How to fall in LOVE with Single Coil Pickups

[@DenaliDad]

Professor JaayBea von Eckl is an amazing teacher, even for us drummers.

[@dm6string]

Great tips, I've used them all. Let's not forget about volume knob roll off as well. If you have a tele with no treble bleed cap you can roll off the volume to around 6 to 8 and get a slightly darker tone and in combination with the tone knob get a near humBurger tone. Of course, using amp settings or some volume pedal to bring it all up in the mix as JB said. Love your vids JB.

[@oakritchie2678]

Most I've learned about guitars and gear in one sitting 😆 This drummer feels enlightened 😎

[@JB_Eckl]

I’m here for you man!

[@raoulduke344]

Thanks for recommending your channel today. Definite new sub. The G&Ls sound fantastic. My next guitar for sure.

[@clearmanlawyers753]

Dude, where are your other million subscribers? Thank you for another great video.

[@JB_Eckl]

I like the way you think! Hahaha. Thanks so much.

[@grantandrews4826]

I looooove single coils. There's so much clarity and light in their sound. Whenever I play humbuckers, everything sounds flat and lifeless. But hey, a lot of my favorites favored The Paul. Love what you love!

[@jfinester]

I went through the same thing around 1971. Prior to then, I’d been playing a ‘67 Gibson SG that I’d gotten new when I was in high school. I wound up trading the SG for a beat-but-stock ‘62 Fender Strat. I can’t imagine two more different guitars than those! I had to change my amp settings, my strap length, my picking technique-you name it! Eventually (and a Rickenbacker 450 later; never did get used to it!) I found that I actually preferred single-coils, but it took a while. I prefer Teles to Strats too, but I didn’t realize it until I got hold of a ‘59 Tele.

[@thenameless3271]

Really? Wow. I've been hesitant to grab an SG as I was worried about it being too similar to my strat. Solid body, double cutaway, etc. Might should reconsider, thanks! Sounds like you've got quite the collection there jfinester. Congrats, and nice work!

[@richmonksgtr]

I was raised Born Again Evangelical Gibson and have been playing my 2012 Les Paul Studio for the last 10 years. Love my Burstbuckers, but took a plunge with a Lollar Novel T (Tele for humbucker rout) in the bridge. LOVE IT!

[@daybrow]

Hey JB, great video! I too love the sound of single coil pickups and totally agree on the changes and things one needs to consider when switching between the two types of pickups. Say hello to everyone for me.

[@JB_Eckl]

Always great to hear from you man. These are all the guitars you set up for me, I’m sure you remember. I got some good education from you in those days!

[@Êrnië_Båll100]

Great analysis. Neither will replace the other. So let's just have the best of both worlds. Les Paul and Stratocaster are both must haves.

[@whatsuprodriguez]

I needed this video years ago when I had to put down my Les Paul for fretwork and started playing single coils reluctantly… who knew I would fall in love with my fenders that sat in cases for all those years! It took awhile but now I just use my les Paul for tracking or for specific tunes live. Great video!

[@JB_Eckl]

Yeah, when I think of you it’s Fender all the way! I came from the other side for sure. Thanks so much for checking this out.

[@shellsjoint]

Awesome video JB!!

[@JB_Eckl]

Much appreciated man, I often think of you when I’m making this stuff

[@NicaATreadwell]

The Boogie Barn!! Awwwww yeah!

[@JB_Eckl]

Where the magic happens

[@johnsguitarmusicanddemos]

*I made a video a year ago about using a tone knob but on a Gibson SG Standard with humbucker pickups. 🎩🐝 It makes things much more creamy with the guitar tone. 🎼🎵🎶🎥 But I like darker styles of metal so it sounds amazing turning the tone knob down. Great job with the explanations in your video.*

[@thenameless3271]

I've always found it easier to make single coils sound closer to humbuckers, than make humbuckers sound closer to single coils.

[@JB_Eckl]

It’s true, although in the end a true humbucker or P-90 nerd will always need to real thing on hand.

[@mattsmith1509]

JB, my man. I love your vids, honestly this was the video I needed to figure out my strat. I recently upgraded amps and lost the lush cleans from my strat, this vid sorted that all out.

[@JB_Eckl]

Wow, that's the BEST!

[@davidpepper442]

Great subject for a video with some really good info JB. I use the tone knob and pick shoulder approach with my Tele and Strat all the time. Humbuckers will always be my favorite, but there is just something about the sound of a Tele that can't be forsaken, lol. I've never used an EQ pedal, but that does seem like it could be useful in this situation. Cheers

[@trevorcline4879]

Absolutely gorgeous tones!! Great advice. I was definitely among the humbucker crowd. Still gotta have a bucker in the bridge though

[@JB_Eckl]

I’ll never stop loving the ‘buckers! But I’m glad I finally got a real appreciation for the other side. I use them both every day now.

[@trevorcline4879]

If you have 2 guitarists using each it’s magical. Or use both in a recording or even layer them together

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

I always liked the way telecasters *looked*, but when I got one, I hated the buzzy bridge pickup. So, I put vintage noiseless in it, and now it’s my #1. I absolutely love playing it and can do almost any kind of music with it.

[@JB_Eckl]

Yeah, the first Strat I really fell for had Fender noiseless pickups on it. With the G&Ls I got past the hum, and most of these pickups are quieter than Fender anyway, but I still wouldn’t mind one guitar with a set of Kinmans in it. Or maybe even a Fishman Fluence setup.

[@rc600editor]

Great vid JB. Would be great to have tutorial on some the chord grooves you have going.. love the playing 👍

[@JB_Eckl]

Thanks a lot! I love me some chord grooves. I bet you could easily figure them out though!

[@edhornby4885]

Use both pickups, the in-between on a Tele is great and modified wiring on a strat does the same job to get neck and bridge

[@TK-fk4po]

Great video. I’m actually the opposite though! I’m having trouble with getting to really find love with humbuckers!

[@bunnyadrian]

This is so funny for me. My first guitar was a tele and I've never been able to make a humbucker guitar sound right for me. You're list of issues would read like this for me in my alternate universe. 1. Why is it all lows and mids? 2. Lack of high end and detail. 3. 24.75 and shorter scale lengs just feel mushy 4. Why is there a compressor I can never turn off? 5. I'm always obliterating the front end of my amps/pedals. Do I need a volume cut pedal? 6. Where did all my harmonics go?

[@thenameless3271]

Ha, that's what I was thinking!

[@bunnyadrian]

And to be clear, I LOVE so many humbucker guitar tones. I'll hear a guitarist and think "holw cow that sounds amaizing!" Then I'll get a humbucker guitar and it just feels like I'm playing a bowl of soup. But I did try for a long time; I've owned a 335-12, MULTIPLE Epiphone RIvieras, Gold Top Les Paul, and a few others. I currently have a Yamaha Revstar for work, and because I feel that I need at least ONE classic humbucker guitar. I just don't speak guitar in the humbucker language myself. I DO get along with Gretsch Filter-tron style pickups. They are much lower output, and the under-winding of the design preserves more detail and provides less compression. They live in their own world of technically bucking hum, but leaning more toward the tone and feel of a single coil.

[@JB_Eckl]

I love this! It really does depend which one you started out on. My first guitar was a Gibson L6-S with hot humbuckers in it. How do you like the Cali Tweed tones I got?

[@bunnyadrian]

@@JB_Eckl Dude, it's you playing. You always sound great. This is why you're a great gear demonstrator; any half-decent sounds amazing in your hands ;) I will say I LOVE the MFD pickup sound for myself. They are already fuller-sounding single coils. So your Doheny and ASAT Special tones are particularly nice.

[@JB_Eckl]

Kind words!! Thanks man. Yeah like I said the G&L thing was a bit of a revelation. The MFDs are one of the best-kept secrets in the guitar world, unfortunately. They really strike a balance with less noise, a little more low end etc. but without sacrificing the Fendery vibe.

[@brianrorex8337]

An old guy in Muscle Shoals (I grew up around there) once told me "single coils don't lie." They don't and that's entirely the point of using them.

[@JB_Eckl]

There’s truth to that! It can make them very expressive, but they can leave you a little exposed as well. Love that quote.

[@druwk]

It’s weird, I have always loved Single coils? I’ve played both, but almost always on a 25.5” scale guitar. The pick choice is definitely a thing. I use Big Stubbies. Drop tuning has opened my eyes to playing softer. For me it’s the reverse, it’s finding how to get the Humbucker thing going? Creamy. Even though I love the sound, I’ve always ending up selling my Gibson guitars? Word! Noise sucks! In some situations, intolerable. Dig the California Tweed!

[@stratfanstl]

Good overview. In my view, humbuckers seem to even out tonal variations / upper harmonics which are where many player-to-player subtleties come out. As a result, they convey a narrower range of sounds.

[@JB_Eckl]

That’s an interesting point. I still feel more at home with humbuckers, especially onstage, but I could see how singles bring out a little more personality. Maybe if I practiced more…

[@thenameless3271]

Jeff Beck has said similar things, saying that he only really sounds "like himself" with single coils. Humbuckers sound rather solid to me, it's hard to really sculpt them like you can a single coil.

[@jikemenkins7098]

that lick at 1:22 was sick. I'm stealing the shit out of that one.

[@JB_Eckl]

Nice! In the words of Robbie Dupree... steal away!

[@thenameless3271]

Reminds me of Pictures of Matchstick Men

[@AviMus82]

What the heck! How were you getting that tone on that Strat? That’s what I hear in my head.

[@JB_Eckl]

First of all I love the G&L pickups, but I think the main thing is to use a warm amp sound and not have too much treble in the mix. And go easy with the pick!

[@jeffallen3382]

Now I'm jonesen for a good hamburger.

[@JB_Eckl]

Yeah, that happened to me while editing it

[@bertgetner9397]

Just happened to order a burger for lunch and watched this while I was eating it.

[@JB_Eckl]

It was meant to be.

[@theoverstoker3430]

Cuts through the mix like a coke dealer walking through the club headed to the vip lounge 😂

[@Novotny72]

I messed about with the height on my bridge pickup and ended up with a really usable tone. Previously it had been just too harsh for me.

[@jaltsch1]

Cool video! I need the opposite…how can single coil players learn to love humbuckers…

[@JB_Eckl]

Good question. A lot less bass on the amp… and lower the pickups away from the strings a bit? Haha.

[@TeleCaster66]

I like humbuckers but find single coils mu h more open sounding and I can more sounds out of a Telecaster or Stratocasteryhat I can out of a humbucker equipped Gibson which are one trick ponies to me although it's a great tick. My P90 Les Paul gives me my thick tones when I want them.

[@ozoneswiftak]

Why is nobody talking about how single coils ring like bells.

[@JB_Eckl]

True! This particular video is biased towards humbucker players and the things that make single coils weird for them, but the most addictive thing about a great SC pickup is that bell-like quality.