Some people may get antsy and just want you to get to the 'comparison'... but I am so glad you go through the 'why's' and 'how's' of what you are comparing. You really are a wealth of information ...especially for those of us who haven't learned it all yet. Thanks
i've been playing guitar for 17 years yet never realized that the neck pickup sounds warmer and bassier because the strings are less taut there. awesome info.
If you play rock or metal, humbuckers are the way to go. If you play jazz, funk or if you are John Frusciante single coils are the way to go. If you play punk it doesn't even matter just bash those chords as hard as you can.
I find that CLEAN the single coil has so much more character to is whereas the humbucker is muddy and flat. In a high gain setting however i find the humbucker can soar above the single coil
Ikr. I honestly miss playing a starter strat. I play a humbucker telecaster now and strayed away from distortion, now I find my guitar tone to be boring and weak sounding, but I'm just going to get thicker strings to see if that makes it sound fuller.
@@tash5540 did thicker strings make the difference? I've been thinking about getting heavier strings so that I'll have a wound g-string (not the underwear obviously) because the g sounds so flat on my electric
If you play guitar for any length of time, you will own them all! I've owned two Teles, three Strats, one Les Paul, and one SG over the years. They're all great but they have different tones. It depends on what kind of music you want to play and how you want to sound. On the other hand, you can play any style of music on any guitar you choose to play.
You have effectively armed people with what they need to look for to get the sound they want. Adding in how the pickups work differently was perfect and the tone comparison was spot on. This is by far the BEST video on this subject I have ever seen. Subscribed!
I am a newbe who started out as a drummer and I found this video very informative. Playing with various guitarists made me like various tones and I never knew the reasons for their having multiple guitars till now. This helped me in my search for the right one foe me.
A lot of shootout vids set the amp to sound great with one guitar and play all the guitars without adjusting. The amp in this vid is no exception. It sounds great for the strat and the Les Paul suffers. If you set up so the les Paul sounds good, the strat would sound like an ice pick to the ear. Set the amp to match each guitar just like you would if you weren’t doing a shootout.
Alkize06 -_- it turned out a lot like a fender double fat strat, it plays super well! I literally haven’t used a pedal sense I finished cause it just does what I want👌
I mostly play blues, so I find that gritty humbucker sound quite useful. Of all my guitars, my Gretsch is the most used, but I do have an American Fender HSS Strat, which has two single pick-ups and one dual pick-up. I can switch between single or dual, but even with my Stratocaster, I find that I use mostly use the dual pick-up setting. In the end, if you're running it all through a pedalboard, then I don't think any of this matters too much. If you find the sound you like, then more power to you! It's all subjective anyway.
@@geargemelendrops7279 Glad my comment helped. You'll love the guitar. I've been playing it a lot lately and I'm now running it through my Marshall Code 100 amp. If know anything about this amp, then you'll know its a beast. No pedals needed, just plug right in and play! It's almost as if this particular amp was made for an HSS strat.
@@RumbleFish69 I just bought my first gretsch a few days ago, upgraded from a lower quality Ibanez with lace pick ups I got put in ( really only useful for metal) and I'm really loving the gretsch. :) it's really getting me into more jazzy licks
Yes, Gretsch guitars will do that! I have an Electromatic and it's so comfortable to play that it improved my jazz and blues playing significantly. This guitar is super fun to play and will be hard to put down for the first few months! Enjoy your Gretsch, my friend!
Chris you really do a great job with comparing guitars in detail. I love to watch you do Acoustic comparison. You just have a way of explaining the differences on guitars. Keep up the great work.
at 9:28 the humbuckers had the same bright tone but you did some feckery on us. What was that about? Humbuckers for the win! All of the tone, none of the buzzing.
Did not do the humbucker justice by leaving out it on a distortion and high gain setting. As a fender telecaster player, i often feel the thin and crisp sound not as fitting as the humbuck player in my band. But i love both :) nice comparison
Thanks for the clarification. I love the look of open coil humbuckers, but previously didn't know how to describe what those were. My next guitar will have this style.
@@agungwayne3090 I am a Stratocaster guy, so I like more the SSS configuration... but for a beginner HSS is better because you can do almost everything xD
Cant say one is bettter then the other , the single coils sound a bit more clear while the humbuckers are really great when playing chords and such. It just depends a little on what you are playing and what kind of mood you try to create. Im thinking about to change one of my guitars to humbucker style , bought a new single coil pick up guitar a while ago and did some mods to it and now I really like that one. The old one needs some work to shine , I have the humbucker pickups already so all I need to do is some soldering and cleaning up....its nice to have both styles of guitars I think.
I came here looking for basic humbucker info....now I'm a Pick ups connoisseur...I will also start my new job at guitar center tomorrow. They were impressed.
Super specific: Anyone with the SponsorBlock extension on your browser and just skipped to the highlight, I encourage you to watch the whole video (even at least an increased speed since I would too). It's one thing to just hear the difference (which, you can hear at the highlight point) but it's another to _understand_ the sound for what genre you're going for.
It should be noted most modern gibsons actually use 300k linear taper pots. Now some use 500k audio taper which were correct for almost any old Gibson. The thing about tapping a single coil has to do with power too. Lets say a nice vintage wind humbucker is 8k or 9k ohms. Vintage Single coils are usually 6k to 7k. Now if you tap the humbucker in half, you're likely to get a much weaker tone than a single coil being that the tapped coil is now at 4k to 4.5k ohms (half of the humbucker 8k or 9k) which is much less than the single coil. so the weaker resistance and higher pot value usually makes a very bright and unconvincing sound to my ears. the single coil in its entirety sounds sweeter than a tapped "vintage" humbucker. Now if you have a 13k or 14k humbucker split it will have a similar ohm value to the single coil, but there are other factors such as resonant frequency and overall construction of the coils that make it sound different. The best lead sounds I've heard are from old PAT no. Humbuckers or slightly overwound single coils. (Particularly the bridge pickup wired to the tone control instead of the middle pickup, and tone rolled off a little ala Eric Johnson. It can have clear, very resonant, and liquid like tones with warmth if done right).
Very interesting and all of this is basic electro acoustics. Studying the auditory system and how all of these “sounds” get interpreted will blow your mind. Thanks you!
Hi Chris, thanks for this great comparison! I consider buying a new guitar since I revived playing guitar again recently (at age of 58 I still got my Morris "Fender telecaster" replica with humbuckers, made in Japan, which I bought when I was 16 -only used to "playing" along with the Sex Pistols for a few months - and recently unpacked again after 42 years in storage, still sounding....punk ;-). Might opt for single coil after watching your YT video!
@@AlamoMusic Hi Chris. Since I am still a rookie gitarist I purchased a Harley Benton guitar with P90 pickups (dirt cheap but great value for money and great reviews: at Thomann Germany). Unbelievable great sound, much different compared to humbuckers! Such clear and vibrant tones, love it. Thanks again for your comparison!
I'm guessing the models with a Tri-Sound switch (like my Ibanez PF300) are the method of changing the Humbuckers to Single-Coil Mode. Is that correct? 🤔
what would happen if you switched the 2 humbuckers for 4 singlecoils? ive seen guitars like that would it still sound like a humbucker or would it sound bright like strat
In what style would you typically want a humbucker les paul as opposed to a single coil guitar? Are les pauls better suited for high gain? Like rock, blues metal??
Link below (: es.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Gear-Tech/en-us/DIP-Split-and-Tap-2017-Gibson-Les-Paul-Pickups.aspx#:~:text=Split%20%3D%20Isolates%20one%20coil%20in,with%20lower%20output%20than%20humbucking.
I don't understand. Humbucker pickups sound heavier and more rich right? But if you want that thicker sound, cant you just use the single coil neck pickup on a Strat?
Just think of single coils as crispy and clean and chimy and humbuckers are warm and heavy and PHAT And yes you could use the neck pickup and it will be thicker, but that “thicker” doesnt compare to a humbucker at neck pickup. Now thats thiccc
Hmm...learnt surprisingly lot in 12 mins...maybe cause English is not my first language, but it never hit me why a humbucker is called a humbucker.... Now I was like “duuuh....hum-bucker” :D Good vid!
Singles for rock and metal, they give ya that hot aggressive sharp sound and humbuckers for everything else- nothing quite like that warm, rolled off humbucker sound
There are guitars with 2 humbuckers and one single coil. Do you have both guitars at ones, or just a mix of both? Means can you switch the sound or is it a mixed sound of both?
They don’t pickup the vibrations in the strings. Pickups work by the string vibration changing the magnetic field that surrounds the pickup. The change in the magnetic field is converted to an electrical current. It is not microphonic.
im new to playing the guitar.. why not have humbuckers and single coils in one guitar and the ability to turn them on and off or am i missing something here.or should i be in the dragons den?
Ive used strats for 45 years , i love the sound of a les paul when some one else plays it, but when i play it i just dont feel it, i cant connect with those guitars, so strats with single coils for me.
Bobbin is like a pole. A metal pole that is wrapped with wires/coils. Just like you said, its like a thing you put on a sewing machine. Hope this resolved your confusion.
Some people may get antsy and just want you to get to the 'comparison'... but I am so glad you go through the 'why's' and 'how's' of what you are comparing. You really are a wealth of information ...especially for those of us who haven't learned it all yet. Thanks
Totally agree.
Nope. Actually not some but most people would go "STFU and play!"
@@melodica5407 and that's why you'll never be good
@@nostalgiafactor733 Because i'm not supposed to live up to your expectation
i've been playing guitar for 17 years yet never realized that the neck pickup sounds warmer and bassier because the strings are less taut there. awesome info.
If you play rock or metal, humbuckers are the way to go.
If you play jazz, funk or if you are John Frusciante single coils are the way to go.
If you play punk it doesn't even matter just bash those chords as hard as you can.
I have a semi acoustic archtop guitar and I find that they are perfect for jazz and vintage. It also uses humbucker
@@Imperia_Classicus You can use everything you want ofcourse, it all depends on what you prefer.
I think single coils are actually very capable of holding their own in rock, listen to jimi hendrix for example.
I have single coils and what I do is murder the strings and turn up the distortion pedal
man punk is very hard ok? And yeah im john so i guess ill get single coild whatever i play XD
I find that CLEAN the single coil has so much more character to is whereas the humbucker is muddy and flat. In a high gain setting however i find the humbucker can soar above the single coil
Ikr. I honestly miss playing a starter strat. I play a humbucker telecaster now and strayed away from distortion, now I find my guitar tone to be boring and weak sounding, but I'm just going to get thicker strings to see if that makes it sound fuller.
Absolutely
@@tash5540 did thicker strings make the difference? I've been thinking about getting heavier strings so that I'll have a wound g-string (not the underwear obviously) because the g sounds so flat on my electric
Like when I do the solo from wish you were here, the G is so bad compared to even a $60 acoustic guitar
I like the humbucker both on gain and clean the best
Comparision starts at 8:52...
savior!
Thank you!!!!!!
Thanks
Comparison starts at 0:00
Thanks
Probably the most straight forward and clear video about musical equipment I've seen on the internet.
Thanks!
If you play guitar for any length of time, you will own them all! I've owned two Teles, three Strats, one Les Paul, and one SG over the years. They're all great but they have different tones. It depends on what kind of music you want to play and how you want to sound. On the other hand, you can play any style of music on any guitar you choose to play.
You have effectively armed people with what they need to look for to get the sound they want. Adding in how the pickups work differently was perfect and the tone comparison was spot on. This is by far the BEST video on this subject I have ever seen. Subscribed!
I am a newbe who started out as a drummer and I found this video very informative. Playing with various guitarists made me like various tones and I never knew the reasons for their having multiple guitars till now. This helped me in my search for the right one foe me.
Very very very informative/educational video about this awesome topic! Thank you for this! I now finally understand the difference! Thanks! 😊👌
Single coil = Light Crystal sound. Humbucker Heavy muddy sound.
I feel the same..
A lot of shootout vids set the amp to sound great with one guitar and play all the guitars without adjusting. The amp in this vid is no exception. It sounds great for the strat and the Les Paul suffers. If you set up so the les Paul sounds good, the strat would sound like an ice pick to the ear. Set the amp to match each guitar just like you would if you weren’t doing a shootout.
Great point!
I'm building a super squire strat right now with humbuckers and I'm super excited to play it.
Hope it comes out great
Brett Maher have you built your guitar?
Well im trying to upgrade to a Epiphone or Gibson SG which i think come standard with humbuckers but i could be wrong.
Alkize06 -_- it turned out a lot like a fender double fat strat, it plays super well! I literally haven’t used a pedal sense I finished cause it just does what I want👌
Quite possibly the best informational video on TH-cam ever. Thank you.
that's strange, when hearing them side by side with headphones on humbuckers sound as if i plug my ears or somthing
That's essentially the "compressed" sound. He mentions it while describing the Humbucker
I mostly play blues, so I find that gritty humbucker sound quite useful. Of all my guitars, my Gretsch is the most used, but I do have an American Fender HSS Strat, which has two single pick-ups and one dual pick-up. I can switch between single or dual, but even with my Stratocaster, I find that I use mostly use the dual pick-up setting. In the end, if you're running it all through a pedalboard, then I don't think any of this matters too much. If you find the sound you like, then more power to you! It's all subjective anyway.
Yup single coil way too bright for blues.
This comment was helpful. Im about to buy an hss strat and this comment just sealed the deal for me
@@geargemelendrops7279 Glad my comment helped. You'll love the guitar. I've been playing it a lot lately and I'm now running it through my Marshall Code 100 amp. If know anything about this amp, then you'll know its a beast. No pedals needed, just plug right in and play! It's almost as if this particular amp was made for an HSS strat.
@@RumbleFish69 I just bought my first gretsch a few days ago, upgraded from a lower quality Ibanez with lace pick ups I got put in ( really only useful for metal) and I'm really loving the gretsch. :) it's really getting me into more jazzy licks
Yes, Gretsch guitars will do that! I have an Electromatic and it's so comfortable to play that it improved my jazz and blues playing significantly. This guitar is super fun to play and will be hard to put down for the first few months! Enjoy your Gretsch, my friend!
This is the first time I've heard an explanation between the two that actually made sense. Thank you.
Humbuckers sound like you've put a carpet on a speaker, if you get the idea.
+David Demelier
This dude mess up with knobs on Les Paul. (no offense) ))
The guitar is ok . (despite i hate Gibson more than Fender)
no, they don't
Sound like you put your speaker in water
@@ConfidentBocchi no, they don't sound like it, you liar
@@Аноним-щ3н :) why you mad?
Mate, this is the first time someone puts it clear. Thank you. Your explanation is fire!
Chris you really do a great job with comparing guitars in detail. I love to watch you do Acoustic comparison. You just have a way of explaining the differences on guitars. Keep up the great work.
I appreciate that!
Thank you! This was the perfect tutorial on pickups for a knucklehead like me. Really well done.
Thank you for this video. Straight to important points, no BS, just spot on. I learned a lot
What a fantastic video!! Exactly the description I was looking for!! Thanks SO much for sharing your knowledge with us.
I love hearing single coils on recordings and videos. But when I'm playing them no. Humbuckers for life :)
What about guitars with HSS configuration?
at 9:28 the humbuckers had the same bright tone but you did some feckery on us. What was that about? Humbuckers for the win! All of the tone, none of the buzzing.
HBs don't even come close to the same kind of bright tone as SCs
I like the single coil sound better
Les Paul standard should change your mind 😁🎸
Did not do the humbucker justice by leaving out it on a distortion and high gain setting. As a fender telecaster player, i often feel the thin and crisp sound not as fitting as the humbuck player in my band. But i love both :) nice comparison
Yea single coil is more for songs that use single string playing and humbuckers are for power chord playing bassically
Well get a tele deluxe or a 72 custom!! (Or mod ur tele)
Thanks for the clarification. I love the look of open coil humbuckers, but previously didn't know how to describe what those were. My next guitar will have this style.
Or buy a guitar with both, HSS... problem solved xD
That’s gay.
@@agungwayne3090 I am a Stratocaster guy, so I like more the SSS configuration... but for a beginner HSS is better because you can do almost everything xD
@@agungwayne3090 na. Having only one kind of pickup is gay. The exact same pickups next together is like the exact same gender next together
I have Sss and Hss. :)
redhairedjl That means you’re gay.
Very informative. Good explanations of how it works and why it's important.
This video had a lot useful information for me before buying my first guitar
Thank you very much!
Excellent review. Excellent delivery too thanks man
180 flat-earthers clicked dislike when they got to the bit where he said "earths magnetism"
You are so dedicated. Thank you so much 🌟
Cant say one is bettter then the other , the single coils sound a bit more clear while the humbuckers are really great when playing chords and such.
It just depends a little on what you are playing and what kind of mood you try to create.
Im thinking about to change one of my guitars to humbucker style , bought a new single coil pick up guitar a while ago and did some mods to it and now I really like that one.
The old one needs some work to shine , I have the humbucker pickups already so all I need to do is some soldering and cleaning up....its nice to have both styles of guitars I think.
I came here looking for basic humbucker info....now I'm a Pick ups connoisseur...I will also start my new job at guitar center tomorrow. They were impressed.
It really took a lot to get to the test, but every bit of information you passed was useful and interesting, amazing video.
Thanks for the comparison. A brief educational experience.
Pretty cool that google links you to this video. Good job!
Super specific: Anyone with the SponsorBlock extension on your browser and just skipped to the highlight, I encourage you to watch the whole video (even at least an increased speed since I would too). It's one thing to just hear the difference (which, you can hear at the highlight point) but it's another to _understand_ the sound for what genre you're going for.
thank you for this!
Great informational video! I subbed because of how informative this was! This answered almost all of the questions I had on this topic!
Wow! Great video! I really had this romantic impression that humbuckers would make me sound "better".
The only video you need to understand this. Nicely explained.
Thanks for explaining that, that was really educational for me.
I prefer the the sound of both it just depends on what your playing.
Excellent explanation. Made me suscribe.
i'll take the single pick ups every day and twice on sunday.
Thank you for the comparison! I remembered my strat sound. :)
This is super helpful! Is the demo at 9:48 from a longer song/piece?
What LP Standards from the factory have this ability stated at 8:00 to switch to a "single/split coil" with the humbuckers?
That was very educational for me since I’m new at playing guitar 🎸 thanks
It should be noted most modern gibsons actually use 300k linear taper pots. Now some use 500k audio taper which were correct for almost any old Gibson.
The thing about tapping a single coil has to do with power too. Lets say a nice vintage wind humbucker is 8k or 9k ohms. Vintage Single coils are usually 6k to 7k. Now if you tap the humbucker in half, you're likely to get a much weaker tone than a single coil being that the tapped coil is now at 4k to 4.5k ohms (half of the humbucker 8k or 9k) which is much less than the single coil.
so the weaker resistance and higher pot value usually makes a very bright and unconvincing sound to my ears. the single coil in its entirety sounds sweeter than a tapped "vintage" humbucker. Now if you have a 13k or 14k humbucker split it will have a similar ohm value to the single coil, but there are other factors such as resonant frequency and overall construction of the coils that make it sound different.
The best lead sounds I've heard are from old PAT no. Humbuckers or slightly overwound single coils. (Particularly the bridge pickup wired to the tone control instead of the middle pickup, and tone rolled off a little ala Eric Johnson. It can have clear, very resonant, and liquid like tones with warmth if done right).
Very interesting and all of this is basic electro acoustics. Studying the auditory system and how all of these “sounds” get interpreted will blow your mind. Thanks you!
Thank you for this great video!
Great explanation! Keep up the work!
Hi Chris, thanks for this great comparison! I consider buying a new guitar since I revived playing guitar again recently (at age of 58 I still got my Morris "Fender telecaster" replica with humbuckers, made in Japan, which I bought when I was 16 -only used to "playing" along with the Sex Pistols for a few months - and recently unpacked again after 42 years in storage, still sounding....punk ;-). Might opt for single coil after watching your YT video!
Awesome! Let us know if you need help picking one out!
@@AlamoMusic Hi Chris. Since I am still a rookie gitarist I purchased a Harley Benton guitar with P90 pickups (dirt cheap but great value for money and great reviews: at Thomann Germany). Unbelievable great sound, much different compared to humbuckers! Such clear and vibrant tones, love it. Thanks again for your comparison!
Excellent explanation!
I'm guessing the models with a Tri-Sound switch (like my Ibanez PF300) are the method of changing the Humbuckers to Single-Coil Mode.
Is that correct? 🤔
Now I know what to buy. Thank you so much..! I'll definitely try towards humbuckers
I love Both for different kind of music. They are completly different that's the beauty in it.
Thanks a lot, a very complete explanation . Excellent video
That strato tone... jesus! :D
what would happen if you switched the 2 humbuckers for 4 singlecoils? ive seen guitars like that would it still sound like a humbucker or would it sound bright like strat
2:09 He’s calling out Darrell Braun Guitars haha
Incredible comparison and amazing playing.
I enjoyed your guitar playing so much, I forgot what I was listening for. lol
very informative, thank you
In what style would you typically want a humbucker les paul as opposed to a single coil guitar? Are les pauls better suited for high gain? Like rock, blues metal??
Just hearing that beautiful strum of a les Paul instantly brings me to led zeppelin. Edit: humbuckers sound even better on an old style tube amp.
How do I switch between the different settings for the humbuckers? I have the same type les Paul that can split coils but I don’t know how to switch
Link below (:
es.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Gear-Tech/en-us/DIP-Split-and-Tap-2017-Gibson-Les-Paul-Pickups.aspx#:~:text=Split%20%3D%20Isolates%20one%20coil%20in,with%20lower%20output%20than%20humbucking.
what a fantastic explanation of strings vibration property as if a science professor, so beautifully presented , really enjoyed it
Excellent teaching points and very simplified - thank you!
You just made physics cool
juicy1219 agree!
Great clear, interesting video giving good info. Thank you.
Very well explained - thank you 🙏
am i able to get high-end clarity from the Humbuckers if I use an EQ? how similar or close would it be to a single coil sound?
I don't understand. Humbucker pickups sound heavier and more rich right? But if you want that thicker sound, cant you just use the single coil neck pickup on a Strat?
Not if you want REALLY fat, hot output. Humbuckers are unmatched for high gain stuff.
Just think of single coils as crispy and clean and chimy and humbuckers are warm and heavy and PHAT
And yes you could use the neck pickup and it will be thicker, but that “thicker” doesnt compare to a humbucker at neck pickup. Now thats thiccc
He plays the two different coils at 8:54
Super helpful. Thanks.
Good video.
What model Stratocaster is that.
Excellent deep explanation :-)
I have an Epiphone Les Paul 1960 tribute plus and my question is, why do my humbuckers hum. If I touch the strings the hum disappears. Annoying.
Hmm...learnt surprisingly lot in 12 mins...maybe cause English is not my first language, but it never hit me why a humbucker is called a humbucker.... Now I was like “duuuh....hum-bucker” :D Good vid!
Should i buy one which has both
I have both a strat, a Les Paul and an archtop. I like all of them the way they are.
Singles for rock and metal, they give ya that hot aggressive sharp sound and humbuckers for everything else- nothing quite like that warm, rolled off humbucker sound
@8:50 you’re welcome
There are guitars with 2 humbuckers and one single coil. Do you have both guitars at ones, or just a mix of both? Means can you switch the sound or is it a mixed sound of both?
They buck the hum. Of course now it makes so much sense!
They don’t pickup the vibrations in the strings. Pickups work by the string vibration changing the magnetic field that surrounds the pickup. The change in the magnetic field is converted to an electrical current. It is not microphonic.
But why if I hit the pickup I can hear the sound as it was a microphone?
I saw an American Strat (Performer) set up with Humbucking pickups. Sort of a bright Les Paul sound.
That was very informative! thank you!!
I'd love to see neodymium magnets used in building a custom guitar
What's going on with the setup of that Les Paul? I've played similar models and they sound way more full and brighter.
Great video 👍🏻
Does the metal rectangular cover screwed on top of the humbuckers change the sound compared to humbuckers without it?
im new to playing the guitar.. why not have humbuckers and single coils in one guitar and the ability to turn them on and off or am i missing something here.or should i be in the dragons den?
Ive used strats for 45 years ,
i love the sound of a les paul when some one else plays it, but when i play it i just dont feel it, i cant connect with those guitars, so strats with single coils for me.
I’m confused, bobbin? Like the thing you put in a sewing machine?
Bobbin is like a pole. A metal pole that is wrapped with wires/coils. Just like you said, its like a thing you put on a sewing machine. Hope this resolved your confusion.
That's a pretty good explanatory video. Thanks. I will try to understand the electromagnetism