WAS:modular guitar FX geofex.com... now: pickups

[Harry Bissell]

I'll try...

The single coil pickup has (simplified) a completely flat frequency response. The
humbucker starts to screw up harmonics that have a node (or antinode - i did say
simplified..) distance that equals the pole spacing. So its flat below that... then
at high frequencies there is some cancellation. The extra wire usually kills a
little highs also.

So the single coil has a unique, crystal clear, HUM-GRABBIN sound.

The Series Humbucker sounds the most unlike the single coil...
Parallel Humbuckers sound a lot like a single coil... (some pickups have 4
conductor wiring that allows this option...)

The impedance of the single coils is usually a lot lower than humbuckers, and the
output
of the humbucker is a lot higher. So even if you match the levels... you can't
"filter" a humbucker in a way that will restore the harmonics already lost
(changed). For me the
parallel humbucker is the best compromise.

I use a guitar (Ibanez) that is a H-S-H pickup combination. The 5 way switch
controls the
humbuckers only... so its
1. Bridge Humbucking
2. Bridge Single coil (tapped)
3. Both Humbucking
4. Neck Single coil (tapped)
5. Neck Humbucking

The I have a little toggle that kicks the single coil in parallel with the 5 way.
Surprise... I always figured the "hotter" humbucking pickups would win such a
contest but NO!

The single coil pickup gives a lower impedance load that kills the humbuckers...
and the
character becomes mostly single coil...

A few years ago I came up with the philosophy that every guitar (I own) would have
at least on humbucking pickup... preferably a parallel humbucking. So that if I get
into the Gig or Studio from Hell... I'll have one position that won't sound like
SH!T.

H^)

Thomas Hudson wrote:

> JWBarlow at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > Since the list(s) are pretty quiet right now.....
> >
> > Maybe not entirely synth related, but I know there are a lot of guitar
> > effects fans out there. If you're one of them, you might want to check out R.
> > G. Keen's geofex site (are you still on the synth diy list?) for his rather
> > novel concept of modularizing guitar effects.
> >
> R. G. Keen has always done some interesting things. I really like his
> analysis of distortion effects.
>
> This does bring up an interesting problem I've toyed with the past
> few years. I actually have one of his redesigned fuzz faces. My
> problem is that my Strats are all equiped with EMG SA pickups, which
> are active, so I don't get that original Strat->Fuzz Face sound (though
> I do get lots of killer Gilmore-esque type sounds). It is further
> complicated for those with Les Pauls or other humbucker equiped
> guitars. I would like to see input circuitry that would allow
> one to adjust their guitar output signal to match responses
> of other guitars. I don't know enough about this to actually
> design it. I do believe it is more than modifying signal strength
> or filtering to modify frequency response. It may be impossible
> to truely mimic lowly single coil pickups with active circuitry.
>
> I still think about a conversation we had some time ago about
> VC distortions and the idea of a two dimensional grid where each
> corner was a famous fuzz or distortion device and two voltages
> to control the location. An addition to this would be circuitry
> to compensate for differences in various guitar outputs.
> My corners would be:
>
> Tube screamer           Fuzz Face
> +-------------------------+
> |                         |
> |                         |
> |                         |
> |                         |
> +-------------------------+
> MXR Distortion+         Big Muff
>
> These are my four favorites. Imagine being able to use a joystick
> to move between these, or better yet, a couple of LFOs moving the
> signal around this grid. Of course these effects don't really shine
> with static input amplitudes.
>
> Thomas
> P.S. Can anyone on the list tell me about Portland? My wife and
> I are thinking about leaving Atlanta. What kind of music scene,
> etc.