hh vs hss
- Thread starter MCBTunes
- Start date
jimmyp
Well-known member
Both, to be honest. I prefer HH so that the middle pickup doesn't get in the way, but I like a neck single coil sound or the ability at least to split the neck humbucker. Basically, buy guitars in every conceivable combination and you'll be fine - that's what I do...
mhorse
Well-known member
I prefer the fullness of the neck humbucker. I agree that you can't get clear single-coil sounds from it, but you can get somewhat close either with coil-split, or with just rolling down the volume a bit.
In the end, the choice depends on what you want, what you play.
In the end, the choice depends on what you want, what you play.
beej
Moderator
The big difference between HH and SSH or SSS is the "quack" you'll get with the middle pickup in combination with the bridge or neck. (If you don't need that typical strat type sound, then HH might do you just fine.) Other option is HSH- kind of the best of both worlds if you want thick humbucker sounds and quack.
As for an S vs H in the neck or bridge, it depends how full a sound you want to get. Pros and cons both ways. I've wired up a bunch of my guitars with coil splitting and humbucker coils in parallel- this gives you the ability to get single coil and humbucker sounds out of your 'bucker at the tip of your fingers.
For me, when I play real heavy I like the buckers. When I dial it back, I like single coils. If you need *everything* ... buy more than one guitar. Or buy the Morse
As for an S vs H in the neck or bridge, it depends how full a sound you want to get. Pros and cons both ways. I've wired up a bunch of my guitars with coil splitting and humbucker coils in parallel- this gives you the ability to get single coil and humbucker sounds out of your 'bucker at the tip of your fingers.
For me, when I play real heavy I like the buckers. When I dial it back, I like single coils. If you need *everything* ... buy more than one guitar. Or buy the Morse
beej
Moderator
"Quack" is the sound you get on a strat in positions 2 and 4. It's the out-of-phase sound of two single coil pickups combined. Another description would be "plucky", a la dire straits. To get that kind of sound, you really need single coils that are close together.
> HH provides treble and bassy stuff(neck)
> while an ssH pridides more mids with a few lows
You can't really generalize like that- depends on the type and combination of pickups, wood, etc.
Generally speaking, the more inductance a pickup has, the smaller the frequency bandwidth it has. (Inductance doesn't exactly equate to power, but you can think of it that way.) So louder humbuckers have more mids and less highs & lows. Single coils will have more highs and lows (as well as mids). When you combine pickups out of phase, the distance apart will determine what frequencies are cancelled out- the further apart, the more frequencies that will be cancelled (due to the difference in the string vibrations where the two pickups are located).
Hope that helps.
> HH provides treble and bassy stuff(neck)
> while an ssH pridides more mids with a few lows
You can't really generalize like that- depends on the type and combination of pickups, wood, etc.
Generally speaking, the more inductance a pickup has, the smaller the frequency bandwidth it has. (Inductance doesn't exactly equate to power, but you can think of it that way.) So louder humbuckers have more mids and less highs & lows. Single coils will have more highs and lows (as well as mids). When you combine pickups out of phase, the distance apart will determine what frequencies are cancelled out- the further apart, the more frequencies that will be cancelled (due to the difference in the string vibrations where the two pickups are located).
Hope that helps.
