single pickup guitar - make it more versatile or enjoy for what it is?

[spookyelectric]

I have a tele w/ a bridge humbucker and no other pickup routing on it.

I'm kicking around the idea of getting a 3 or 5-way switch and doing some tone cap & split coil options to make it more versatile.

Anyone here tried to take a single pickup guitar and make it more versatile by adding this sort of stuff? Or am I better off just enjoying it as a 1 (or 2 at best) trick pony?

[Stike]

I almost never use a neck pickup so I enjoy the 2 single pickup guitars I own.

[kwaping]

I vote option 2, enjoy as-is.

[BBAKE1]

Leave it as is.

[jpervin]

I have a tele w/ a bridge humbucker and no other pickup routing on it.

I'm kicking around the idea of getting a 3 or 5-way switch and doing some tone cap & split coil options to make it more versatile.

Anyone here tried to take a single pickup guitar and make it more versatile by adding this sort of stuff? Or am I better off just enjoying it as a 1 (or 2 at best) trick pony?

Esquires (at least the single coil variety) are quite versatile if you know how to use the volume and tone knobs and can control your picking hand strength/location. Having a good pickup in it helps too. If it were me, I would leave it alone.
That said, you could definitely play around with the switch and wiring, especially if the HB is a 4-conductor.

[supa-fuzz]

I love Esquires and Les Paul/SG Juniors, something about a single pickup guitar...you can do alot with a push/pull tone pot and various caps.

[jzero]

Pull to split the coils sounds like a great idea to me.

[Nico.]

Pull to split the coils sounds like a great idea to me.

I agree, I think that is the only thing you should do

[rrhea]

You could do a series/parallel push-pull. That would give you a pretty cool, almost neck pu sound when activated. That would probably make the guitar much more versatile.

I think you could even do a push-pull on the vol in addition and still do the split coil trick, too.

RR

[lakehaus]

Esquires (at least the single coil variety) are quite versatile if you know how to use the volume and tone knobs and can control your picking hand strength/location. Having a good pickup in it helps too. If it were me, I would leave it alone.


Nicely stated. I thought my one pickup was a one trick pony, until I discovered the value of V&T on something other than 10... not that 10 is bad, but versatility comes into play when you, well, play.

[spookyelectric]

I tend to use the volume knob on my guitar alot. The tone knob not so much. I play alot of rock though, not alot of cleaner or blues stuff so slight changes in the tone knob usually don't make huge difference in my sound.

[Jim S]

Enjoy it.

[WrapAround]

Use as is and incorporate the tone control and strum positions for tonal varieties.

[sahhas]

if you watch 80s evh w/ his 1-pu kramers, he was messing w/ the volume knob a lot as well as picking hand location to vary things...

[spookyelectric]

Well, I took the tone pot out and added in an EMG BTC Bass/Treble control to see if a little more control over the tone would sound good.

Not bad, but not needed either. I took the EMG BTC out and it's just a single humbucker, 500K pot and output jack. I'm totally digging it now. Something very freeing about just having the volume knob and my fingers to control things.

Looks like I'll be rockin' it as is-- thanks guys!

[walterw]

at least with a regular fender (not the OP's apparently), changing it to a two-pickup guitar is a matter of a new pickguard and some wiring, unlike say, a junior, where part of its tone (if you ask me) is the solid expanse of wood around the neck joint, something a neck pickup necessarily changes.

that said, (regarding esquire and junior players) i've always maintained that it takes a certain kind of bravado to go out there armed with nothing but one single coil!

[Jim S]

I love this setup:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/IntenseJim/Jim%20guitar%20bass%20amps/HelloKittySLOrhalfstack.jpg

[spookyelectric]

at least with a regular fender (not the OP's apparently), changing it to a two-pickup guitar is a matter of a new pickguard and some wiring, unlike say, a junior, where part of its tone (if you ask me) is the solid expanse of wood around the neck joint, something a neck pickup necessarily changes.

that said, (regarding esquire and junior players) i've always maintained that it takes a certain kind of bravado to go out there armed with nothing but one single coil!

yep, it's not a regular fender... it's a Rutters esquire body rear routed for a bridge humbucker and a strat hardtail bridge, but with a standard tele control plate. No other wood routed out.

Part of me wants to use the 3-way switch hole and tone knob hole on the control plate since they're there. The other part of me wants to just say "screw it" and just use the single volume pot.

I wired up a 3-way setup for humbucker/split coil/kill switch, and wired the switch to a tone pot with a .022 cap so it can be used with both the humbucker and split coil modes.

it doesn't sound too bad either! The split coil would be good for those sort of trashy punk sounds w/ distortion.

We'll see if it stays and how much I use it. If not, it's just a couple solder points away from going back to the single volume knob setup.

I'll update you guys in a couple days!

[straightblues]

I like adding things. My Rist Workhorse, made by Roman Rist, has a tone bypass switch. It allows me to set my tone for a thick rhythm setting and then switch to a bitting lead tone and then back again really quickly. I have a Danelectro U1 that has the same switching. I also love the three position on my Esquire.

[erksin]

Esquires (at least the single coil variety) are quite versatile if you know how to use the volume and tone knobs and can control your picking hand strength/location. Having a good pickup in it helps too. If it were me, I would leave it alone.
That said, you could definitely play around with the switch and wiring, especially if the HB is a 4-conductor.

I agree totally, but I think the nature of humbuckers unless you're using a lower output PAF type are pretty one dimensional.

But yeah - a killer tone control and some picking dynamics goes a LOOOONG way on a single pup guitar.

[spookyelectric]

The pickup in this one is a Dimarzio PAF Pro, which is a medium output bucker, seems to do cleans and dirt real well

[erksin]

The pickup in this one is a Dimarzio PAF Pro, which is a medium output bucker, seems to do cleans and dirt real well

I had a neck version but not the bridge - nice sounding pickup.

I dunno - I'd really try to optimize the volume and tone controls before getting into the coil tapping stuff. Coil tapping has never worked for me.

There are HUGE differences between tone caps - I can get at least four distinct flavors out of my Esquire just by using my tone knob. And having your volume pot have a nice smooth taper really helps too. Set the pickup height carefully, etc.

The whole appeal for me with a single pup guitar is the simplicity of it - I used to just have a single volume but adding a killer tone control has made this guitar 10x as useful to me now.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b164/erksin/IMG_3749.jpg

[NashSG]

I've been really impressed on what you can get out of a Esquire with the 3 way switch and having one way with a different capacitor. That cocked wah sound is pretty killer and way different than with the tone knob and then cutting by the tone knob.

I'm building a two humbucker Tele and thinking about adding a switch to put that tone cutoff with the different cap on my guitar.

[Austinrocks]

always had two or more pups, but watching this guy with one really makes me want a single pup guitar


RNaZmX-NmQo

[shane88]

if you watch 80s evh w/ his 1-pu kramers, he was messing w/ the volume knob a lot as well as picking hand location to vary things...
i decided long ago that since i didn't really like neck pickups that i may as well remove them so now my 3 main electrics just have a br hb and a vol pot - it encourages me to vary volume, attack and playing position so i see less options as a good thing :horse

[Elias Graves]

There's magic in a simple guitar. I'm using a humbucker equipped LP Junior now as my main guitar. Once you learn to make the guitar do what you want by using your hands and the knobs, there are a lot of good sounds in there.

EG

[spookyelectric]

I had a neck version but not the bridge - nice sounding pickup.

I dunno - I'd really try to optimize the volume and tone controls before getting into the coil tapping stuff. Coil tapping has never worked for me.

There are HUGE differences between tone caps - I can get at least four distinct flavors out of my Esquire just by using my tone knob. And having your volume pot have a nice smooth taper really helps too. Set the pickup height carefully, etc.

The whole appeal for me with a single pup guitar is the simplicity of it - I used to just have a single volume but adding a killer tone control has made this guitar 10x as useful to me now.



Erksin-
The coil tap isn't bad-- tried it last night and it'll probably stay as it's nice to get some thinner single coil tones out of the bridge from time to time.

I'm using a Bourns 500K volume and a Bourns 250K tone pot with a .022 Mallory 150 series cap.

What are some other good capacitor brands & types if the Mallory isn't really considered a great option? I don't want to pay $15-20 for a cap, but I'd pay up to around $10 if it's a good one that makes a difference.

Don't all caps just shunt a certain amount of high end to ground, though? Does paper-in-oil vs. other types make an audible difference?

[buddaman71]

I turn all my teles into single-pickup bridge only guitars.

[Elias Graves]

Erksin-
The coil tap isn't bad-- tried it last night and it'll probably stay as it's nice to get some thinner single coil tones out of the bridge from time to time.

I'm using a Bourns 500K volume and a Bourns 250K tone pot with a .022 Mallory 150 series cap.

What are some other good capacitor brands & types if the Mallory isn't really considered a great option? I don't want to pay $15-20 for a cap, but I'd pay up to around $10 if it's a good one that makes a difference.

Don't all caps just shunt a certain amount of high end to ground, though? Does paper-in-oil vs. other types make an audible difference?

The PIO caps, to me, don't really change the sound of the guitar, but they do behave somewhat differently. Maybe it's just the pots, but it seems to me they roll off a little smoother.
With the simple wiring setup in my Jr, it's pretty quick and easy to do a lot of A-B testing and I've been through many different setups on it.
Where I've finally settled is a Seth Lover, 500k pots wired 50s style and a .022 PIO cap. This is the most responsive, smooth acting and wide ranging arrangement I've found yet.

EG

[erksin]

Erksin-
The coil tap isn't bad-- tried it last night and it'll probably stay as it's nice to get some thinner single coil tones out of the bridge from time to time.

I'm using a Bourns 500K volume and a Bourns 250K tone pot with a .022 Mallory 150 series cap.

What are some other good capacitor brands & types if the Mallory isn't really considered a great option? I don't want to pay $15-20 for a cap, but I'd pay up to around $10 if it's a good one that makes a difference.

Don't all caps just shunt a certain amount of high end to ground, though? Does paper-in-oil vs. other types make an audible difference?

The PIO caps, to me, don't really change the sound of the guitar, but they do behave somewhat differently. Maybe it's just the pots, but it seems to me they roll off a little smoother.
With the simple wiring setup in my Jr, it's pretty quick and easy to do a lot of A-B testing and I've been through many different setups on it.
Where I've finally settled is a Seth Lover, 500k pots wired 50s style and a .022 PIO cap. This is the most responsive, smooth acting and wide ranging arrangement I've found yet.

EG

I have absolutely no idea what is good to use - I had a friend sub caps in and out of the guitar while I played it. I actually wound up with like 2-3 of them tied together to get the sounds I wanted.

The one thing that was very clear to me though was that the 'mojo' caps aren't always the best thing to use - I didn't like a few of them that we tried. Expensive isn't always better, at least it wasn't for me. And even caps of identical value from different brands and types all sounded different in direct comparisons.

I'd just get a handful of different types and start experimenting.

[Elias Graves]

That's what I did. I bought a couple of the Russian PIO caps, a guy gave me some old Vitamin Qs and I bought some others as well.
Ended up using the Russian one, as it measured like .027 and the bridge bucker only Jr runs a little bright.
Differences, if they weren't simply a matter of differeng values, were slight at best.
I DO like the 50s wiring. I can hear that the highs don't bleed off when the volume goes down.

EG

[IPLAYLOUD]

Do a coil tap with a pull-up tone knob, add Esquire wiring!
That will keep your guitar stock looking and get you the option of the humbucker straight-out. That will a monster!

You have it right with using your hands. Strum in different positions! I use the Tone on my Esquires more than I ever have.

[spookyelectric]

That's what I did. I bought a couple of the Russian PIO caps, a guy gave me some old Vitamin Qs and I bought some others as well.
Ended up using the Russian one, as it measured like .027 and the bridge bucker only Jr runs a little bright.
Differences, if they weren't simply a matter of differeng values, were slight at best.
I DO like the 50s wiring. I can hear that the highs don't bleed off when the volume goes down.

EG

The 50's wiring is basically running the wire on the tone pot to the middle lug on the volume pot instead of the left lug (which is what is more typical nowadays), right?

[stvnscott]

I would put a coil tap in it with a push-pull to give me one extra tone. Simplicity at its finest while losing nothing.

[Tomo]

Move your picking position and work on your touch! You get so many sounds from ONE pickup. I think my vintage Fender Musicmaster taught me many things.

Tomo

[Whiskeyrebel]

Switching phase on one coil of a bridge humbucker will give you a super-skinny tone. Not a sound you want to play all night but if you want to flip from fat humbucker to clean, thin, ice-picky exaggerated country sound, it does that.