Will Carter D10 with double coil PU sound better w/ single?

Gary Jarvis · Post by **Gary Jarvis** » 7 Nov 2023 4:25 pm

I use Peavey Session 400 Limited and Goodrich L120 pedal. Strings are new. I would appreciate some advice on pickups. I am not satisfied with the tone and suspect it may be the hambucking pups may be the cause of it. Sounds too subdued and lacks the bright bell-like tone I am looking for.
Am I on the right track considering a PUP change or maybe I am overlooking something else?
If I change the E9 neck pickup, what is a good one to capture a traditional Emmons type sound?
Thank you!
Gary

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 7 Nov 2023 5:12 pm

In my experience as a player and pickup builder changing the pickup to single coil won't make much difference in the sound of your steel.

To trouble shoot your problem I suggest:

Have a player who gets a sound you like play your steel.

Change strings

Play a different steel and see it it does the trick. Since you like the Emmons sound try out an old Emmons.

Pickups are like microphones and your steel is the singer.

If you like experimenting with pickups absolutely do it and keep us posted on your results !

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 8 Nov 2023 3:31 am

I have a BL XR-16 on the E9 neck of my Carter and a 710 on C6. I wired a switch on the XR-16 to switch it from humbucker to single coil. The single coil sounds very different than humbucker. I prefer the sound of the single coil better on E9, but there are venues that single coils hum too bad, and I just switch to humbucker mode. The only drawback is the single coil mode has a lower output level than a humbucker. When I switch to C6 with the 710 humbucker (I prefer humbuckers for C6 for the "fuller" tone), I have to play my volume pedal closer to the off position.

Gary Jarvis · Post by **Gary Jarvis** » 8 Nov 2023 5:59 am

Thank you all for the advice. What Peavey amp settings are working best for most of you? I considered adding a chorus pedal to see if sustain and tone would improve. Any thoughts on that topic?

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 8 Nov 2023 6:44 am

Chorus won't effect your sustain. Sustain is in the guitar. I've tried several pickups in my U-12 1976 MSA (several single coils and a few humbuckers. I've settled on the Telonics X-12 (X-10 for 10 string guitars) and have gotten as close to an Emmons PP as possible. Sustain has always been excellent with all of the pickups, but that's the guitar sustaining. The advantage with the X-12 pickup is the individual adjustable poles which helps to fine tune the balance of the individual string volume and tone. If you contact Telonics, they can help you in selecting the proper Telonics pickup for a Carter guitar.
The Session 400 Limited was never the most popular model of Session 400 for tone. However, it is a matter of tone preference per each player's ears. I could never get where I wanted to be for tone when I had the Limited. If I recall correctly, Paul Franklin said, he had to use an eq pedal with the Limited?