does anyone else have a love hate relationship with humbuckers?

axisus

In relation to the other thread ....... I'm definitely love/hate with humbuckers. I love a cranked up high gain sound, but for everything else I'm not that keen on HBs. I much prefer the character of SCs and P90s. Every guitar I have even owned with two HBs has left me unsatisfied overall. The split sound is never that good, and the two HBs split and combined is never that good - All just my opinion of course. 

Best for me is HSS with splittable HB, but I think I'd always take SSS over HH if they were the only choices.

guitarfishbay

On bass yeah.

The only HB I've found that I really like is the Musicman Stingray - and that's also down to positioning as I don't like it in the place Sandberg put it on their MM/J instruments

Singles just have more punch and cut, less mud. Hard to beat a good Jazz or Precision for my tastes anyway 

Sassafras

The only humbucker sound I can tolerate is both combined, otherwise it's single coils all the way.

crunchman

I've been moving more towards single coils recently.  If I could only have one electric it would be my Strat.

It does depend on the humbuckers and the platform they are in though.   Low output vintage ("PAF") style pickups are a lot better than high output "modern" ones.  The platform definitely makes a difference.  A semi will have far more dynamics than something like a Les Paul with the same pickups.

There are different kinds of humbuckers as well.  Gretsch Filtertrons, or proper Fender wide range pickups, or the PRS Starla/Vela unit sound different from PAF style ones.  Most people will be thinking in terms of the PAF or a hotter modern version of it when they read your thread title.

There is the "Strats are thin and weedy" fallacy as well.  I used to think that but it was the crummy amp I had at the time.  I don't recall anyone ever saying that Gilmour sounds thin and weedy - although that might be because they don't want to deal with the wrath of @Gassage

Alegree

Not a fan of neck humbuckers. One of my first projects was a neck humbucker that sound great under high gain for riffing and rhythm, like nothing that I'd seen before.

usedtobe

Shouldn't this thread be in the Parody section?

  

dindude

Yes, see the other post for my thoughts, but in a nutshell - HB's I find take the character out of my playing.

underdog

God no, humbuckers are fantastic, I like a p90 but only for a bit more mellow stuff. 

ESBlonde

A good PAF will chime with the best and be totally articulate until you dig in and let it roar. Too many humbuckers are made for dirt/gainy sounds and seem to loose the very essence of a good pickup. Horses for courses I guess.

Danielsguitars

I'll say a good paf has some of the nicest clean tones to me
I was playing a Lp with mojo vintage pafs through a fender dr and it was so bloody clear, even through an 18watt lite it sounded fantastic

The only thing I'm thinking of doing is a strat neck pickup in a Lp dc junior with the normal p90 or split coil paf
That's one of the only fender sc pickups I like

mike_l

crunchman said:

There is the "Strats are thin and weedy" fallacy as well.  I used to think that but it was the crummy amp I had at the time.  I don't recall anyone ever saying that Gilmour sounds thin and weedy - although that might be because they don't want to deal with the wrath of @Gassage

Gilmour deliberately uses weak low output pickups so his outboard effects and amps create his sounds, not his pickups.

Anyway 'buckers for me, although I do love a nice single coil in the neck/middle positions.

Niallseroreilly

Get a DGT.... 

sawyer

Love em! PAF  style though not geet mental. P90? Even better!

richardhomer

Yes - they aren't really my thing - I think my playing has more character when I play a single-coil guitar. And I have a 'very' nice 335 - so it's not the guitar's fault....

beed84

Humbuckers are for 16 year olds sporting girly hair 

Cirrus

I'm a big fan of humbucker clean tones, but then, also a big fan of single coil and P90 cleans.

It just depends on the song, surely?

Modulus_Amps

I am opposite, I struggle with single coils more than humbuckers, I find it really frustrating that with the "standard" pole spacing on SC's the string output is not even.. and then there is the bridge pickup on a strat.......

underdog

beed84 said:

Humbuckers are for 16 year olds sporting girly hair 

OK 39 and have short hair do I have to switch to single coils now?  

TTBZ

I can't live without a bridge humbucker in at least one guitar. It's the most versatile sound imo, you can play pretty much anything with a good bridge humbucker and it'll sound good. I don't like them if they're too high output though. Mines 10k with an alnico 4 magnet which is perfect for me.

Neck humbuckers I can take or leave, I generally prefer a P90 there - neck hb is a bit too warm and round for me. P90s are close to being my favourite type overall but just a bit too twangy on the bridge for some of the stuff I play, plus they're noisy. The Bare Knuckle Pig 90 was amazing though, wish I never sold that! Volume all the way up it had the girth of a humbucker but rolled down it did the twangier p90 thing.

As has been said good PAF pickup are pretty versatile. I went for years just playing an LP with BK Mules from blues to metal.

mike_l

beed84 said:

Humbuckers are for 16 year olds sporting girly hair 

I'm neither 16 nor have (much) hair, proof you're wrong.

mike_l

beed84 said:

Humbuckers are for 16 year olds sporting girly hair 

I'm neither 16 nor have (much) hair, proof you're wrong.