Hi,
Can someone explain to me the difference in sound between using a humbucker (neck position), P90 (neck position), and let's say using your neck and middle pickups on a strat?
I realize humbuckers are a fatter lower sound compaired to the single coil sound, but I was looking for a good general sound comparison description between the 3 different described pickup configs. I never tried P90s. Also would using the 2 single coils be very similar sounding to one humbucker. Thanks for any help.
Hi there
One thing I can say fure sure is that the sound of using the neck and middle pickup(for that hum-cancelling, I'm presuming) is that the sound on the strat will be less foucused. This is because the pickup is sensing a larger portion of the string than on the Gibson type humbucker. I personally am not a fan of positions 2 and 4 on a strat, I think they are overly nasal sounding and well, too unfoucused!
Thanks for your help Pickswipe.
I LOVE the sound of P-90s, which have more treble than humbuckers along with strong bass and mids, not as much treble as Fender singles, with a higher output level than Fender singles. (They overdrive an amp more easily, and are very touch sensitive.) A "warm" sound overall, but with plenty of "bite." They are bigtime hummers, but may be reverse wound reverse polarized for hum cancellation like the 2 & 4 Strat positions. Of course, that's making sort of a big humbucker with very wide pole spacing, and you get an average between the two pickups that's rather homogenized and lacks much of the character of either. P-90s "quack" like Fender singles, but in a deeper tone. (That's an effect of the lower frequency level of the bell-shaped response curve around a pickup's resonant frequency, which shapes tones like a wah pedal that doesn't move.)
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