Humbuckers vs Single Coil

[Charley Paul]

Hi,

I am wondering what peoples thoughts are regarding humbuckers vs single coils in psg? My Mullen has the Mullen single coils in it, and I quite like them, but they hum. The hum is no big deal if I gig (which I’m not doing at the moment), but is quite audible while recording.

As I mentioned, I really like the sound of single coils, and have not tried a humbucker. I’m on the hunt for a new guitar, whose primary purpose will be recording. I’d like to find a pickup that doesn’t hum, but still has a robust sound. I’m considering a Bill Lawrence 705 style pickup.

[Donny Hinson]

What should you expect with humbuckers? In my experience, they simply don't sound as good as single-coils. That open-and-airy sound quality just isn't there. Now, some are pretty good, and they've improved a lot in the last 10-20 years. But the end result is always..."No, Not Quite", as Bobby Wright said in that song.

I could be wrong, but I feel that just about everybody that switched to humbuckers did it because they had a noise problem.

My2cents, anyway.

[Bob Hoffnar]

If the hum doesn't bother you while recording or make you lose money leave the stock pickup in there. If you are looking to improve your tone a pickup probably won't help much. Plus changing pickups is a real pain and very time consuming.

Those 705's work fine if you decide to go with humbuckers. I use humbuckers myself these days. Mostly stock emmons or some tonealigners I still have from back when I was making them.

[Richard Sinkler]

I had a Mullen SD12 with the stock single coil. Great sounding pickup, but a couple of places I was playing at, I had really bad humming problems. I replaced it with a BL XR16 and wired up the switch to change it between humbucker and single coil. The Mullen single coil sounded much better than the XR16 single coil mode, but the XR16 allowed me to switch to a humbucker in the noisy venues. I installed one in my Carter on the E9 neck for the same reasons. I really prefer single coils, but sometimes the humbucker is necessary.

[Benjamin Davidson]

I've had the BL705 pickup in my Justice Pro Lite when I got it. Great pickup, but I wanted to give the single coils a shot and ended up with one from Mullen. Both are great pickups in their own right.

The humbuckers never quite match the sound of a single coil, but you eliminate that hum that destroys a recording/performance. Its a balance call.

The only other big name in PSG pickups would be Teleonics, they have a huge selection. But like most PSG pickups there is little you can find comparing models in context. Our 6-string guitar counterparts have it made with info on pickups, and options to try out.

[Dale Rivard]

Hi Charley, I play a Mullen G2 and a Discovery. I ordered the G2 with BL 705 pickups and the Discovery(demo model) came with the Mullen single coil. Even though I thought the single coil sounded good, I do a fair bit of online recording and don't like hum of any kind. I swapped the pickup in my Discovery from the single coil to a BL 705 and couldn't be happier. Like I say, the single coil sounded good but sometimes the top end sounded thin and grainy. With the BL 705, the high strings still sound clean but have more depth and body. However, I do prefer the clarity on the lower strings with the single coil but the humbucker still sounds good in that regard so it's not worth the trade off for me. The humbucker is definitely more balanced and hum free. I've done sessions with both and as Buddy Emmons would say, I can't tell a dimes worth of difference.

[Charley Paul]

Hi Charley, I play a Mullen G2 and a Discovery. I ordered the G2 with BL 705 pickups and the Discovery(demo model) came with the Mullen single coil. Even though I thought the single coil sounded good, I do a fair bit of online recording and don't like hum of any kind. I swapped the pickup in my Discovery from the single coil to a BL 705 and couldn't be happier. Like I say, the single coil sounded good but sometimes the top end sounded thin and grainy. With the BL 705, the high strings still sound clean but have more depth and body. However, I do prefer the clarity on the lower strings with the single coil but the humbucker still sounds good in that regard so it's not worth the trade off for me. The humbucker is definitely more balanced and hum free. I've done sessions with both and as Buddy Emmons would say, I can't tell a dimes worth of difference.

Thank you for your very helpful comments. I think you put it just exactly right. The Mullen is an exquisite guitar, and the single coil pickup sounds really nice. But the noise when recording can be an issue. I don’t fault Mullen, that just seems to be the nature of the beast with single coils. And for me, who is usually just adding a bit of pedal steel to “fill in the gaps” of a band mix, I tend to focus my efforts on the top strings, as the lower tones can easily clash with other instruments. Yet, sometimes the top end can be a bit strident.

I’m actively looking for a new SD10, and I think I’m gonna give a humbucker like the 705 a try!

[Jeremy Threlfall]

our earthing standards are much higher here in Australia (we run at 240 volts). hum is rarely an intractable problem. I use single coils on my steels (Wallace TT is my preference)

[Allan Revich]

If you do go to a humbucker you might want to consider adding a coil tap switch. This “turns off” half the humbucker so you can still play a single coil.

[Richard Sinkler]

If you do go to a humbucker you might want to consider adding a coil tap switch. This “turns off” half the humbucker so you can still play a single coil.

That's what I do with the XR16 pickups. The best of both worlds.

[Larry Ball]

My Ears must be getting “Old”. My Mullen SD10 with the single coil stock pickup has no hum when recording at various volume pedal positions. However with the volume of the amp turned lower and my volume pedal at maximum volume I would detect a slight hum. Therefore finding the correct volume setting on my Peavey Nashville 112 appears to be the answer. I have the Telonic’s X12 in my Williams SD 12 Extended E9 which is brighter at the top end of the register with no apparent hum as previously described.

[Ricky Davis]

Yes Larry just described how I've been able to record on Major Motion Picture Soundtracks(most Richard Linklater movies) and Radio Commercials with NO HUM from my Single Coil Pickup.
You have to use a Pot pedal with either a good/original Allen Bradley Pot or new Dunlop Pot. The Main ingredient is NOT to open the volume pot more than 3/4 of the way for full volume. So you adjust your amp volume to give the engineer the volume he needs; as long as your volume pedal goes just over half for volume he needs.> Make sense??
Also have the engineer stick the most expensive "Vocal" mic in front of your amp speaker; and go for it.
If the engineer doesn't want to do any of that and starts suggesting(other mics; other recording inputs...etc) I usually say: "I can make double the amount I'm making here; playing golf....see ya later!!!!! and Leave.
But I only had to leave two of those; but Over 100 CD's; over 10 movie soundtracks and more radio/tv commercials I can count; in last 26 years we successfully recording NO HUM!!!!
ALL WITH ORIGINAL SINGLE COIL SHO~BUD PICKUP.
Ricky

[Larry Bressington]

George L is the quietist pickup ever, lot's of pro's use them in studio and live work, there are no negatives...

[Henry Matthews]

I’ve been playing almost 40 years and 95% of that time was with Emmons push pulls with single coil pickups. I’ve played anywhere from tents out in pastures to multi million dollar homes , from home studios to million dollar studios and every kind of stage you could think of and have never had a problem with a hum that a ground lift adaptor wouldn’t fix. Don’t know where y’all getting these unbearable hums. I guess if your volume is wide open and pedal all way down it would hum but who does that, lol.

[Tony Prior]

I gave up on single coils easily 7 or 8 years ago. I have 2 HBuckers on my Legrande II, my only Steel now. Its plenty bright . If we are regular working players, we just never know when we are going to play the room from " HEXX " and be consumed with HUM. These are not Telecasters hanging over our shoulder where we can move around a bit.

I think that the old saying "Single Coils Rule for tone" is not true these days.

[Norbert Dengler]

i used a truetone single coil quite a while. good pickup for sure. I've a BL 705 on it for two years now and am very happy with it.
No hum, great tone!

[Roger Rettig]

I have never ben one to tinker with pick-ups and I've usually been more than satisfied with whatever was in the guitar I sat down with. If it 'spoke' to me that was enough. To this day, I don't know what the s/c pick-ups on my LeGrande are wound to - I just know I like 'em.

Having said that, the only Emmons I've played that I didn't like had those 108Ns in it.

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[John Hyland]

If you do go to a humbucker you might want to consider adding a coil tap switch. This “turns off” half the humbucker so you can still play a single coil.

I think you mean coil splitting. Coil split isolates one of the coils of the dual core humbucker where as coil tap takes off part way through the windings of a single coil.

https://www.haloguitars.com/store/coil- ... difference