 strings sounding like that of a stratocaster.

Is there any pickup out there that can achieve this?

Have you considered Gretsch?

Have you considered Rickenbacker?

A high quality p-90 will get you close. I haven't experienced any mud with any decent P-90 replacements. Think Beatles for a classic P-90 hollow body sound with tight bass (of course they also had tight treble). Also, make sure your guitar has decent 500k pots. If you bump the string guage up one notch, you should be able to get a slightly tighter and more strat-like bass response.

Finally, don't expect miracles. Pickups will only get you so far.

Have you considered Lace Hemis?

get a donahue wiring (like in a peavy omniac) for your tele. you won't have a 335-style but the 2nd position gives you neck humbucker flavour galore.

listen to a strat with a s-1 switch.

Some possibilities (within easy reach):

...

adjusting the height of the humbucker so that the bass end sits a bit further from the strings
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+1. I was messing with my humbuckers not too long ago, and realized that lowering that bass side actually increased the punchiness of the low strings, rather than decreasing it. Also, I have my pickups set pretty far down compared to stock specs - 6/16" for the neck and 4/16" for the bridge. You may want to try lowering the whole thing down a lot (not just the bass side).

It is worth giving it a shot, because it is free and a lot easier than swapping pickups. (I guess that is assuming you already have the guitar. It sounds like this may be more of a hypothetical thread, in which case, I recommend playing with pickup heights before changing pickups when/if you do get the guitar.)

TV Jones TV Classics in humbucker cases will do EXACTLY what you want. Not cheap at $135ea., but I have to tell you that they have a lot of magic about them. It's the sound of a humbucker with that top-end chime and articulation you hear in the best FilterTrons. The Classic Plus has a bit higher output, but still retains the tone.

No kidding, when I read your post, I instantly thought TV Classics would fit the bill. If you're not into that kind of sound (can't imagine you wouldn't be based on your desires) you can get TV Jones Powertrons which is a mix of filtertron and PAF. I really like my classics though.

If it helps, I recorded a bunch of videos for reviews of pedals, the Pro Tone Body Rot II and the Tavo Vega Brain Seltzer Nocturne and used my Gretsch on most of them. If you'd like to take a look, it's located here: http://www.youtube.com/5thfret1