Questions for HH players

[skolacki]

I play HH but it’s not for me, so I split the neck to the outer coil. I lower the neck pickup but massively raise the pole pieces, and I raise the bridge pickup. I set my tones with my bridge tone at 5, but I’m using a .010 cap, so the whole range of it is usable to me (neck tone cap for me is .015). Then I can dial in my neck to taste. Sorry if you’re having balance problems on this beauty, Man!

What does raising the screws and lowering the pickup do? Pretty sure you posted this before but my memory isn’t the best.

 

[State of Epicicity]

What does raising the screws and lowering the pickup do? Pretty sure you posted this before but my memory isn’t the best.

It really boosts the clarity and reduces output at the same time. Of course lowering the pickup by itself will reduce the output, gaining a bit of clarity on a humbucker, but raising the pole pieces really unbalances the coils, so you get infinitesimally closer to something like a single coil, but maintaining the hum cancelling. I actually ended up also slightly lowering screws in the bridge too, for the opposite effect! For me though, I found that even in its extreme setting, with the bucker way down low and the pole pieces insanely high, nothing beat the sound of it split, so I actually have a 10K Artec noiseless single coil that should be delivered to me today! With that, I'll have an HS setup, which should work great for my purposes. But for those who really love a humbucker in the neck, I do think unbalancing the coils is the best, because you really start to get more a holy grail PAF tone then, just very very sweet and soulful, at least in my experience.

This is with the big caveat that it's very dependent on your pickups. I also have a set of Duncan Saturday Night Specials, and with those I don't think you need to adjust anything in a hardtail guitar. I had them in my Washburn Trevor Rabin, and they had the most nuanced, incredible, and incredibly balanced response, just perfect for dynamic playing. They worked great for me, as someone who's insane about riding the volume and tone knobs constantly.

But my current guitar demands way higher output not to sound harsh, so my current pickups sound great, and for fantastic Les Paul tones, I've found that lowering the bridge pole pieces a tad, raising that pickup, and raising the neck pole pieces a ton and lowering it just made my current superstrat essentially feel like a Les Paul.

And apparently an old trick for Les Pauls is to set your tone to the neck pickup with the volume and tone knobs at 10, then to roll back the tone knob on the bridge to balance; this was mentioned in some YouTube video I saw a while ago. I find I just like to set my HH tones to the bridge with the tone knob at around 5 and the volume back around 8.5 - 9, then I have a much fuller range to play with when actually playing.

 

[Overcaster]

Oh... I thought the knobs were there so it looks symmetrical. The stuff you learn...

 

[Rock Chalk]

Yes, I reach for both the volume and tone knobs every time I pick up a guitar……to make sure they are on full.

If I want a different tone I step on the FC-12 for a new scene.

 

[skolacki]

It really boosts the clarity and reduces output at the same time. Of course lowering the pickup by itself will reduce the output, gaining a bit of clarity on a humbucker, but raising the pole pieces really unbalances the coils, so you get infinitesimally closer to something like a single coil, but maintaining the hum cancelling. I actually ended up also slightly lowering screws in the bridge too, for the opposite effect! For me though, I found that even in its extreme setting, with the bucker way down low and the pole pieces insanely high, nothing beat the sound of it split, so I actually have a 10K Artec noiseless single coil that should be delivered to me today! With that, I'll have an HS setup, which should work great for my purposes. But for those who really love a humbucker in the neck, I do think unbalancing the coils is the best, because you really start to get more a holy grail PAF tone then, just very very sweet and soulful, at least in my experience.

This is with the big caveat that it's very dependent on your pickups. I also have a set of Duncan Saturday Night Specials, and with those I don't think you need to adjust anything in a hardtail guitar. I had them in my Washburn Trevor Rabin, and they had the most nuanced, incredible, and incredibly balanced response, just perfect for dynamic playing. They worked great for me, as someone who's insane about riding the volume and tone knobs constantly.

But my current guitar demands way higher output not to sound harsh, so my current pickups sound great, and for fantastic Les Paul tones, I've found that lowering the bridge pole pieces a tad, raising that pickup, and raising the neck pole pieces a ton and lowering it just made my current superstrat essentially feel like a Les Paul.

And apparently an old trick for Les Pauls is to set your tone to the neck pickup with the volume and tone knobs at 10, then to roll back the tone knob on the bridge to balance; this was mentioned in some YouTube video I saw a while ago. I find I just like to set my HH tones to the bridge with the tone knob at around 5 and the volume back around 8.5 - 9, then I have a much fuller range to play with when actually playing.

Thanks for your thoughts. I’ll do some experimenting.

In my experience, the neck buckers seem to be louder than the bridges on most guitars. Not so much a problem with independent volumes but it’s bad on a single volume guitar. I have lowered the neck pretty far on a couple of my guitars and they still sound good. As for tone controls I rarely used them before I got into P90’s and picked up a Strat. This thread is full of good ideas on pickup adjustments and preset creation. I’m usually wide open when I dial them in. I’ll copy a couple of my main presets and adjust them with a tone roll off on the guitar. Worth trying and it makes sense.

 

[Admin M@]

It all depends on the guitar and the pickups. Mostly, I play on 10/10 like @randyvanmartini said. On my 90s Parker Fly, however, the bridge HB has a killer sound with the tone on 0... More like a cocked wah than a woman tone. On my MM Valentine, the neck sounds great dialed back.

 

[skolacki]

It all depends on the guitar and the pickups. Mostly, I play on 10/10 like @randyvanmartini said. On my 90s Parker Fly, however, the bridge HB has a killer sound with the tone on 0... More like a cocked wah than a woman tone. On my MM Valentine, the neck sounds great dialed back.

That’s interesting. Did they do something different with the tone control other than the typical .02uf cap and pot?

 

[State of Epicicity]

Thanks for your thoughts. I’ll do some experimenting.

In my experience, the neck buckers seem to be louder than the bridges on most guitars. Not so much a problem with independent volumes but it’s bad on a single volume guitar. I have lowered the neck pretty far on a couple of my guitars and they still sound good. As for tone controls I rarely used them before I got into P90’s and picked up a Strat. This thread is full of good ideas on pickup adjustments and preset creation. I’m usually wide open when I dial them in. I’ll copy a couple of my main presets and adjust them with a tone roll off on the guitar. Worth trying and it makes sense.

By the way, I use two dual concentric knobs on my guitar because it came from the factory with just a master volume and tone, like most modern superstrats. Here's what that looks like now, with the dual concentrics as well as the unbalanced coils on the neck. The mini switches allow North Split / South Split / Parallel / Series for each pickup:

 

[Wired]

Bridge tone around 7 or 8 is really nice with my Les Paul and the AC-20.

 

[BBN]

Every once in a while (I know you said HH, but I have a LP with a P90 in the neck), I will roll back the tone if my tone is a little too brash.
It's literally every once in a while, and it's really only on the guitar with the P90. My HH guitars generally stay with the tone wide open.

 

[is9582]

By the way, I use two dual concentric knobs on my guitar because it came from the factory with just a master volume and tone, like most modern superstrats. Here's what that looks like now, with the dual concentrics as well as the unbalanced coils on the neck. The mini switches allow North Split / South Split / Parallel / Series for each pickup:

View attachment 109994View attachment 109995

Dude, I picked up a pair of the concentric controls for my Carvin 127. Refretting an old Ibanez RG-550 presently, but hope to get them installed soon. Lee

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

If I could blink my eyes and make the tone controls on 46 guitars here useless, that is what I’d do. I never touch a guitars tone knob.

 

[is9582]

If I could blink my eyes and make the tone controls on 46 guitars here useless, that is what I’d do. I never touch a guitars tone knob.

Back in the '80s, I used to set my tone to zero, for my bridge HB. I'd get a sound that was thick and smooth, but it didn't cut for shit in the band. That was when my hearing was still decent. lol

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Back in the '80s, I used to set my tone to zero, for my bridge HB. I'd get a sound that was thick and smooth, but it didn't cut for shit in the band. That was when my hearing was still decent. lol

After 3 or 4 songs with a loud drummer, the whole room sounds like its on a tone of 0 to me.

 

[is9582]

After 3 or 4 songs with a loud drummer, the whole room sounds like its on a tone of 0 to me.

Right there with you.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Right there with you.

It’s a shame getting old, innit? I’ll let Luke Combs tell it tho….
A cold beer's got 12 ounces
A good truck's got maybe three hundred thousand
You only get so much until it's gone

 

[is9582]

@Bruce Sokolovic

Amen brother!

 

[strabes]

I use my vol/tone knobs constantly, on all my guitars. "Brighter" or "louder" tone are not the same as "better," and the tone knob is not just for jazz or the woman tone. In a dense band context it is an invaluable tool for sitting back in the mix or cutting through (you can think about it as rhythm vs. lead if that helps).

It's also useful for example on an HSS so you can set the amp brighter for the humbucker but roll down the neck+middle tone knob a bit so they're not too bright (slightly more complex wiring can help reduce the difference but this trick is still effective either way).

In all my guitars I use Bourns low friction 10% audio taper pots and modern wiring for the most useable sweep across the pots.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Dude, I picked up a pair of the concentric controls for my Carvin 127. Refretting an old Ibanez RG-550 presently, but hope to get them installed soon. Lee

How awesome, Man! To me it's a world unto itself; nothing's as satisfying (that's what she said). Definitely, if you have time, do try some different cap values to see what gels for you and your pickups. It might surprise you what works best. I used alligator clips and bought a very cheap set of caps to experiment with from eBay. One thing that surprised me about switching to concentrics initially was which shaft controls which stack of the pot. I found that, at least for the ones I've used, the lower, thicker shaft controls the pot that comes in contact with the pickguard or body, and the top shaft controls the outermost stack of the pot. Definitely check when configuring for yourself, of course, in case the one you got might be different. Mine were like this:



And I set mine up so each pickup has it's own dual concentric, where the lower knob controls volume and the top controls tone. This way I can, with my pinky and ring finger, control tone and volume at once, at different rates, while playing. Of course you can set it up in any other way too, with two volumes on top of one another for one stack, and the other controlling two tones; whatever works for you.

I use my vol/tone knobs constantly, on all my guitars, but I'm more in the alt/nashville scenes. "Brighter" or "louder" tone are not the same as "better," and the tone knob is not just for jazz or the woman tone. In a dense band context it is an invaluable tool for sitting back in the mix or cutting through. It's also useful for example on an HSS so you can set the amp brighter for the humbucker but roll down the neck+middle tone knob a bit so they're not too bright (slightly more complex wiring can help reduce the difference but this trick is still effective either way).

In all my guitars I use Bourns low friction 10% audio taper pots and modern wiring for the most useable sweep across the pots.

I'd love to use either of the sealed Bourns pots, but I can never find them as stacked pots. If ever get a guitar where I have ample control panel room again, I'll definitely use the sealed Bourns. I ended up liking modern wiring on my bridge but 50s on the neck, for ultimate brightness. What kind of cap values do you use? I think the idea of the 10% audio taper is interesting, but in lieu of that I've just opted for very low cap values to keep the entire sweep usable for each pickup.

 

[Patzag]

No fast rule for me.
One of my guitars likes the bridge pickup with tone around 7 or 8. The other likes it better at 9 or 10.
I’m happy to oblige.