The biggest difference is that if you have one pickup (and one guitar) you really learn the instrument and you really learn how to play to get whatever you need out of that guitar. A test like this will never reveal this.
littvay thank you!!!! I was really hoping someone will point this out. That’s exactly how I see it. Especially now that I tried it for myself. The differences are really tiny (except for the sustain of course). I love how a Junior forces me to be more creative and pay more attention to my picking hand. Cheers! 🙌
@@thebestnickname4003 Hey, it’s an own piece. I’m writing and recording my first solo album at the moment and this is gonna be on it too. 👍 Thanks a lot, glad you like it.
I like simplicity so single pickup guitars are for me, i love them, one pickup one volume knob, i'll dial in the tone on the amp. Great video, thanks 🎸👍.
I have the original 84 Kramer Baretta with the one SD Humbucker and one volume knob and I LOVE it. Simple, clean and great sound. I never never understood why you would ever need more than one pickup on your guitar
Becuse the other pickups gives other sounds that you cannot achieve with just one pickup. And I'm saying that as somebody who loves 80s single humbucker superstrats like the one you mention. While I prefer 1-humbucker guitars for the simplicity, theres often situations where the sound of a neck pickup can be really nice for example certain solos sounds nicer with neck pickup (think Yngwie Malmsteen sound)
Dragonsquare ohh mann, danke!! Ich finde sie auch unglaublich. Und ganz ehrlich, wenn deine Gitarre dich nach Jahren und tausende Spielstunden immernoch wegblasen, dann muss sie echt saugut sein. Haha! 💛 🎸
Variation is the spice of life. Still there is something about just sweet bridge humbucker and a volume knob. It just makes you play the hell out of it 🤘🏽
Poo Ninja and that’s exactly what I love about single pickup guitars. They just make you play differently and really discover that one pickup. Yeah man!! 🤘
so many people commented here by how many of them use proper studio monitor speakers like me? Yes, there is a big difference in both comparison. I prefer the tone with the neck PUP in the Tele. It has more high frequencies and a bolder attack.
EMPIRE ENTERTAINMENT & EVENTS yes, me too! It’s really interesting, isn’t it? I don’t know why, but the bridge pickup seemed to have more high frequencies with the neck pickup in the guitar. Especially with a clean setting.
I am obsessed with single pickup guitars. It helps to form a special connection to the instrument for me because I can effectively control the volume and timbre of the guitar by picking in different locations, and picking harder or softer, using thinner picks vs. heavy picks, pick vs. fingers, and other things.
I have one pickup in the bridge because that's all I use. I have no use for neck pickup. I haven't used a neck pickup since 1982. Ever since I did the Van Halen thing to my Stratocaster I never looked back. For the past 15 years I've had two Esquires. I love them.
No noticeable difference for me here. Even with the sustain test results on the low E . The pick attack must play a much bigger role, than the presence of a neck PU. I'm sure you tried to repeat the same conditions and therefor the picking, sure. But still, to many uncertainties in this test for me. Thanks for checking this out, Kris! It was very interesting to see. Love your videos, keep em up! Greetings Vik
I've watched a lot of videos regarding the one pickup Esquires from Fender. There are people who've done a great job coaxing a lot of different tones out of their single pickup guitars through their touch (Allen Hinds comes to mind). Still, I prefer the sonic flexibility you get with the neck pickup. You can always add more gain at the amp or with a boost pedal. Even Van Halen added a neck pickup later on in his career.
Since you mentioned that it sounded louder unplugged, maybe because of the new sound hole, try stuffing some cotton balls in with tape covering it. I've seen others analyze the sound before and after with DAW software to get more scientific data, and you need a robot to hit the strings exactly the same every time, but to my ear, over TH-cam, not a significant difference. And I still wouldn't mind having a single P90 SG. Thanks for doing things like this so we don't have to!
I have a 2020 LP He and I love it. It's the only American-made guitar I own and it's almost a manifestation of my soul. I played at at my favorite music store and couldn't stop thinking about it. I shelled out the $1.5k for it and haven't regretted it. I do regret some of the other guitars I've purchased, but the Jr. is me. There's no other way to describe it. I suck at guitar, and have played on and off for over a decade. This guitar feels and sounds so good to me that I have to play it, and I've made more progress in the few months than in the years and years before.
I ran the video again with my eyes closed to HEAR the difference and I can. The single pick up is a "meaner". I could tell. I do believe that a single pickup located in the center would be great sounding. I am watching this video AFTER deciding to mod a Charvel I have (a cheaper one) from dual to single humbucker (I will put a blackout cover in the neck). It was meant to be......
Seemed like less compression and more fundamental without the neck pickup, but very subtle. Having the other pickup is much better. I love the Tele neck pickup.
Thanks for making this comparison so we don't have to do it ourselves, Chris ;-) I was kinda surprised to hear more of a difference with more gain, which seemed a little richer and with more top end IMO, whereas I wasn't able to hear a significant difference clean.
Experience tells me sound differences are in our heads. My dad had a hifi shop, quite often I discovered sound was more to do with combinations than cost, also you do actually get used to things sounding a certain way , this in turn decides your expectations. Quite often I'd mistakenly think I had a certain setting or set up, when I discovered I was wrong , you soon see that you hear what you imagine you hear . Some people have a natural hearing shift and preference, ie.. I prefer brighter sounds , others prefer deeper sounds, it's all down to preference rather than ' one is better than another' . Preference is the deciding factor and is neither wrong or right , it's simply what sound suits each individual person .
Kris, great video as always... I have a Les Paul Special, the Junior is my favorite guitar ever and I rarely, if ever use the neck pickup. I roll the tone off the bridge pickup to “fake” the neck pickup. I totally believe in the “better tone with more sustain” argument with just one pickup. Problem is, when I started playing, in the late 80s, I was an Eddie guy, and he did the sound chop thing, with the neck off and the bridge at full, flicking the switch back and forth. And it was also my mute if I had feedback at any point and didn’t want it. I became so used to using the selector switch to mute the guitar that even using a Mesa Mk5 with a mute button on the amp pedal, I can’t seem to adjust to that. If I used the floor unit to mute my guitar and there was bit of time between songs, I would forget and trip trying to change my floor switch. Lol. Point being, I totally think the guitar would sound better with one pickup, but I’d have to mount a switch on the guitar just to mute it. And let’s be honest, you see a guy with one pickup and a 3 way selector switch.... no one likes that guy, no one. Even Eddie had the brains to bury a fake switch in the middle position of the cutout , because he doesn’t want to be that guy either. Lmao. As always, keep up the amazing work, much love brother.
You could always add an extra pickup cover with non magnetic dummy coils to the neck position. Same effect, but you don't have to be the guy with one pickup and a pickup selector
Lohikarmi good idea. I’ll have to try that. Don’t know why I haven’t. Too busy looking for a pedal or something to boost that signal the right way to make up for it. Lol. Story of my life, overlooking the easy stuff for a weird fix. Thanks!!
Again: nice video, Kris! :) Actually, the first time I THOUGHT I heard a little difference was with the most gain. But not sure... Before that, I would definitely have said, that there is no difference in tone. The longer sustain was obviously a thing. Simply physics. ;) Cheers!
If you don`t listen closely, there is not much of a difference for me in sound. With the sustain however you proofed, that Malcolm removed the neck and the middle pickup for a reason. Great video!
There is a difference in the high frequencies. If we can hear it through TH-cam compression, probably it is even more evident in a live listening. Not a reason why I could do without the wonderful tone of neck pickups, but the difference is real. I also saw another video in the past where they had cut a side slot of the body wood, so they could slide in or out the neck pickup while playing: same results! If I find it I will post it down here.
You can also get an app and measure the magnetic strength directly. It's hard to test without a picking machine etc... I took off my bridge pickup and didn't notice any difference. You could always just lower the pickup more.
For me there was a difference when you played overdriven. Without neck pickup there are more overtones. With the neck pickup it sounded warmer, but it isn't a problem to cut high frequency by turning the tone knob. The other way doesn't work... When you want these clear bass lines, you can't add clarity 😉 I love my Esquire. But I had to find out how to get my tone!
I can't think of a single pickup that I could do without on any of my guitars. Maaaaybe the bridge pickup on my strat, but even if there is something in the idea of reducing unnecessary forces on the strings, the bridge pickup probably has less effect, since it's near the anchor point.
If there is a difference it is very subtle - I can't hear it and removing the neck pickup doesn't change the quality of the sound. And the Tele neck pickup sounds so sweet. And one of my all time favourite sounds is the two pickup sound through an AC30 with a bit of bite. I will be leaving mine in.
Very interesting. I had heard Phil X and others talk about this too and always thought there must be some truth to it. I wonder how much of a difference you felt while playing it? Because simply hearing it through the video, the difference was very minimal if any. I'm sure in a band context, people would be hard pressed to notice anything different. Curious how long you left the guitar like this and if you solidified an opinion one way or another (I'll check and see if you did a follow up video about it). I'm sure it would make you play differently and one thing that would be really cool in a one pickup guitar is wiring the electronics differently so you can get different sounds using the switch - like in the old Esquire's.
The difference wasn't huge, but I at least could hear that it was ringin' a bit more and had more sustain without the neck pickup installed. I'm thinking of building a mongrel of a guitar with a strat body and a 24.75" neck and put a tele bridge with a single tele bridge pickup in it. The idea of having just have one pickup appeals to me greatly. Then it's only your plaing that matters. Plus I have smallish hands that doesn't really work on a 25.5" neck.
I was expecting brighter without the neck (no dampening from the other magnet), but I heard it being more mild (less direct, maybe even more muddy) without the neck, maybe a consequence of increased harmonics in the mix of the tone? Interesting reading others' comments that some heard it like me, some heard the exact opposite!
Honestly, its great if you can afford to have a guitar with one pick-up and if you play music that just needs the bridge pick up, I have a strat with a 3 way switch and wired to get a Tele middle position and I have my middle pick up on a separate volume and no tone. Us working guitarists need a Swiss army knife guitar. Interesting though. Cheers.
Take the pickup and hold it over some ferrous metal (string trimming) , when it jumps that is the distance the magnet has significant pull on the string.. but we are talking about a device that generates milivolts of electricity here.. not something massive so it will have a small measurable difference but not one our ears can really hear.... if you heard something it is in your head
I do think there is a difference but to the ordinary person, it won't be significant. I believe your skills and abilities are the ones that make your music count.
of course it would be minor for the mind but if you play it for a long time then add another pickup to the same guitar, then you will see the difference in vibration and the effects on "harmonic series". i think in future companies will produce more single pickup guitars as our perception develops.
I think it's the electronics make difference. As the pickup getting removed, meaning there is less resistance in the electronics. And turns out to have a brighter, open tone.
There isn’t “less resistance”. When you have only one pickup selected, the other one is physically disconnected from the electrical circuit. That’s how the switch works.
I heard more high end clarity and sustain without the neck pickup. However, was that due to the magnetic field of the neck pickup being present or absent, the new sound hole, or both? You yourself pointed out that the guitar was louder even without amplification, so the difference might have been the way the instrument was vibrating mechanically, not electrical or magnetic.
Hi Kris That's a difficult one Definitely slight more sustain without the neck pickup But was that due to more resonance because you has a small soundhole with a hard surface ( scratch plate ) to bounce the sound off Frankly I love that Tele so any sound you get out of it is ok by me! Love these experiments thank you ! Just got my axefx ultra back after a year long borrow And I'm in.isolation...oh dear 😁😁😁😁
I am a big fan of one PU-Guitars. I own a 1968 Gibson SG junior. This Guitar is a burner, because the P90 is a little bit further away from the bridge as normal. All the "juniors" are better (better tone and sustain) than the "specials" with 2 P90ties. And of course, when the Pick Up is too close to the strings you loose sustain and the neck PU is a sustain killer.
Something is going on in the low end. Seems like less in the one without the neck pickup. Sounds better in my opinion. More articulate, better defined, less mud. It sounded more like a polished recording from a record with the neck pickup out. Just my thoughts. Listened on some nice Shure in-ears
nicolamontoro thanks a lot man! That was my impression too. I got fed up with styling my hair and also I promised myself I will cut it short after the Namm Show. So I did. 😆
@@KrisBarocsi I've not seen any comments concerning the possible circuit impact of pulling the neck pickup out of the control circuit of the guitar. Even though a neck pickup might be switched OFF it will still affect the guitar control circuit's overall impedance and possibly shift the circuit's peak resonant frequency. Changing/removing components could contribute to the performance of the entire control circuit. Granted we are talking about small changes, however for some with a trained ear the dynamics, compression and articulation may be readily distinguishable. I am currently converting one of my Telecasters to an Esquire. When I do I will be using the "Eldred" wiring modification. I encourage you to listen to the Eldred wiring modification as it brings an interesting tone to the table. Thank You for the video Kris.
I wouldn't say better, just different. On my Tradition CAB10 Tele, the 8.8K 43-gauge neck pickup was low compared to the 8.66K 42-gauge bridge PU which i had to lower to barely match even after removing the pickup cover, lowering the Alnico 5 polepieces flush to the bobbin top and raising it close to the strings as I could get it at the 22nd fret with no shrillness worked out good but then I ended up hanging the high E in the bobbin numerous times from heavy picking until the pickup eventually shorted out so now I have a 42-gauge 6.4K Strat neck PU that doesn't sit as close so now it's balanced perfectly with the bridge pickup. But now my 2nd Tele's a totally different beast: it started out as a used DIY Tele kit that had a heavy ceramic bar magnet i removed off the neck PU turning it to a dummy coil wired in series with the bridge pickup as I converted it into an Esquire; as i said before, they different.
I heard a bit more of nasal tone and less rich harmonic content from the two pickup guitar while the single pickup clips sounded more open and harmonically complex. This may have been more obvious if you could A/B between same notes/chords quicker. Not sure the extra sustain from the single pickup mattered much with the more staccato style of playing in these clips.
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It's interesting what your camera does with the strings. It picks up the vibration in a weird way :)
There is a small volume change for whatever reason. I never adjust the neck pickup too close like. They never come from the factory that close in my experience either. Lower both pickups then balance them together for equal volume or to your taste. I have no use for any single pickup guitar, btw. May as well be a car with only 1st gear! 🙃
I was a skeptic here but yes I could heat the difference. A significant one? Meh. But I wonder if you did the same with really high output pickups? Would the metal crowd benefit more from this?
Hey, no there isn’t because I’ve set up my pickups to an ideal height where this wobbly tone doesn’t happen at all. If you hear that weird tone you have your pickups too high. Cheers
Without other pickup in the circuit the sound character of the remaining one is purer, more obvious; on the other hand, with the neck pickup I heared more low frecuencies, sound a little mudy which could be "better" for some tastes. For practicality I can't imagine me playing a guitar with a single one pickup but for studio propuses, man... I'll kinda demand single pickup guitars for now on.
Hallo Kris, deine Videos sind immer klasse und sehr informativ ! Was mich seit langer Zeit interessiert ist ob es einen großen Unterschied macht zwischen Telecasters wo die Saiten durch die Hüllsen durch den Korpus gehen oder einfach in der Bridge durchgeführt werden. Ich wollte mir deshalb eine Harley Benton TE 20 kaufen und da Bohrungen machen für Hülsen um den Unterschied zu erkunden. Aber irgendwie traue ich mich nicht. Meinst du es würde einen großen Unterschied machen ? Danke für jeden Tipp
Pretty decisive. But what if you still want a neck pickup tone? How about a single pickup on a sliding rail that you could physically move up and down between the bridge and the neck. That would provide tone variance in a single pickup, wouldn’t it? A bit fiddly, I grant you.
Sanford Rogers That’s mainly because the tonal difference is super tiny. Haha! For the record I love Juniors and Esquires. I just don’t think it’s worth throwing out the neck pickup of a guitar that has one. 🤷♂️ Maybe for the sustain yes, not that much for the tone differences.
Great experiment, Kris. I slightly preferred the sound with only one pick up. The differences were smaller than I expected. How did it sound and feel in the room for you?
Supperconductor Thanks man! To be honest I didn’t feel any difference at all except for the slightly longer sustain of course. I heard “more” whilst editing which surprised me a little. I guess I was just expecting a huge difference and I was disappointed. Haha
Through my iPhone...what I heard is that w/ the clean tones, pickup in a little darker without the pu it was a little brighter. In the overdrive...w/ the pu it was a little brighter without the pu it was a little darker. Over all great tone either way. I love telecasters. I have a 1987 52 reissued mij squier.
I love single pickup guitars. They are just soooooooo cool. But it's only because I started early with a Junior. I've had guitars MADE FOR ME, three times with a single bridge pickup. Humbucker pickups!
I don’t understand why so many videos on Single Pickup Guitars are about the “string pull myth”. THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE!! The issue is: A single pickup forces you to use you right hand, tone and volume to approximate the tones that you seek. If you are practicing a song by a certain guitarist, you will subconsciously try to emulate the tone. If you practice on a single-pickup guitar, you will build up a sound knowledge over time on how to approximate different types of tones using your right hand. That will make you a better guitarist because it lets you add nuance to your playing. Compare this to someone who learned to play on a 3 pickup guitar with coil splits and active eq. That player will use the dials on his instrument to emulate the tones. He’ll spend more time fiddling with his knobs and less than playing. Thus, by restricting your options you are forced to get the most out of what you have. It’s no surprise that single pickup players have more varied textures and nuances in their playing. Your guitar will sound like Ita a part of your body singing.
Almost seems like more of the lower fundamental comes through on the single pickup. I just get mad when someone only uses the bridge pickup on a Strat.
I can't hear any difference. I've done this to one of my guitars, but for different reasons, cost and psychology. It makes it cheaper by those 40-50 euro with a missing pickup (talking about HH set here). And the one left is in bridge position, so I can't get away from that strong bitey tone and when it's in my hands I have no other choice but to rock out :-D
I think the main difference is the single pickup does have a more aggressive high-midrange plus on the opposite side I think the neck pickup sweetened the overall tone, my theory about the pickups especially with vintage type or actual vintage wiring is both pickups are kind of akways on ,always a little bleed between them ,, in my own experience I do think the main difference is single pickup guitars make you play differently and that might be the more aggressive tonality or no pickup physically in the way or just trying to get more out of less when you play
One more thing, you looked like you were having more fun and playing a little looser with the one pickup guitar. Something about the way it sounded and felt seemed more inspiring to you.
Eric Johnson can hear the difference between a Duracel and an Energizer battery in his pedals (according to his tech) but he has no issues playing a 3 pickup guitar, so that's good enough for me.
I think I preferred the sound with 2 pickups but only marginally. I guess the conclusion is we all need duplicates of all our guitars, 1 with and 1 without neck pickup.
I was searching for a video on a guitar with no hole routed for bridge pickup as I imagine this would likely have a positive effect on resonance. Anyone with experience here?
No, it’s primarily a function of what you use the guitar to do, such as play rhythm, versus personal preference. There also are people who can only afford single pickup guitars, so there’s a different reality for them. Bottom line, they’re not better or worse. They are simply a choice.
Michael Fryzel yeah it felt a tiny bit different. Clean it felt “softer” and I didn’t like that a lot. High gain it was a bit more fun to play thanks to the extra harmonica and sustain. But to be honest, I still prefer a Junior and an Esquire as they are (single pickup guitars) and enjoy my 2 and 3 pickup guitars with all those pickups in them. Haha!
Interesting 🤔 the guitar without the neck pu sound a bit more low ended and fat, perhaps because the missing neck left a hole that has an effect similar to a semi-hollow body... I prefer the sound with the neck pu in, even though the sunstain is impressively longer on the bottom E string (totally understandable, the heavier strings are obviously more affected by magnets...) To conclude, yes removing the neck pu has a huge effect on sound but I probably rather have it in place 😂
The biggest difference is that if you have one pickup (and one guitar) you really learn the instrument and you really learn how to play to get whatever you need out of that guitar. A test like this will never reveal this.
littvay thank you!!!! I was really hoping someone will point this out. That’s exactly how I see it. Especially now that I tried it for myself. The differences are really tiny (except for the sustain of course).
I love how a Junior forces me to be more creative and pay more attention to my picking hand. Cheers! 🙌
Just got my first single pick up guitar. I agree 💯
@@KrisBarocsi What song is at minute 2:40? It is really Beautiful I can not find it :'c
@@thebestnickname4003 Hey, it’s an own piece. I’m writing and recording my first solo album at the moment and this is gonna be on it too. 👍 Thanks a lot, glad you like it.
@@KrisBarocsi Thanks for answering. If possible, when you release the album, make the tabs available so we can play along. I look forward to. ❤
I couldn't really hear much of a difference, but I'd still prefer both pickups. I love that middle position on the Tele.
I like simplicity so single pickup guitars are for me, i love them, one pickup one volume knob, i'll dial in the tone on the amp. Great video, thanks 🎸👍.
I have the original 84 Kramer Baretta with the one SD Humbucker and one volume knob and I LOVE it. Simple, clean and great sound. I never never understood why you would ever need more than one pickup on your guitar
Becuse the other pickups gives other sounds that you cannot achieve with just one pickup.
And I'm saying that as somebody who loves 80s single humbucker superstrats like the one you mention.
While I prefer 1-humbucker guitars for the simplicity, theres often situations where the sound of a neck pickup can be really nice for example certain solos sounds nicer with neck pickup (think Yngwie Malmsteen sound)
Deine Tele klingt einfach soo gut! Ob nur 1 PU oder 2.. das intro hat gereicht um das unwiderlegbar zu beweisen 🥰
Dragonsquare ohh mann, danke!! Ich finde sie auch unglaublich. Und ganz ehrlich, wenn deine Gitarre dich nach Jahren und tausende Spielstunden immernoch wegblasen, dann muss sie echt saugut sein. Haha! 💛 🎸
without pickup : less compressed , more open ,bark and sparkly
Variation is the spice of life. Still there is something about just sweet bridge humbucker and a volume knob. It just makes you play the hell out of it 🤘🏽
Poo Ninja and that’s exactly what I love about single pickup guitars. They just make you play differently and really discover that one pickup. Yeah man!! 🤘
so many people commented here by how many of them use proper studio monitor speakers like me? Yes, there is a big difference in both comparison. I prefer the tone with the neck PUP in the Tele. It has more high frequencies and a bolder attack.
EMPIRE ENTERTAINMENT & EVENTS yes, me too! It’s really interesting, isn’t it? I don’t know why, but the bridge pickup seemed to have more high frequencies with the neck pickup in the guitar. Especially with a clean setting.
@@KrisBarocsiit's funny that there are people here who commented they cant any difference!
i guess the neck pup vibrates the strings, making them 'dance' which then makes the tone brighter and more 'forward'
I am obsessed with single pickup guitars. It helps to form a special connection to the instrument for me because I can effectively control the volume and timbre of the guitar by picking in different locations, and picking harder or softer, using thinner picks vs. heavy picks, pick vs. fingers, and other things.
What I learned, my neck pickup is staying put ! Great video once again Kris :)
With my old SG, I only ever used the bridge pickup - so in that sense it was a single pickup guitar 😂
I have one pickup in the bridge because that's all I use. I have no use for neck pickup. I haven't used a neck pickup since 1982. Ever since I did the Van Halen thing to my Stratocaster I never looked back. For the past 15 years I've had two Esquires. I love them.
No noticeable difference for me here. Even with the sustain test results on the low E . The pick attack must play a much bigger role, than the presence of a neck PU. I'm sure you tried to repeat the same conditions and therefor the picking, sure. But still, to many uncertainties in this test for me.
Thanks for checking this out, Kris! It was very interesting to see.
Love your videos, keep em up! Greetings Vik
I've watched a lot of videos regarding the one pickup Esquires from Fender. There are people who've done a great job coaxing a lot of different tones out of their single pickup guitars through their touch (Allen Hinds comes to mind). Still, I prefer the sonic flexibility you get with the neck pickup. You can always add more gain at the amp or with a boost pedal. Even Van Halen added a neck pickup later on in his career.
Since you mentioned that it sounded louder unplugged, maybe because of the new sound hole, try stuffing some cotton balls in with tape covering it. I've seen others analyze the sound before and after with DAW software to get more scientific data, and you need a robot to hit the strings exactly the same every time, but to my ear, over TH-cam, not a significant difference. And I still wouldn't mind having a single P90 SG. Thanks for doing things like this so we don't have to!
I have a 2020 LP He and I love it. It's the only American-made guitar I own and it's almost a manifestation of my soul. I played at at my favorite music store and couldn't stop thinking about it. I shelled out the $1.5k for it and haven't regretted it. I do regret some of the other guitars I've purchased, but the Jr. is me. There's no other way to describe it.
I suck at guitar, and have played on and off for over a decade. This guitar feels and sounds so good to me that I have to play it, and I've made more progress in the few months than in the years and years before.
i thought this was gonna be single coils better than humbuckers lol
that would be a silly comparison. We all know humbuckers are twice as good because they are made out of 2 single coils
I ran the video again with my eyes closed to HEAR the difference and I can. The single pick up is a "meaner". I could tell. I do believe that a single pickup located in the center would be great sounding. I am watching this video AFTER deciding to mod a Charvel I have (a cheaper one) from dual to single humbucker (I will put a blackout cover in the neck). It was meant to be......
Seemed like less compression and more fundamental without the neck pickup, but very subtle. Having the other pickup is much better. I love the Tele neck pickup.
I turned one of my tele's into a junior style wiring esquire. Just volume and tone. It's become my favorite guitar to play. So cool.
Sometimes simple is just better.
Thanks for making this comparison so we don't have to do it ourselves, Chris ;-) I was kinda surprised to hear more of a difference with more gain, which seemed a little richer and with more top end IMO, whereas I wasn't able to hear a significant difference clean.
Experience tells me sound differences are in our heads. My dad had a hifi shop, quite often I discovered sound was more to do with combinations than cost, also you do actually get used to things sounding a certain way , this in turn decides your expectations. Quite often I'd mistakenly think I had a certain setting or set up, when I discovered I was wrong , you soon see that you hear what you imagine you hear . Some people have a natural hearing shift and preference, ie.. I prefer brighter sounds , others prefer deeper sounds, it's all down to preference rather than ' one is better than another' . Preference is the deciding factor and is neither wrong or right , it's simply what sound suits each individual person .
Kris, great video as always... I have a Les Paul Special, the Junior is my favorite guitar ever and I rarely, if ever use the neck pickup. I roll the tone off the bridge pickup to “fake” the neck pickup. I totally believe in the “better tone with more sustain” argument with just one pickup. Problem is, when I started playing, in the late 80s, I was an Eddie guy, and he did the sound chop thing, with the neck off and the bridge at full, flicking the switch back and forth. And it was also my mute if I had feedback at any point and didn’t want it. I became so used to using the selector switch to mute the guitar that even using a Mesa Mk5 with a mute button on the amp pedal, I can’t seem to adjust to that. If I used the floor unit to mute my guitar and there was bit of time between songs, I would forget and trip trying to change my floor switch. Lol. Point being, I totally think the guitar would sound better with one pickup, but I’d have to mount a switch on the guitar just to mute it. And let’s be honest, you see a guy with one pickup and a 3 way selector switch.... no one likes that guy, no one. Even Eddie had the brains to bury a fake switch in the middle position of the cutout , because he doesn’t want to be that guy either. Lmao.
As always, keep up the amazing work, much love brother.
You could always add an extra pickup cover with non magnetic dummy coils to the neck position. Same effect, but you don't have to be the guy with one pickup and a pickup selector
Lohikarmi good idea. I’ll have to try that. Don’t know why I haven’t. Too busy looking for a pedal or something to boost that signal the right way to make up for it. Lol. Story of my life, overlooking the easy stuff for a weird fix. Thanks!!
Again: nice video, Kris! :) Actually, the first time I THOUGHT I heard a little difference was with the most gain. But not sure... Before that, I would definitely have said, that there is no difference in tone. The longer sustain was obviously a thing. Simply physics. ;) Cheers!
If you don`t listen closely, there is not much of a difference for me in sound. With the sustain however you proofed, that Malcolm removed the neck and the middle pickup for a reason. Great video!
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Kris, you removed the wrong pickup to begin with! But, I am sure that Phil X approves. Great video, thanks!
There is a difference in the high frequencies. If we can hear it through TH-cam compression, probably it is even more evident in a live listening. Not a reason why I could do without the wonderful tone of neck pickups, but the difference is real. I also saw another video in the past where they had cut a side slot of the body wood, so they could slide in or out the neck pickup while playing: same results! If I find it I will post it down here.
You can also get an app and measure the magnetic strength directly. It's hard to test without a picking machine etc...
I took off my bridge pickup and didn't notice any difference. You could always just lower the pickup more.
Was not expecting that much difference :-O
Anyway, still want my Barocsi Caster with 2 pups :D
VIDEO SUGGESTION, P90 BRIDGE VS TELE BRIDGE
Yes, I second this.
For me there was a difference when you played overdriven. Without neck pickup there are more overtones. With the neck pickup it sounded warmer, but it isn't a problem to cut high frequency by turning the tone knob. The other way doesn't work... When you want these clear bass lines, you can't add clarity 😉 I love my Esquire. But I had to find out how to get my tone!
I can't think of a single pickup that I could do without on any of my guitars. Maaaaybe the bridge pickup on my strat, but even if there is something in the idea of reducing unnecessary forces on the strings, the bridge pickup probably has less effect, since it's near the anchor point.
Definitely sounds better with the pickup IN! It's more pronounced clean.
If there is a difference it is very subtle - I can't hear it and removing the neck pickup doesn't change the quality of the sound. And the Tele neck pickup sounds so sweet. And one of my all time favourite sounds is the two pickup sound through an AC30 with a bit of bite. I will be leaving mine in.
Very interesting. I had heard Phil X and others talk about this too and always thought there must be some truth to it. I wonder how much of a difference you felt while playing it? Because simply hearing it through the video, the difference was very minimal if any. I'm sure in a band context, people would be hard pressed to notice anything different.
Curious how long you left the guitar like this and if you solidified an opinion one way or another (I'll check and see if you did a follow up video about it). I'm sure it would make you play differently and one thing that would be really cool in a one pickup guitar is wiring the electronics differently so you can get different sounds using the switch - like in the old Esquire's.
The difference to me is that the presence of the other pickup gives more compression to the sound.
The difference wasn't huge, but I at least could hear that it was ringin' a bit more and had more sustain without the neck pickup installed.
I'm thinking of building a mongrel of a guitar with a strat body and a 24.75" neck and put a tele bridge with a single tele bridge pickup in it. The idea of having just have one pickup appeals to me greatly. Then it's only your plaing that matters. Plus I have smallish hands that doesn't really work on a 25.5" neck.
I was expecting brighter without the neck (no dampening from the other magnet), but I heard it being more mild (less direct, maybe even more muddy) without the neck, maybe a consequence of increased harmonics in the mix of the tone?
Interesting reading others' comments that some heard it like me, some heard the exact opposite!
Exactly! That’s what I heard in the room too. Needless to say I was very much surprised and put back that neck pickup immediately. Haha
Honestly, its great if you can afford to have a guitar with one pick-up and if you play music that just needs the bridge pick up, I have a strat with a 3 way switch and wired to get a Tele middle position and I have my middle pick up on a separate volume and no tone. Us working guitarists need a Swiss army knife guitar. Interesting though. Cheers.
The look of a single pickup guitar is cool, but it's only functional if all you play is hard rock or metal.
Take the pickup and hold it over some ferrous metal (string trimming) , when it jumps that is the distance the magnet has significant pull on the string.. but we are talking about a device that generates milivolts of electricity here.. not something massive so it will have a small measurable difference but not one our ears can really hear.... if you heard something it is in your head
I do think there is a difference but to the ordinary person, it won't be significant. I believe your skills and abilities are the ones that make your music count.
of course it would be minor for the mind but if you play it for a long time then add another pickup to the same guitar, then you will see the difference in vibration and the effects on "harmonic series". i think in future companies will produce more single pickup guitars as our perception develops.
I think it's the electronics make difference. As the pickup getting removed, meaning there is less resistance in the electronics. And turns out to have a brighter, open tone.
Makes sense...
Also there is less magnetic pull, therefore a bit more natural reverb in the string s.
There isn’t “less resistance”. When you have only one pickup selected, the other one is physically disconnected from the electrical circuit. That’s how the switch works.
I heard more high end clarity and sustain without the neck pickup. However, was that due to the magnetic field of the neck pickup being present or absent, the new sound hole, or both? You yourself pointed out that the guitar was louder even without amplification, so the difference might have been the way the instrument was vibrating mechanically, not electrical or magnetic.
Hi Kris
That's a difficult one
Definitely slight more sustain without the neck pickup
But was that due to more resonance because you has a small soundhole with a hard surface ( scratch plate ) to bounce the sound off
Frankly I love that Tele so any sound you get out of it is ok by me!
Love these experiments thank you !
Just got my axefx ultra back after a year long borrow
And I'm in.isolation...oh dear 😁😁😁😁
I am a big fan of one PU-Guitars. I own a 1968 Gibson SG junior. This Guitar is a burner, because the P90 is a little bit further away from the bridge as normal. All the "juniors" are better (better tone and sustain) than the "specials" with 2 P90ties. And of course, when the Pick Up is too close to the strings you loose sustain and the neck PU is a sustain killer.
Strangely enough, somehow I thought that the guitar sounded like it had more snap and grind to it with the neck pick up in.
I agree. The transient was more pronounced with the neck pickup in (at least that's what I heard).
Pickup schmickup. Tone is in the mind, and in the fingers. Prince used Boss pedals and an old Tele. Got Jazz sounds from it 🌴
Something is going on in the low end. Seems like less in the one without the neck pickup. Sounds better in my opinion. More articulate, better defined, less mud. It sounded more like a polished recording from a record with the neck pickup out. Just my thoughts. Listened on some nice Shure in-ears
I thought it was a bit less twangy, for lack of a better word. Excellent touch and tone! Where did your hair go?
nicolamontoro thanks a lot man! That was my impression too. I got fed up with styling my hair and also I promised myself I will cut it short after the Namm Show. So I did. 😆
@@KrisBarocsi I've not seen any comments concerning the possible circuit impact of pulling the neck pickup out of the control circuit of the guitar. Even though a neck pickup might be switched OFF it will still affect the guitar control circuit's overall impedance and possibly shift the circuit's peak resonant frequency. Changing/removing components could contribute to the performance of the entire control circuit. Granted we are talking about small changes, however for some with a trained ear the dynamics, compression and articulation may be readily distinguishable.
I am currently converting one of my Telecasters to an Esquire. When I do I will be using the "Eldred" wiring modification.
I encourage you to listen to the Eldred wiring modification as it brings an interesting tone to the table.
Thank You for the video Kris.
Hi Kris. Interesting, to me it sounded a bit more aggressive without the neck pickup, and the attack sounded a bit sharper/ crunchier. 🤟🏻
Ric Mason Haha! Did I? If Phil X approves it, I’m down! 😆
For me the sound is more smooth without the neck pickup, but the difference is very subtle..
I would like to analyze both sounds and confirm that
Hi! Did you only disconnect the neck pickup and let the cables free or did you solder them to somewhere? Thanks!
Hey, you can see at 2:36 that I removed the neck pickup so I didn’t solder the cables to anywhere. Hope that helps. Cheers
I wouldn't say better, just different. On my Tradition CAB10 Tele, the 8.8K 43-gauge neck pickup was low compared to the 8.66K 42-gauge bridge PU which i had to lower to barely match even after removing the pickup cover, lowering the Alnico 5 polepieces flush to the bobbin top and raising it close to the strings as I could get it at the 22nd fret with no shrillness worked out good but then I ended up hanging the high E in the bobbin numerous times from heavy picking until the pickup eventually shorted out so now I have a 42-gauge 6.4K Strat neck PU that doesn't sit as close so now it's balanced perfectly with the bridge pickup. But now my 2nd Tele's a totally different beast: it started out as a used DIY Tele kit that had a heavy ceramic bar magnet i removed off the neck PU turning it to a dummy coil wired in series with the bridge pickup as I converted it into an Esquire; as i said before, they different.
I heard a bit more of nasal tone and less rich harmonic content from the two pickup guitar while the single pickup clips sounded more open and harmonically complex. This may have been more obvious if you could A/B between same notes/chords quicker. Not sure the extra sustain from the single pickup mattered much with the more staccato style of playing in these clips.
It's interesting what your camera does with the strings. It picks up the vibration in a weird way :)
The brightness could be from your soldering.
There is a small volume change for whatever reason. I never adjust the neck pickup too close like. They never come from the factory that close in my experience either. Lower both pickups then balance them together for equal volume or to your taste. I have no use for any single pickup guitar, btw. May as well be a car with only 1st gear! 🙃
I was a skeptic here but yes I could heat the difference. A significant one? Meh. But I wonder if you did the same with really high output pickups? Would the metal crowd benefit more from this?
Usually magnet pull causes wobbly notes, e.g. when playing high on the G string with overdrive. Is there a difference without the neck pickup?
Hey, no there isn’t because I’ve set up my pickups to an ideal height where this wobbly tone doesn’t happen at all. If you hear that weird tone you have your pickups too high. Cheers
Without other pickup in the circuit the sound character of the remaining one is purer, more obvious; on the other hand, with the neck pickup I heared more low frecuencies, sound a little mudy which could be "better" for some tastes.
For practicality I can't imagine me playing a guitar with a single one pickup but for studio propuses, man... I'll kinda demand single pickup guitars for now on.
Hallo Kris, deine Videos sind immer klasse und sehr informativ ! Was mich seit langer Zeit interessiert ist ob es einen großen Unterschied macht zwischen Telecasters wo die Saiten durch die Hüllsen durch den Korpus gehen oder einfach in der Bridge durchgeführt werden. Ich wollte mir deshalb eine Harley Benton TE 20 kaufen und da Bohrungen machen für Hülsen um den Unterschied zu erkunden. Aber irgendwie traue ich mich nicht. Meinst du es würde einen großen Unterschied machen ? Danke für jeden Tipp
Pretty decisive. But what if you still want a neck pickup tone? How about a single pickup on a sliding rail that you could physically move up and down between the bridge and the neck. That would provide tone variance in a single pickup, wouldn’t it? A bit fiddly, I grant you.
Les Shrubb That’s a really creative idea. On the other hand I think it would look too weird for people to buy a guitar like that. 😆
I didn't hear a sound difference in my cheap earbuds, but the sustain tests were interesting.
Sanford Rogers That’s mainly because the tonal difference is super tiny. Haha!
For the record I love Juniors and Esquires. I just don’t think it’s worth throwing out the neck pickup of a guitar that has one. 🤷♂️ Maybe for the sustain yes, not that much for the tone differences.
@@KrisBarocsi Some of my favorite tones come from neck pickups.
Great experiment, Kris. I slightly preferred the sound with only one pick up. The differences were smaller than I expected. How did it sound and feel in the room for you?
Supperconductor Thanks man! To be honest I didn’t feel any difference at all except for the slightly longer sustain of course. I heard “more” whilst editing which surprised me a little. I guess I was just expecting a huge difference and I was disappointed. Haha
Honestly I do hear a slight audible difference, but I preferred the sound with both pickups
GAMES AND GUITARS me too man! Haha! My tele sounds more “right” with both pickups. More spank.
@@KrisBarocsi yeah man I think that explains the difference between a Telecaster and an Esquire.
Through my iPhone...what I heard is that w/ the clean tones, pickup in a little darker without the pu it was a little brighter. In the overdrive...w/ the pu it was a little brighter without the pu it was a little darker. Over all great tone either way. I love telecasters. I have a 1987 52 reissued mij squier.
I love single pickup guitars. They are just soooooooo cool. But it's only because I started early with a Junior. I've had guitars MADE FOR ME, three times with a single bridge pickup. Humbucker pickups!
Which isn't to say I don't love guitars with 2 pickups, Les Paul, and 3 pickups, Stratocaster.
The difference was pretty significant, but the neck PU sounds great in that telly so you should keep it 🤓
Can´t say I heard any difference Kris but if the string is vibrating then it must make a sound, just very quiet.
There was a small difference in sound, but nothing significant I didn’t think.
Beautiful tele btw.
As long as both knobs work, tone won't be a problem
I mostly use neck and bridge together to get my sound...
Good question...
Not a lot in it !..but the low end is way better with just the single pickup, stings also seem to oscillate more in the low end..cool
I don’t understand why so many videos on Single Pickup Guitars are about the “string pull myth”. THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE!!
The issue is: A single pickup forces you to use you right hand, tone and volume to approximate the tones that you seek. If you are practicing a song by a certain guitarist, you will subconsciously try to emulate the tone. If you practice on a single-pickup guitar, you will build up a sound knowledge over time on how to approximate different types of tones using your right hand. That will make you a better guitarist because it lets you add nuance to your playing. Compare this to someone who learned to play on a 3 pickup guitar with coil splits and active eq. That player will use the dials on his instrument to emulate the tones. He’ll spend more time fiddling with his knobs and less than playing. Thus, by restricting your options you are forced to get the most out of what you have. It’s no surprise that single pickup players have more varied textures and nuances in their playing. Your guitar will sound like Ita a part of your body singing.
Almost seems like more of the lower fundamental comes through on the single pickup.
I just get mad when someone only uses the bridge pickup on a Strat.
I can't hear any difference.
I've done this to one of my guitars, but for different reasons, cost and psychology. It makes it cheaper by those 40-50 euro with a missing pickup (talking about HH set here). And the one left is in bridge position, so I can't get away from that strong bitey tone and when it's in my hands I have no other choice but to rock out :-D
I think the main difference is the single pickup does have a more aggressive high-midrange
plus on the opposite side I think the neck pickup sweetened the overall tone, my theory about the pickups especially with vintage type or actual vintage wiring is both pickups are kind of akways on ,always a little bleed between them ,,
in my own experience I do think the main difference is single pickup guitars make you play differently and that might be the more aggressive tonality or no pickup physically in the way or just trying to get more out of less when you play
Why did you put the guard back on?
Because it looked too naked without. Haha
@@KrisBarocsi yeah but that single ply guard will change the tone 😋, joke
One more thing, you looked like you were having more fun and playing a little looser with the one pickup guitar. Something about the way it sounded and felt seemed more inspiring to you.
Eric Johnson can hear the difference between a Duracel and an Energizer battery in his pedals (according to his tech) but he has no issues playing a 3 pickup guitar, so that's good enough for me.
I think I preferred the sound with 2 pickups but only marginally. I guess the conclusion is we all need duplicates of all our guitars, 1 with and 1 without neck pickup.
I was searching for a video on a guitar with no hole routed for bridge pickup as I imagine this would likely have a positive effect on resonance. Anyone with experience here?
Is there a difference? Yes.
Though to say it's marginal would be an understatement, in my opinion.
Thanks for the video, Kris.
Love your playing Kris 👌🤘💪
since I play modern metal I usually only use my bridge pickup. need the attack not the warmth. neck pickups are not of much use to me.
... 03/19/2020: Both sound good. Not enough difference to worry about.
agreed! :)
No, it’s primarily a function of what you use the guitar to do, such as play rhythm, versus personal preference. There also are people who can only afford single pickup guitars, so there’s a different reality for them. Bottom line, they’re not better or worse. They are simply a choice.
how can less be more? it's impossible. more is more. - Yngvie malmstein
More important question, Pantheon vs King of Tones video when?
stanislavmigra Haha! Just a little more patience buddy! I shot the video already, it’s gonna be edited and uploaded in a few weeks. 💪
@@KrisBarocsi wow, thats some good news in these grimm times ;)
Sounds slightly fuller with the neck pickup in , at least to my ears.
Did it play different? By the look on your face I say it did. The high gain leads were better sounding and had more pinch harmonics w/1 p/u imho.
Michael Fryzel yeah it felt a tiny bit different. Clean it felt “softer” and I didn’t like that a lot. High gain it was a bit more fun to play thanks to the extra harmonica and sustain. But to be honest, I still prefer a Junior and an Esquire as they are (single pickup guitars) and enjoy my 2 and 3 pickup guitars with all those pickups in them. Haha!
have 2 hh affinity tele, never change bridge position
Interesting 🤔 the guitar without the neck pu sound a bit more low ended and fat, perhaps because the missing neck left a hole that has an effect similar to a semi-hollow body... I prefer the sound with the neck pu in, even though the sunstain is impressively longer on the bottom E string (totally understandable, the heavier strings are obviously more affected by magnets...)
To conclude, yes removing the neck pu has a huge effect on sound but I probably rather have it in place 😂
Hey, what's your barber's profession? Guitar center employee? ;)
I do think that with only 1 pickup and just a volume control, the player must become more resourceful in technique and attitude.
I compensate the slightly less sustain by playing faster =]
André Silva That’s the spirit!! 🤘😁
Lol am I owner of sing coil Strat and emg Tele . And I think that single coil sounds even better for metal (if using boosters and metal amp)
I had a lp junior once but i got bored of it. The more pickups the better I say