pickups. placement and type

[genocide roach]

ok, i am designing a guitar to be made (by prs) and it has raised a question about pickups and their placement. my question is about the single coil pickups put in the middle spot. how does it differ tone wise from a single coil at the neck or bridge? would a single coil at the bridge sound similar to the single coil in the middle?

my guitar will be a rhoads V and i want to keep it as clean as possible, as to see the most wood possible. they have a new system called the 513 that allows you to switch to 3 different modes; heavy humbucker, clean humbucker, and singlecoil. i want to know if i can get away with just one pickup (bridge) and still get the best single coil sound.

thanks
~gR~

 

[Ravenous Enemy]

I definately wouldn't get a sinclecoil in the bridge - it wouln't sound half as good as a humbucker, which, as you said you could coil tap etc if you wanted. If I were you, and you wanted a versatile instrument that was still clean looking, I'd get a humbucker in the bridge and a single coil or hotrails in the neck, although i'm not sure if prs make their own hotrails, you could get a seymour duncan one, and maybe a JB in the bridge, although a prs dragon or something'd prolly be better. Or, if you decided you'd only ever use the bridge pickup, just get a humbucker there and leave it like that.

You get a horrible, wiry, twangy trebly sound from a singlecoil in the bridge, a good clean sound from one in the middle and a good punchy sound (like Tom Morrelo) or a Hendrix-y sound from one in the neck.

 

[Indiooo]

A bridge single coil doens't have to sound ultra trebly and shrill. People just don't know how to work with them and expect them to sound bassy and stuff. Well, that's a humbucker you're looking for then. But anyway, a single coil in the middle position can sound like a neck single coil if you tweak your tone controls right. It naturally has a bit more treble but you can go around that by increasing the low frequancies on your tone pot. Why not get two humbuckers and a single coil? Are you willing to compromise sound for looks?

 

[bobvex]

Are you willing to compromise sound for looks?

yeah seriously, looks should be the least of your worries, you want SOUND!! that is what it is used for anyway, right?

 

[Indiooo]

I agree. A couple of pickups won't cover that much wood anyway.

 

[genocide roach]

well, im trying to get the best of both worlds hehe. if im gonna spend the cash for a custom, i may as well have it look good

someone mentioned a humbucker in the bridge and singlecoil in the center. anyone else have somthing to say on that?

and im not sure if you can fit a humbucker and 2 single coils in a rhoads body hehehe
~gR~

 

[xenophobe]

Well, I've only seen a few guitars with a single coil in the bridge... usually they're clean, not very crunchy.... sparkly, a bit noisy, and good for clean jazz/blues/funk or even surf music. Not very particular for metal, though Yngwie pulls it off.

mid mount is a bit less sharp, though I've never used the middle pickup for much... it's more of a distraction when I'm playing than anything

Bridge single is much smoother, pick attack is smoother, much better for solos.

Personally I like the hum in the bridge and a single at the neck or a hum/hum.... I don't like the traditional s/s/s or h/s/s guitars. All of my current guitars are h/h, with the exception of one which just has a single hum.

 

[Bryant]

well, im trying to get the best of both worlds hehe. if im gonna spend the cash for a custom, i may as well have it look good

someone mentioned a humbucker in the bridge and singlecoil in the center. anyone else have somthing to say on that?

and im not sure if you can fit a humbucker and 2 single coils in a rhoads body hehehe
~gR~

My personal favorite setup is a fairly hot humbucker in the bridge and a fairly mild single coil in the neck. If you want more versatility a split coil will give you both a humbucker and single coil sound with the flip of a small switch. Split coils are also called tapped coils.
With a PRS being a handmade instrument, I wouldn't go with three pickups as it just takes up a great deal of the body. For the ultimate in versatility, you can get two tapped humbuckers, one in the neck and one in the bridge, but from my personal experience, I am very happy with a single coil in the neck.


Bryant

 

[Ammeter]

humbucker in bridge for bright clean sounds and rock/metal distortion
single coil in neck for chili peppers clean tone etc.

 

[Alpha Crucis]

I have cheap P90 soapbars in neck and bridge positions, they're trebley, noisy, and fucking brutal. I think they're great for Black Metal (which is all I use my guitar for anyway) and sound amazing with a BM style distortion.

This post was going to be relevent to the topic in some way but i forgot what way that was as I was writing it....oh well.....

 

[Sunbane]

One thing I don't get:
If you want a custom Rhoads, why go for PRS? I mean - the Rhoads is a Jackson shape, and a Jackson custom will also be hand built, to your exact specifications. Not critcizing you or PRS or anything, it just sounded a little odd to me...

As for middle pickups: I can't stand guitars with them, since the middle pickup gets in the way of my pick attack - especially when playing fast downpicked rhythms.

 

[Sex Machine]

i would reccomend my set up (or future set up that is)

both dimarzios

steves special in the bridge, and humbucker from hell in the neck. the humbucker from hell sounds like a single coil, but it has no hum, and al that other bad crap you get from a single coil.

 

[genocide roach]

i want prs for a couple reasons

1) i like their necks
2) they are the only company that have the 513 pickup system (theyve trademarked it)
3) they are reliable and sturdy
4) they just feel good hehehe

there are little things i dont like about jacksons.
~gR~

 

[Sunbane]

i want prs for a couple reasons

1) i like their necks
2) they are the only company that have the 513 pickup system (theyve trademarked it)
3) they are reliable and sturdy
4) they just feel good hehehe

Fair enough. As long as it works for you, it's all good. =)

 

[Astral Poetry]

Are prs necks thick or thin? I've played on a few jackson's and I love their thinner neck width.