The signal from my 335 is quite a bit hotter than the signal out of my strat.
Is that generally how that works or is it just my 2 guitars?
Also does string guage affect level?
Yes, that's normally the case. And P-90s are "hotter" than most humbuckers.
The heavier the strings, the stronger the signal they'll generate in any pickups.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
You can't beat the sound of a humbucker :D I harly use S.C's anymore unless their mixed in with a H.B for a warm clean tone.
Is that generally how that works
Not necessarily. The type of magnet, number of windings, and other factors all contribute to how hot a pickup is. The humbuckers on my Ibanez Artcore were considered "low output" and were very mellow compared to any setting on my Squier '51. I just replaced the Ibanez pups with GFS Dream 90s (humbucker-sized P90s), and these are hotter, warmer, and cooler - all at the same time! :D
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
slejhammer is right -- humbucker versus single coil means very little. Other factors are much more important. Magnet type and size, string guage (and metals used), winding count, the rest of the circuit and components and probably a few things I'm forgetting here are what really matter.
As a general rule, most humbuckers will be hotter than most single-coils you find on the market today because manufacturing considerations. However, if you start looking at hand-wound and boutique coils, you'll find that these preconceptions really don't hold much water.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I don't know much about the technacalities of pickups. I just prefer the HB.s I have on my Ibanez Guitars and My Les Paul to single coil, altough my Jem has a pretty sweet Dimarzio Evo S.C pickup that i like.
I should of said that was just my personal opinion.
I don't know much about the technacalities of pickups. I just prefer the HB.s I have on my Ibanez Guitars and My Les Paul to single coil, altough my Jem has a pretty sweet Dimarzio Evo S.C pickup that i like.
I should of said that was just my personal opinion.
You are correct -- totally a personal choice. There are many who prefer the tighter tone and cleaner, chimey highs of Fender single coils. Other totally love the raunchy, harmonically complex P90 (Gibson single coils); and others (as yourself) prefer the warm, complex tone of PAF -type 'buckers. It goes on (see the EMG thread), but there are no absolutes. And tastes change over time. Don't be surprised if yours do -- in 10 ot 15 years!
-=tension & release=-
Also not to mention that a pickup will sound vastly different in each guitar.
I got my first electric about a month ago, it has two singlecoils and a humbucker. Up until a few days ago, I preferred the humbucker (which is very mellow and clean on clean, and very warm with distortion), but then I started messing with my tone a bit (which is to say I fiddle with the total of five knobs I have available between my guitar and amp), and found that I could coax a lot more personality from the neck single coil. Now I play pretty exclusively on that (both distorted and clean).
All I want is food and creative love.
Y'all are correctly pointing out that there are exceptions, but he asked if it was generally true that humbuckers are "hotter" than the single coils of the Fender sort, and generally that is true. :D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
