Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Catalyst77 on October 11, 2011, 05:25:44 PM
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Ive been hankering after a strat for a while now, but due to redundancy its not financially viable. But i do have an SG that i was going to sell.
Just wondered what it would sound like if i put a couple of single coils in there? Has anyone tried it or something similar?, as i know tim sells pickup surrounds to fit single coils in humbucker routings.
Does anyone know how close i could get to a strat sound? or have any thoughts in general about the idea?
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great idea, i've experimented with a mahogany strat, and also 24 3/4" scale guitar with strat pickups.
should sound good and stratty, but the warmth of the mahogany will even out the high end and fill out the bass
i believe theres a well know blues rock guitarist with this setup.. will have a look to see who it is
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There are SGs with P90s so SGs and single coils are no strangers. But I guess you are talking about putting strat style pickups into an SG. Due to the different woods and neck construction it will never sound "exactly" like a strat but of course strat pickups will get you closer.
However if you don't use a middle pickup it will be difficult to obtain the typical #2 and #4 in-between sounds. The Jerry Donahue wiring is an attempt to get those sounds out of a tele - maybe it works in a similar way on an SG.
Cheers Stephan
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Greg, as ever, provides the answer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ABmCUT8uE
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It'll sound like this :D :
(http://www.daddys.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/3-pu-sg.jpg)
I think that was a Gibson "Guitar of the Week". There was also a similar one with a swamp ash body, white scratchplate and sunburst finish:
(http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/2/2/9/5/8/0/webimg/430087563_tp.jpg)
I have a feeling low-output Strat style pickups might sound a bit weedy in a mahogany set-neck, because notes haven't got that "springiness" and immediacy you get with a bolt-on neck. But I could be wrong.
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My SG has a JB in the bridge and I have the tone pot wired as a coil splitter. The split sound is really nice, much closer to a Tele than a Strat. Good enough that I don't need to taken a single coil guitar to a gig.
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The 1960s Epihphone Olympic is a smallish bodied mahogany guitar with a glued in neck and single coil pickups. There's one being demo'd here (Note to Mr Q: Phil X content on the first two):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTqltHEwffs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTqltHEwffs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RgmOD3xe5A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RgmOD3xe5A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAlwLKx_G7Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAlwLKx_G7Y)
Not an exact comparison perhaps, but close in many respects.
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YouTube is very temperamental on my work computer - the first video wouldn't play but the other two do. Can't hear the sound (or Mr X's no-doubt-insightful commentary).
The guitar in the second one (nice waistcoat....) looks exactly like an early '60s Melody Maker.
I wasn't particularly keen on the pickup in my '65 MM - it sounds pretty feeble really.
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i have a '65 Melody Maker too, with two pickups. the single coils had a nice enough tone, but were quite weak, and when the bridge pickup broke (the lug for the height adjustment screw) i decided to try Lollar's melody maker p90's, on a pre-wired scratchplate. they sound great :)
doesn't really answer what an SG sounds like with single coils though. i think it would sound great, myself. i'd get a batwing plate version and get a scratchplate made for 3 strat single coils, could be a great guitar
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i have a '65 Melody Maker too, with two pickups. the single coils had a nice enough tone, but were quite weak, and when the bridge pickup broke (the lug for the height adjustment screw) i decided to try Lollar's melody maker p90's, on a pre-wired scratchplate. they sound great :)
Those Lollars look good. I got a Seymour Duncan custom shop pickup for mine, it's basically a Hot Rails (wound to about 11k I think) hidden under a Melody Maker cover.
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I think there is a reason P90s are popular with SGs and not normal single coils. That said, some humbucker pickups split very nicely and I don't see a reason why you wouldn't want to experiment with that. Just keep in mind that the typical strat sound owes a lot to the construction, scale and wood choice of the guitar too.
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I think there is a reason P90s are popular with SGs and not normal single coils
because P90 SGs were made by Gibson for a long time and are used on many classic recordings?
in the 60s i doubt Gibson tried strat-type coils and made a judgement
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Ive got a few coil splits going on in some other guitars, doesnt quite scratch that itch!
Ive never really had a single coil guitar, but was wondering whether not having a middle pickup would hinder things?
Clearly i'm not gonna hack a whole in the guitar just to try out, as i could prob pick up a cheap squire for the cost of the work!
That single coil sg sounds pretty sweet though :)