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Gassage said: In general, strat and tele style pickups have more string pull than PAF output humbuckers with 'under coil magnets', but it is the very fact that their magnetic fields are so directly in proximity to the strings that makes their tone and dynamic range wider than a humbucker. It's very noticeable when swapping from a Tele to an Esquire how much the sustain is increased by having no string pull at the neck position,
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
And just as a side note, humbuckers are not less dynamic in terms of this definition. They're both the same.
Apparently, "DiMarzio's lowest output humbucker has an output of 178 mV. Their highest output humbucker, the X2N, has an output of 510 mV." "Their lowest output single coil pickup has an output of 93 mV and the highest output single coil is rated at 325 mV."
So, it is quite possible to have both a relatively low output humbucker and a relatively high output single coil.
As to their responsiveness in terms of variations in their output, single coils do seem to have a greater range. One set of measurements I found gives a reading of 36mv for a open A string, plucked hard with a GFS Pro-Tube lipstick single coil in the middle position (resistance 6.2k) and a reading of 150mv for a firmly strummed open A chord.
For a Artec Vintage Humbucker (resistance 8.3k) the corresponding readings were 280mv and 740mv. (These are the peak transient readings corresponding to the peak attack of the note.)
From the above figures it seems that single coils do have a wider dynamic range, given that 150 mv is 4.2 x 36mv, as opposed to 2.6x in the case of the humbucker. I.e. with the humbucker, all notes played will produce a voltage that is a correspondingly higher percentage of that produced by a firmly strummed open chord, in comparison to the single coil.
That said, I think what I have noticed is more a function of the higher output - especially the peak - given by a humbucker. For example, let's say that one adjusts one's amp so our single coil is causing the sound to just start to break up when the pickup is outputting 70% of its maximum. I.e. 105mv. This means that at peak output there is only 45mv 'going spare' to clip the preamp.
With the humbucker, if we set the amp up in the same way, it will start clipping at 518mv (70% of 740). However, in this case there is another 225mv available to clip the amp / distort the sound, 5x the 'spare' voltage the single coil gives.
So, a single coil will give a wider dynamic range when clean, but a humbucker will generally have more 'oomph' available to clip the amp and distort the sound, especially so for a relatively hot pickup like a Fullshred.
Or something like that....
Perhaps a hot single coil pickup would be 'the best of both worlds'. Or may be just a master of nothing!
Things like variations in how much you dig in, pick angle and how much snap is added to the pick from the skin on the fingers and thumb holding the pick. Plus how much harmonic is squeezed, how much muting is applied, how much you push down with the pick (or pull up with the fingers) to slap the strings into the frets...
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
I think you can perceive them as not having the same amount of dynamics if you're accustom to humbucker dynamics and can't as accurately control them with an unfamiliar pickup.
What you need is a single that has humbucker like characteristics. Stacks or higher output singles would put you closer. While they may technically have less dynamics, if you're able to more accurately control them, you'd probably perceive them as having more.
as I said might be missing the point but I expect to adjust the amp very differently when I play a strat rather than say the humbucker guitars not sure about voltages etc just fiddle till I get the pre amp and power I hit the strings with to sound expressive.
Also depends upon strings - 10s are good if you like to get physical.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
when "turn up" the curve from "normal", most notes are near the max velocity, so there is less variation in volume and tone, and most notes sound the same
to me this is what (most) humbuckers are like compared to (most) single coils:
SC seem to have more light and shade for me, the difference between quietest and loudest note is larger than with a HB. Also there is more variation in tone - it feels more like an acoustic guitar in that respect
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The P90 was 10,000 turns, and when Gibson produced the PAF to be in essence a humbucking replacement for it, they split those 10,000 turns over two coils to make a humbucker. As it happens the P90 has very similar natural compression to a low wind humbucker, but the twin magnet design and coil size and shape help to make the P90 'different' to it's 'replacement' in many ways.
When Ray Butts designed the Filtertron he came from another perspective, and made both coils only total about the same wind level as one Gibson coil. As we know, classic 50s Filtertron's are only about the same output as a Strat pickup, so the dynamic range is is far more like a single coil. He kept the output up by using a big magnet ... around twice the size of a Gibson HB magnet.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
What I took for a reduced dynamic range was simply the effect of the higher output of a humbucker over a typical single coil, which will tend to drive the pre-amp harder when you really dig in by virtue of its sheer output.
Is have also learned that, in order to get the best out of both types of pickups one must adapt one's playing style, which is something I have never even considered before.
Again, thanks!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message