Single Coil vs Humbucker Overdrive

[JBryantfan]

In watching the American Vintage 2 1963 Tele demos and many others it seems that the
overdrive part is not any different than the HB demonstrations on some other Tele models I'm thinking maybe
single with a tube screamer or similar into a good tweed/blackface is all you need
and the rest is simple compete-with-Gibson marketing. Steve Cropper wasn't hurt
by using his overdrive here.
At first I wanted the new Tele Deluxe 75 but am thinking of the 1963 single coil
I know specialty people want something different and always will but in general
is it worth it or do the single coil/overdrive pedal/Fender amp thing? Or maybe even
just turn the tweed up? Any ideas on this?
Sometimes it seems to original design was SO good that things like HB and Thinlines become
a lot of work for little sound/reward compared to the original, just a little pedal/amp tweeking
rather than a whole rethink, which these sound like they do. I could be wrong about it, just
seeking some opinions, especially since the AV2 is burning a whole in my
pocket with GAS at the moment

Everyone liked the first post song this morning so thought I'd post another similar one called Boot-leg.
BTW Red Beans and Rice opens with the "Hendrix chord" used for Purple Haze. Make a 2 finger open E7 chord
and find the notes. Hendrix used to speak to Cropper a lot and learn things such as at Monterey when
Booker T and the Mg's were playing with Otis and Jimi was there.

 

[archtop_fjk]

Wow, that Booker T and MG's track is way cool, and from 1965! Sounds like Steve Cropper was using a fuzz? Superb tone!

 

[McGoldTopp]

I find myself mostly playing p-90's and tele bridge pickups around 7k.

once in a while I play an under 9k 57 paf, and I think ohh that overdrive/fuzz is "cleaner"

 

[caliban335]

The Blackstone Mosfet overdrive has settings for single coil and humbucking pickups. It's a very versatile pedal.

 

[chris m.]

A Tele with a bit overwound single coil bridge pickup sounds great into something like a Marshall, IMO. Just takes some tweaking of the EQ. You get a little more clarity and bite, without it being too harsh. Rolling back the tone knob on the guitar just a tiny bit also helps.
Worked for Page on Led Zep 1 so the righteous tones are there. It's not going to be as "round" of a tone like you'd get from a PAF, definitely a touch more cutting, but not ice-picky at all. Viva la difference, I say. I was just playing my Tele with a Cavalier Huge Lion through a Marshall type setup and I was really liking how it sounded. The other guitarist in my band uses a Gibson ES339, and he uses one of those Dumble-esque stomp boxes to get a very creamy lead tone. I like having a contrasting lead tone from him.

 

[Platefire]

First time I heard Red Beans and Rice, Thanks! It all sounded good to me except when he got up on the high little E-string
notes and it got too Ice Picky for me. Of course in 1965, a lot of the fuzz's didn't even have a tone control---a lot just had a vol and fuzz knob

 

[TeleMark]

Rhett Shull always describes his ideal Les Paul tone as being like a beefier Telecaster.

Another option is the Seymour Duncan boost pedal. It makes a single coil perform like a bucker.

 

[Frank Entele]

It also makes a difference as to what you’re listening to for a reference speaker. An iPad is a lot different than a pair of Khorns is a lot different that live. All that said, vintage gear (single coil or humbuckers) is sought after because it ‘can’ get you there.

 

[gregulator450]

On video demos I have a hard time hearing a significant difference between singles and hb's except when the player goes into full metal distortion and playing. The output of the hb makes a difference for me too. A JB distorted will sound quite a bit different from a vintage single coil to me.
I have an SG with 490 R/T pickups, and with polepieces adjusted for equal volume across strings they sound very P-90ish to me and in the right hands it can spank like a tele. I found this quite surprising, that it sounds more single coil than humbucker.

If I were buying a "one guitar to do everything" I would probably get a tele with single coils and install a 4-way switch for series.

 

[Supertwang]

Who amongst us limits themselves to 1 guitar? Seems to me everybody needs a single coil guitar & a HB guitar. If I could only have 1 guitar I’d probably have a 335 with coil taps on both HBs.

 

[jvin248]

.

Remember there are Internet forum fights about did Hendrix record with a Tele and play a Strat on stage? And what about those Led Zeppelin dudes recording with a Tele while trundling up Gibson Les Pauls on stage? Listening to the the tracks I can definitely tell that's a Tele! No you can't, that's definitely a Strat/LP! And on and on...

My advice: Get a Tele with a Single Coil bridge pickup and a 4-way switch to put both pickups in series -- for a stealth Les Paul Junior. Additionally, put a steel base plate under the Tele bridge pickup (steel is magnetic and reflects the magnetic field at the strings increasing output plus noise reduction, the brass-only plates just give noise reduction). Some even like to put a Strat neck pickup in their Tele ... then you get the best of a Strat, the best of a Tele, and the best of a LP Junior.


Then study up on spinning the guitar knobs to get all the tones



.

 

[CowTownPickers]

I like using my James Brown design Kustom 72 Coupe amp. 2x12 with 72 watts of tube power and I use some reverb and tremolo. I turn up the volume and use the master volume and then the guitar volume. If I want more "color" in the sound I use a Soul Food pedal or hit the boost button on the amp pedal. Get the sound from pushing the amp with volume and adjust volume and color with everything else. Just my way?

 

[Ricky D.]

I don't remember much in the way of effects pedals available back in 1965. Maestro Fuzz Tone was about it. The pedal thing was just getting started.

The record sounds a lot like what you can get from a BFSR turned up, like Cropper used on some other songs around then.

 

[AdamDehner]

In watching the American Vintage 2 1963 Tele demos and many others it seems that the
overdrive part is not any different than the HB demonstrations on some other Tele models I'm thinking maybe
single with a tube screamer or similar into a good tweed/blackface is all you need
and the rest is simple compete-with-Gibson marketing. Steve Cropper wasn't hurt
by using his overdrive here.
At first I wanted the new Tele Deluxe 75 but am thinking of the 1963 single coil
I know specialty people want something different and always will but in general
is it worth it or do the single coil/overdrive pedal/Fender amp thing? Or maybe even
just turn the tweed up? Any ideas on this?
Sometimes it seems to original design was SO good that things like HB and Thinlines become
a lot of work for little sound/reward compared to the original, just a little pedal/amp tweeking
rather than a whole rethink, which these sound like they do. I could be wrong about it, just
seeking some opinions, especially since the AV2 is burning a whole in my
pocket with GAS at the moment

It sounds like a Princeton or Champ cranked to me. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't using a pedal at all.

 

[Bandboy]

.

Remember there are Internet forum fights about did Hendrix record with a Tele and play a Strat on stage? And what about those Led Zeppelin dudes recording with a Tele while trundling up Gibson Les Pauls on stage? Listening to the the tracks I can definitely tell that's a Tele! No you can't, that's definitely a Strat/LP! And on and on...

My advice: Get a Tele with a Single Coil bridge pickup and a 4-way switch to put both pickups in series -- for a stealth Les Paul Junior. Additionally, put a steel base plate under the Tele bridge pickup (steel is magnetic and reflects the magnetic field at the strings increasing output plus noise reduction, the brass-only plates just give noise reduction). Some even like to put a Strat neck pickup in their Tele ... then you get the best of a Strat, the best of a Tele, and the best of a LP Junior.


Then study up on spinning the guitar knobs to get all the tones



.

I’ve seen Yardbirds footage with Page using a tele.

 

[David Menke]

Not sure how great the comparison online are in sound quality, but the sound of a Tele single coil bridge, and the sound of a Strat single coil bridge are totally different even with overdrive, pedals or amps. Also the sound of a humbucker and a P-90 are also different in same overdrive (amp) and pedals. There is also sound differences with different pickups.
It just takes a little bit of time, guitar + amp + pedals to see what fits your style and needs.
The sound David Gilmour (pinkfloyd) gets overdriven is an excellent tone in my opinion with either a strat or tele.
Carlos Santana, with either a Les Paul or PRS also has a creamy tone with humbuckers through his Boogie Amp.
Eric Clapton sounds the same with his Strat and his Gibson guitars. Tone a bit different but his sound and style are both there.
Good luck in experimenting to find your personal Tone!

 

[ChaseB]

I’m using a Cobra T from Bareknuckle pickups in my Esquire (it’s a single coil around 15k on the winds) and it smokes your typical off the shelf humbucker for overdrive / distortion tones. Other than that I use Texas Special or Twisted Tele bridge pickups at around 10-11K and same thing. Better dynamics and better overdrive tones than a humbucker. I sold all my Gibsons when I got into Teles

 

[jrintheemaking]

I don’t think this has been said yet, but the main thing I notice between the two, is if you’re going for an edge of breakup sound or a even a gain-y one, you don’t have to push the amp as hard or use overdrive pedals with most hbs. The hbs pickups tend to breakup sooner and you can achieve gain at lower volumes if that’s what you are aiming for.
For example, I have some early PAFS- super bright and clear. They sound as much like a single coil as I’ve ever heard, but they get gain-y at very low volumes (even on an amp with a lot of headroom).
I personally don’t like that quality as I like to have more headroom, not less.
With that said, I do have single coil pickups (P90s) that are wound super hot and they break-up quickly too.
In terms of a specific gain sound, P90s and gold foils are the most distinctive to me.

 

[chris m.]

I don’t think this has been said yet, but the main thing I notice between the two, is if you’re going for an edge of breakup sound or a even a gain-y one, you don’t have to push the amp as hard or use overdrive pedals with most hbs. The hbs pickups tend to breakup sooner and you can achieve gain at lower volumes if that’s what you are aiming for.
For example, I have some early PAFS- super bright and clear. They sound as much like a single coil as I’ve ever heard, but they get gain-y at very low volumes (even on an amp with a lot of headroom).
I personally don’t like that quality as I like to have more headroom, not less.
With that said, I do have single coil pickups (P90s) that are wound super hot and they break-up quickly too.
In terms of a specific gain sound, P90s and gold foils are the most distinctive to me.

Filtertrons, true Firebird pickups, lipstick pickups, and Dynasonics also have a different tone.

My understanding of all of this is that there are some fundamentals-- pickup dimensions, materials, windings, design, pickup covers-- that all add up to both the strength of the pickup, but more importantly to the overall EQ pattern which is somewhat a happy accident of comb filtering and other physics that goes on.

Because the pickup "tone" you hear is mostly a symptom of the happy-accident EQ spectrum and signal strength that you end up with, there is no doubt that you can get one pickup to sound somewhat like another by using EQ pedals, boost pedals, overdrives, etc., which further alter the EQ and signal strength on the way to the amp.

 

[Dukex]

Who amongst us limits themselves to 1 guitar...?

Word.