Guitar Pickup Comparison | Single Coil vs. Humbucker in a Gibson L4 Archtop | Which Sounds Better?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ม.ค. 2022
- In this video, I compare pickups in my Gibson L4 archtop. I ended up replacing the original pickups with some single-coil pickups from the company 'Dragonfire.' I do like the sound of them but it's been a few years and I got curious to hear what the original humbucker pickups sound like. So I switched them out and decided to do a comparison on it. Do you notice a big difference? If so, which ones do you like better? Leave me a comment! And as always, thanks for watching!
You can see more on this guitar and the Dragonfire pickups by watching this earlier video I posted: • I Put New Pickups in M...
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I liked the single coil sound better in that guitar. Sounded thicker with more bite.
I think that is the consensus here. Thanks for watching and commenting, Joe!
Wow those Dragonfire p90 buckers sound great!!
This is the best endorsement for them I have seen yet! I think I'll order a set for an Ibanez Artcore I have.
Hi Rich. I also bought a pair of '' humbuckershape P90's'' for an old jazz box. I will tell you about the sound as soon as mounted!
It all sounds great to me. Kudos to the artist!
Thanks for the vid! Question: I have a Heritage 2019 H-530 with Lollar P90s. Love that sound, but would also love to try this guitar with humbuckers. I know the pickup cavity is smaller so it won’t accommodate traditional humbuckers, so I was curious of good alternatives that fit into a dog-ear P90 cavity? Thanks for your advice!
Interesting comparison, thanks for sharing. Also, would be great to see the various melodies played listed for those of us still learning tunes. Thanks!
Great suggestion! We will take that into consideration, Mike! Thanks for watching..
Singlecoils sound brighter and more lively. I love P90s and Lollar Charlie Christians.
The 490s are not my favs. B.B.King used to play them later in his career but I d prefer classic 57, SD Seth Lover if choosing a humbucker for a jazzbox.
Thanks for the great comment! Thanks To Si Ma for weighing in on the video!
I preferred the humbuckers - they had a woodier, more natural sound that I like without being too dark, whereas the p90 types sounded more electric and a bit grittier.
Great observations Ben! Thank you for watching!
Those single coils are sounding well and i think they were commonly used on jazz guitars before the humbuckers became into fashion. I find the 490s quite good on a Les Paul but not on this guitar. I definitely prefered the single coils in this case, but hey all of your guitars are sounding well and it's because you are a good player.and you know very well what jazz is all about.
And the single coil seem to have a softer attack more mellow for some reason I don’t know if you adjusted the tone
How about a Gretsch FilterTron test. Maybe a TV Jones Emglish Mount FilterTron which fits in the humbucker rout.
I like the Single Coils, warmer to these ears. :)
Maybe my ears are not as good as those of the other commenters. But I don't think that in a blind test it would be possible to make out significant differences via a TH-cam video. I was switching back and forth between the different types of playing sections, but the differences in tone were negligible. This doesn't mean that there aren't any. You have to be in the same room or play the instrument yourself to hear the difference. Just my very subjective perception.
What is the “trick” you mentioned you always use for raising the pickup rings off the top? I played it back a half dozen times, but could not make out what you said.
I think the humbuckers are more articulate, but the single coils have more chime. A little too articulate, so I use a darker tone setting on the Classic 57 neck humbucker on my 2003 L4.
Hey syruptishuss, I am trying to do a video on it soon but what I do is I remove the pickups, then put a small metal washer beneath each corner so the entire pickup isn't resting on the wood of the guitar. Just the corners will be on the guitar which then allows for more sound to roll off the wood of the guitar and it doesn't get impacted by a big square being pressed on the wood. Does that make sense? If not, I can try to explain it better! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
Mini humbuckers rules!
After listening repeatedly under multiple audio conditions, the Dragonfire P90's win every time. I'm surprised because I love the 490's in my Gibson 137, but that isn't a true jazz guitar. It's a semi hollow. This convinced me to order a set for my Ibanez Artcore to try to bring life to it.
What is the thing you put under the black pickup holder ? Do you raise off the top with cork ? The Randal Raul trick
brass washers
Humbuckers..Without a doubt..A "jazz" tone I would take always to the bank.. Also, with deepest respect, I thought that in the octaves segment with the dragonfires, the two strings sounded a little out of tune to me..Please listen and tell me if I am offbase or you hear what I was hearing..I love my L4CES..Best guitar I own.. Love the mahogany and what it does for your tone
Great to see you back..Shally
You are not wrong, Shally! I was a bit out of tune there! Apologies if that made it harder to compare! And yes, the L4 is a sweet, sweet ax! Thanks for the comment!
Howard Roberts' Black guitar had a P90 that he created some of the best jazz guitar tones with.
That is a great point! He did make the P90 shine! Thanks for the comment!
Never thought I'd say this but I preferred the Single Coil tone by a large margin. The Herb Ellis ES-165 uses a Gibson 490R and I love the tone of a ES-165 so I thought I would prefer the 490R in this guitar too. But that's not what happened. Did you keep the same pots and caps in place for both sets of pickups ?
Yes same pots
Lovely p90 great clarity and definition that more than makes up for the lower range as compared to the humbuckers. Also I think the 490 are not the appropriate pups for the l4. I love the Kent Armstrong hand wound 12 poles on my archtops
Thanks for weighing in Calbertone! I'd love to hear the would 12 poles!
Yeah. I've had a few archtops with KA's 12-pole. They seem to be made for jazz tones.
Hi Rich, how do you like the L4 and how does it compare to the 175?
The L4 has a deeper tone wider tone spectrum because of the solid spruce top and position of the neck pickup
Sc are more prone to jazz I think more clean and brighter more dynamic/defined sound until the bass level isn't going on the ''too much'' boomy response . Humbuckers tend to have more bass and more rounded sound and, by that, I can't go faster until notes are less defined. But, again, you can adjust that with a good EQ pedal or the amplifier settings and get a, I think, better sound over twitching the knobs for hours until you find the perfect tone. I have humbuckers and a push/pull to SC knob so when I want to play more single notes and bright I switch to SC instead of resetting everything for the humbukers. But, again, if you only play jazz... less is more... P90s with the less hardware = just perfect. Then, you can add some bass and cut the brighter treble to play different things.
I think the p90 has s definite advantage for soloing when an audience is there to actually listen, but I prefer the sound of the 490 for a softer, sweeter background for restaurant work. I just splurged a whole $270 for a Harley Benton "Manhatten Standard" and got sidetracked from installing a p90 on an old Kawai L5 copy (previously acoustic) to try and get the p90 sound you're getting from your L4. I love your videos and your playing, not to mention your knowledge and ideas. Thank You, Sir!
Thank you so much, Jon! We appreciate you watching. I would love to hear how how that Kawai sounds sometime! Thank you for the comment!
@@RichSeversonGuitar Thanks for the reply, and I'll keep watching (lot to learn) and when i get the Kawai set up, I'll post it and let you know. Thanks again, Jon.
Interesting. But isn’t buzz an issue for anyone? Single coils have a tendency for buzz and noise, which I find for jazz can be undesirable.
Thanks for the video!
Listened to with good headphones, in this comparison I like the single-coil more, although I think that the 490 (as mentioned before) are not the best for an archtop ... although in the octaves the sound of the humbuckers It has reminded me more to Wes.
Thanks for watching and for using nice headphones to compare. That does make a big difference in clarity!
I prefer the single coil better. Almost reminds me of a Dynasonic pickup.
I have humbuckers on my ES-175. I have to say, though from what I heard from you, that the P-90s sounded richer/better.
Thanks for watching and commenting Paul. Let me know if you end up changing them out!
the comparison is spoiled by the different volumes. With humbuckers the volume is low so the natural sound of the guitar overlaps the amplified sound. In another video the Gibson L4 compared to the L5 had a different sound. Anyway, always interesting videos. Thank Maestro!!
Single coil had personality
Thanks, Earnest! That is a great way to put it!
I am own a L4CES as well, I`m not a big fan of a PU change.
For a single-coil sound I take another guitar.
Oh I love the first ones so much better the Dragonfire ones is that what it is called. Such a nice ven tone I love it so much better than the Humbucker.
thanks for watching and commenting, Rick!
Its better with the Humbuckers which is how it should be as the P90 pickups were the precursor to the Humbucker. In other words the P90 is old tech compared to a Humbucker. The P90 is now the latest fashion item and thats all it is.
I heard room mic with humbuckers. But not single coils. Prefer the singles
Am I crazy. I think the single coil has a warmer deeper sound.
I prefer the sound of single-coils.
Thanks for watching and commenting, Dexter!
The "P90s" have more attack and fatter sound. Better dynamics. Those 490s definitely a flatter response, less color but less attack. I have single coils in all my archtops except one. Planet tone p90s in Joe Pass, Gabojo Mr. 2000 in Ibanez ES150T type guitar, a Victory Gold Foil (check them out on Reverb) in my el cheapo Dean (yes dean) arch top, a GREAT sounding cheap guitar, a KA import/ Vintage Vibe dual blade/ and Non-original Ibanez Johnny smith type humbuckers in my Benson GB20, waiting on a creamery Charlie Christian for my Eastman 731. They say the tone is in your hands, but the pickups help. Ya gotta play the right notes!!
i think its right ,test them,at last if that dont work,you have to go fore the "Grynting" as we say in norwegian,you know when Oscar Peterson or Errol Garner etc are in the play mood,they start to make sounds with theyr troath,they always do,spesial i like the way Errol did it,- but ok playing gitar is werry difrent from sitting by a hammerklaver. or?
I get confused with all the gaps. Just go from one to the other playing identical pieces like this guy does with no talk between guitar switches th-cam.com/video/CkEE4W1Cg_8/w-d-xo.html
Single coils, hands down.
Thanks, Thurston! I appreciate you commenting!
The P90s are too "electric" sounding - it turned the L4 into a solid body with no rich jazz tone.
Maybe a slight difference in overall tone but, honestly, my ear is not that sensitive and I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference if you didn’t identify the pickups before playing them. Either way I don’t prefer one over the other, just different strokes for different folks.
Good point, Andrew! Its is all a matter of your own preference. Thanks for commenting buddy!
Yeah Herb Ellis Guitar sounds better than that which it really shouldn’t because the L4 has a Sprucetop but if they’re taping the pick ups to the top then can mess up the sound
Yeah there’s a lot of string buzz
I think the single coil sounds better
humbuckers are much warmer, buttery and thicker.... single coils sounded naked... sickly thin.
P - 90
the mic picks up too much acoustic signal from the guitar..so it's not really possible to judge the difference...solution: switch off the mic while playing
Try classic 57s…….
Single coil.