Single coils and humbuckers?

Single coils have a clear tone but that staticy sound. Humbuckers


have less or no static but sound "muddy" at high distortion because of added bass and output. So, is it possible to get a single coil to have high output or vice versa? Humbucker get clear sounds, alotta highs. I dont mean stacked or railed single coils either.

Single coils and humbuckers?
Only cheap hums will sound muddy at high distortion. Humbuckers were first constructed to handle heavy distortion and to give a warmer sound than squeaky clean, bright singles. When singles are heavily distorted, they often start to cut out and make noise. Even nice ones do this, unless they're Fender's vintage noiseless pickups. While they still don't do great with distortion, they handle it much better than other singles do. So no, single coils can't really be driven hard, although they do well with a nice, smooth overdrive, à la SRV or Clapton.


To answer your other question, humbuckers handle clean, low-output signals better than singles handle high output, dirty signals. While you will still want a Strat for boutique clean tone, a Les Paul or other guitar with good hums should do okay for clean tone. Single coils actually handle high pitches better than the more bass-oriented humbuckers do. That's why all the lead guitarists used to use Strats, while lots of punk guitarists who just play distorted chords like Pauls. In later years, humbuckers have been improved to better handle highs. (Slash of G'nR and Velvet Revolver played and still plays a Les Paul with humbuckers; so did Jimmy Page, Joe Walsh, Joe Perry, and many others--after the pickups had been improved.)


Humbuckers are better all around, unless you're dying to play some electric blues that require some slightly dirty blues drive and lots of clean highs. Single coils just aren't built for heavy distortion, not even those on Jacksons, ESPs, and other metal guitars (which occasionally have singles coupled with hums on them.)
Reply:humbuckers
Reply:My personal take on this: I like single coils for clean sparkly things , and i rarely use them for heavy distotion settings cause they are too brittle and weak sounding, plus the "Static" sound you describe , which is the 60 cycle hum that is associated with those. The humbucker types are almost "A Must" for me and heavy sounds, cause they drive the amp well, and give all the smoother yet big clarity sound for me. Humbuckers (especially the rear position) sound unclean and very dark with a clean setting. A lot of it also depends on your amp settings too, don't forget that. Don't pass of the stacked or rail coils, you get the best of both worlds with those, and noiseless single coils? i don't believe in such a thing. LOL!
Reply:I think you have 2 options: either put "coil taps" on humbuckers (effectively making them the same as single coils... sort of) or use the "P-90" style of single-coil pickup, which has massive windings compared to the standard single coil pickups. However, the P-90 style pickups don't sound the same - some people like them and some people hate them, so you should listen to a guitar that has some good ones on it, like Seymour Duncan "Phat Cat" P-90s, or something similar.
Reply:I will tell you how to solve your problem . Just but a FENDER TELE with 2 Humbuckers ( They make them ) I think it's called the Tele Deluxe. That way you will get the quietness of humbuckers, but also a more single-coil sound, because I know as a fact that Fender HUMBUCKERS retain that fender sound and clarity. I know this because I use a '74 Tele Custom ( and original CBS, not a new one from their "vintage" line) with a single-coil in the bridge position, and a humbucker in the neck area. It still sounds Fender, but when I gotta do Kiss, Black Sabbath, or Ramones.......It CRANKZ !


It is GREAT !!!! for blues, especially when I toggle the switch to the rhythm ( Humbuck) position. get what I'm talkin' about.





Squier makes one with with Seymour/ Duncan pick-ups, I think. Check it out.
Reply:if you want the best of both then ,,,,Put a double at the bridge and the a single at the neck





that will solve your problem