Single coil in an SG? - Page 2

djdayson · 1st January 2009

Treble Bleeds work on any pup, they just shunt some lower freqs to ground as you turn the vol pot down is all (which effectively adds brightness as you turn down).

50's wiring hooks the tone pot to the vol pot's wiper instead of it's input. This will keep more highs as you turn down the vol too, but changes the vol and tone pots taper which some folks don't like.

For max brightness you can try both as well?

Good luck...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Randolph

I was under the impression that a treble bleed circuit would not help much running humbuckers? I have a treble bleed on my strat which works OK, but I didn't think of it as any potential sort of solution for an SG with humbuckers...

sysexguy · 2nd January 2009

Frank Marino plays SG's with single coils in a custom pickguard. The easiest way to experiment would be to have a luthier make 2 HB mounting ring sized pickguards with s/c sized cutouts and then run a 500k resistor across the outer terminals of each volume pot. These mods are relatively inexpensive and you would be easily able to return the instrument to stock either for resale or if the result isn't what you hoped for.

Andy

djdayson · 2nd January 2009

Again, Duncan's P-Rails have two single coil modes, and two humbucker modes, and fit in a standard humbucker rout/ring.

I have a pair of neck P-Rails in a LP Replica and it does good Tele type sounds, good P90 LP sounds, and good LP Humbucker type sounds, both vintage and modern.

Progressive - P-Rails SHPR-1 - Seymour Duncan/Basslines

Quote:

Originally Posted by sysexguy

Frank Marino plays SG's with single coils in a custom pickguard. The easiest way to experiment would be to have a luthier make 2 HB mounting ring sized pickguards with s/c sized cutouts and then run a 500k resistor across the outer terminals of each volume pot. These mods are relatively inexpensive and you would be easily able to return the instrument to stock either for resale or if the result isn't what you hoped for.

Andy

Bob Ross · 6th January 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Randolph

I'd like to get a single coil in the neck position on my SG... what's a good way to do this and make it look decent?

Shouldn't you be more concerned with "what's a good way to do this and make it sound decent?" ?

Because ime there is none. Admittedly I've only played 3 or 4 SGs with single coil pickups ever, but the one thing that was consistent about all those guitars was that none of them exhibited any of the positive sonic qualities that either SGs or single coil pickups are coveted for. It's like they cancel each other's desireable qualities out.

clintb · 15th March 2009

I've messed around a lot with trying to get a single-coil sound out of my SGs. I love the single-coil sound from strats, but I hate the feel of strats. So I wanted to get that sound out of my SGs.

I tried several humbuckers that have 4 wires so you can coil-tap them, but I never cared for the tone. It was always too thin and plinky.

What I ended up using in the end is Rio Grande humbuckers. Their Vintage Tallboy and Muy Grande humbuckers are really two of their Vintage Tallboy and Muy Grande single-coils wired together. When you coil tap, you get a good single coil sound because it is a real single coil pickup (i.e. magnet pole pieces as opposed to a bar magnet used under both coils of a humbucker pickup).

One thing I don't like about the Rio Grandes is that the string pull is greater than a humbucker. So I had to lower the pickups pretty far to avoid warbly notes high on the neck.

I even went further and routed out a hole for a middle single-coil pickup so I could get those strat-quack tones you get when you combine either the bridge or neck pickup with the middle pickup.

I think my guitar sounds pretty good. I like the extra clarity, sparkle, and spank that the single-coils give me. It's not quite as spanky as a Fender but good enough for the most part. I think part of it has to do with string length. My favorite clean setting is to play the bridge and neck pickups together coil-tapped.

However, I should mention that the SG I installed those pickups in isn't a typical SG. According to EverythingSG.com, it is called the Gibson Special. It has a maple neck and a hardwood body (as opposed to the traditional mahogany body and neck).

I also have a Firebrand SG which is all mahogany. In that guitar I installed Harmonic Design Z90s. I really like those for clean tones. To me they sound like a humbucker without the mud. They are warmer than P90s. I like them better than P90s for both clean and distortion. So they are really not a Fender like tone, but it is a really nice tone. Once again, my favorite clean tone setting is playing both bridge and neck pickups together.

After I did all these mods, I discovered that although I can't stand the feel of Strats, I feel totally comfortable playing Teles. I like the Alvarez tele copy I own because it has a contured body like a strat which I find more comfortable than the hard edges of the typical slab tele body.

teleharmonium · 16th March 2009

There are a number of options now for single coil P90s in humbucker sized cases. Order one from a small shop, and they will wind to your specs, if you are looking for a certain output level or want to stay on the bright side. Some of them (Fralin does this for P90s so he may be able to also do it for a P90 in a hum case) can build them with the option of alnico magnet polepieces under each string rather than steel screws, which is great for extra highs and clarity in the neck position, effectively making the pickup more like the alnico pickup in the neck position of the '54 LP Custom and also like a DeArmond Dynasonic.

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2nd January 2009	#32
sysexguy Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2003 Location: St-Sauveur, QC, Canada Posts: 654	Frank Marino plays SG's with single coils in a custom pickguard. The easiest way to experiment would be to have a luthier make 2 HB mounting ring sized pickguards with s/c sized cutouts and then run a 500k resistor across the outer terminals of each volume pot. These mods are relatively inexpensive and you would be easily able to return the instrument to stock either for resale or if the result isn't what you hoped for. Andy

15th March 2009	#35
clintb Gear interested Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 4	I've messed around a lot with trying to get a single-coil sound out of my SGs. I love the single-coil sound from strats, but I hate the feel of strats. So I wanted to get that sound out of my SGs. I tried several humbuckers that have 4 wires so you can coil-tap them, but I never cared for the tone. It was always too thin and plinky. What I ended up using in the end is Rio Grande humbuckers. Their Vintage Tallboy and Muy Grande humbuckers are really two of their Vintage Tallboy and Muy Grande single-coils wired together. When you coil tap, you get a good single coil sound because it is a real single coil pickup (i.e. magnet pole pieces as opposed to a bar magnet used under both coils of a humbucker pickup). One thing I don't like about the Rio Grandes is that the string pull is greater than a humbucker. So I had to lower the pickups pretty far to avoid warbly notes high on the neck. I even went further and routed out a hole for a middle single-coil pickup so I could get those strat-quack tones you get when you combine either the bridge or neck pickup with the middle pickup. I think my guitar sounds pretty good. I like the extra clarity, sparkle, and spank that the single-coils give me. It's not quite as spanky as a Fender but good enough for the most part. I think part of it has to do with string length. My favorite clean setting is to play the bridge and neck pickups together coil-tapped. However, I should mention that the SG I installed those pickups in isn't a typical SG. According to EverythingSG.com, it is called the Gibson Special. It has a maple neck and a hardwood body (as opposed to the traditional mahogany body and neck). I also have a Firebrand SG which is all mahogany. In that guitar I installed Harmonic Design Z90s. I really like those for clean tones. To me they sound like a humbucker without the mud. They are warmer than P90s. I like them better than P90s for both clean and distortion. So they are really not a Fender like tone, but it is a really nice tone. Once again, my favorite clean tone setting is playing both bridge and neck pickups together. After I did all these mods, I discovered that although I can't stand the feel of Strats, I feel totally comfortable playing Teles. I like the Alvarez tele copy I own because it has a contured body like a strat which I find more comfortable than the hard edges of the typical slab tele body.

16th March 2009	#36
teleharmonium Lives for gear Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,136	There are a number of options now for single coil P90s in humbucker sized cases. Order one from a small shop, and they will wind to your specs, if you are looking for a certain output level or want to stay on the bright side. Some of them (Fralin does this for P90s so he may be able to also do it for a P90 in a hum case) can build them with the option of alnico magnet polepieces under each string rather than steel screws, which is great for extra highs and clarity in the neck position, effectively making the pickup more like the alnico pickup in the neck position of the '54 LP Custom and also like a DeArmond Dynasonic.