Best examples of high gain single coil sounds?

Bezzer

I may be wrong, but I think Akerfeldt switched to single coils for the latest Opeth album and some of the sounds on there are pretty damned heavy.

Would echo the Biffy comment too, its not on every song by any means but when he wants hi gain by feck can he get it.

Jalapeno

Lebarque said:

Biffy Clyro. Somehow he makes a strat into a metal zone sound monstrous!

Was also going to say them

grungebob

elusivelight said:

Smashing Pumpkins are a decent shout in their early days but James Iha was also using a Les Paul Custom so not sure how much is really SC tone. 

True but if you listen to some of the love stuff we’re James isn’t playing you can hear how huge it sounds. 

Reverend

TTBZ said:

Bill Steer uses a Les Paul Jr a lot if we're allowing P90s (the best kind of single coil, fact).

HE does but not really with Carcass. He used the Jrs live for a bit as he found his Customs too heavy for touring but then switched over to Melody Makers with Monty pickups
The p90s are mostly with Firebird and Gents Pistols. 

newi123

Richie Kotzen is pretty high gain for the legato stuff 

Bezzer

This thread is making me chuckle a little bit with all the blues and classic rock players suggested for high gain.  Makes all the threads about mild OD pedals into low watt valves make more sense ;-)

Sorry ... I'm only being cheeky.  Clearly not a huge number of heavy rock / metal players on here though.

Jalapeno

Didn't Days Of Worth use Teles for their chugga sound ? (Made by your mate Creedy IIRC @Fretmeister)

EricTheWeary

s or RandallFlagg said:

Daniel Ash with Bauhaus? Fender Tele through HH amp

I'm guessing that wasn't what the OP was after either but it sounds magnificent. As far as I know it's just tele and amp plus probably the pre amp from his Copycat?
An HH pedal would be great - instant sales to all the old blokes who've invested in boutique valve amps but actually want to sound like Wilko Johnson, Bauhaus or Marc Bolan.    

elusivelight

Now I've had another think, one of Alexisonfire uses Jazzmasters and LP juniors. They're pretty heavy. It depends what you mean by heavy, I suppose it's contextual really. 

bermudianbrit

Eric Johnson? Does Cliffs count

rlw

Bezzer said:

This thread is making me chuckle a little bit with all the blues and classic rock players suggested for high gain.  Makes all the threads about mild OD pedals into low watt valves make more sense ;-)

Sorry ... I'm only being cheeky.  Clearly not a huge number of heavy rock / metal players on here though.

digitalscream

Tooting my own horn here a bit, but all the guitars on the left and in the solo are Lace Sensors (which, strictly-speaking, are single-coils with a fancy magnet):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR7ueyizumQ

artiebear

In truth, you can only apply so much gain at real sound pressure levels before the whole thing sound like screaming or mushy crap. Similarly at recording levels, the heaviest sounds are actually also the most distinct and punchy because they find space in the mix alongside everything else. Pretty much why everyones favorite "heavy "high gain bedroom tones sound like a wall of crap at stage or recording mix levels. It is the whole arrangement / mix that defines heavy, as well as retaining dynamics and the envelope of each note. Same gear, different styles of music. 
When recording,  I find that the heaviest parts tend to come from punchy distinctive multiple tracks, using eq, varying gain and compression, while allowing each one space in the mix 

Winny_Pooh

bermudianbrit said:

Eric Johnson? Does Cliffs count

Nope

Cols

Just realised a glaring omission - Tony Iommi.  All of the early Black Sabbath albums were a P90-equipped Gibson SG.

Maybe not ultra-high gain by modern standards, but still absolutely bonecrushing.

https://youtu.be/K3b6SGoN6dA

BloodEagle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq8m5eLn9yY

HarrySeven

EricTheWeary said:

HerrMetal said:

Bernie Torme. Proper old school noisy Strat tones. 

I love a bit of Bernie and saw him live several times but I doubt if he got really high gain? Maybe some of the GMT stuff. 

Yeah, I’d have said Bernie Torme too...

ICBM

Cols said:

Just realised a glaring omission - Tony Iommi.  All of the early Black Sabbath albums were a P90-equipped Gibson SG.

Maybe not ultra-high gain by modern standards, but still absolutely bonecrushing.

Not high gain at all. A treble booster into a non-MV amp cranked up is not even medium gain by modern standards.

The heaviness and 'crushingness' of Sabbath mostly comes from his phrasing and the bass tracking the guitar, as artiebear said (even if he meant multiple guitar parts).

RandallFlagg

EricTheWeary said:

s or RandallFlagg said:

Daniel Ash with Bauhaus? Fender Tele through HH amp

I'm guessing that wasn't what the OP was after either but it sounds magnificent. As far as I know it's just tele and amp plus probably the pre amp from his Copycat?
An HH pedal would be great - instant sales to all the old blokes who've invested in boutique valve amps but actually want to sound like Wilko Johnson, Bauhaus or Marc Bolan.    

Or Stuart Adamson, he used one as well with The Skids didn't he?

I love his tone with The Skids, a tone I aspired to as a kid. It took me many, many years to figure out he was tuned down to D

Cols

ICBM said:

Cols said:

Just realised a glaring omission - Tony Iommi.  All of the early Black Sabbath albums were a P90-equipped Gibson SG.

Maybe not ultra-high gain by modern standards, but still absolutely bonecrushing.

Not high gain at all. A treble booster into a non-MV amp cranked up is not even medium gain by modern standards.

The heaviness and 'crushingness' of Sabbath mostly comes from his phrasing and the bass tracking the guitar, as artiebear said (even if he meant multiple guitar parts).

Like I said; not by modern standards.  It all depends what fretmeister’s objective was in seeking high-gain single coil tones.  It could be that a dollop of Sabbathy goodness is just the ticket.