Rock out with a single neck pickup?

walrus

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mavuser's post about the Les Paul Jr. with a neck pickup only reminded me of this question.

I have had a guitar with only a bridge pickup, and could get "close" neck pickup sounds with the Tone knob. I have had a guitar with a single pickup in the middle - and I could get "almost but not really" both bridge and neck sounds by moving my right hand position.

Anyone play a more "rockish" style with a neck pickup only? Can you get a "close" to bridge pickup sound? Seems like it would be more difficult to do. I know it wouldn't work well on let's say a big jazz archtop, but I'm thinking of guitars like a T-100, an M-65, etc.

Just pondering...

walrus
 
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GAD

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Only for certain songs. Given my musical tastes I’d go for a single bridge pickup over a single neck pickup any day, but I tend to favor those biting bridge pickup distortion tones.
 

AcornHouse

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A lot of soloing is done from the neck; especially in bluesy music from the late 60s. Think of Clapton's "woman" tone. Roll the treble off and crank it it hard.
 
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GAD

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A lot of soloing is done from the neck; especially in bluesy music from the late 60s. Think of Clapton's "grandma" tone. Roll the treble off and crank it it hard.

Yeah - that's why I say it depends on the song. "Still Got the Blues For You" by Gary Moore comes to mind. But I'd still rather have a two-pickup guitar
 

Quantum Strummer

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I find it's easier to get neck pickup sounds from a bridge pickup than vice versa. With an LP or SG Jr., for example, rolling down the vol a tiny bit and the tone moreso gives a good & darker alternate sound. Going the other way, using a clean boost pedal with treble & bass pots lets you take some bottom off a neck pickup while kicking up treble and preserving the overall volume level.

-Dave-
 
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Rich Cohen

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mavuser's post about the Les Paul Jr. with a neck pickup only reminded me of this question.

I have had a guitar with only a bridge pickup, and could get "close" neck pickup sounds with the Tone knob. I have had a guitar with a single pickup in the middle - and I could get "almost but not really" both bridge and neck sounds by moving my right hand position.

Anyone play a more "rockish" style with a neck pickup only? Can you get a "close" to bridge pickup sound? Seems like it would be more difficult to do. I know it wouldn't work well on let's say a big jazz archtop, but I'm thinking of guitars like a T-100, an M-65, etc.

Just pondering...

walrus

Yes! i have a DeArmond New DeArmond 1100 with volume and tone knobs on a Guild A 500 and Newtone Double Wound 12 - 54 PBs and they sound great -- the tone knob gives me all sorts of options. Chris "Acornhouse" has given me the tip. Thanks Chris!
 

JF-30

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When I had electric guitars I was a neck pup or both guy. I never like the trebley bridge by itself.
 

adorshki

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When I had electric guitars I was a neck pup or both guy. I never like the trebley bridge by itself.

I note Guild's original S50 had the standard single pickup located squarely between the 2 traditional locations:
1965jetstar_01__46038.1384986494.jpg

While some have mentioned ergonomic reservations about that location, all of a sudden it seems to make a whole lot of sense from a versatility perspective.
In fact seem to recall one member loving his to death for that, claiming the one pickup was all he needed with that guitar.
 

Guildedagain

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The only way you're going to come close to the bite of a bridge pickup is electronically, namely a Treble Boost, a la Dallas Rangemaster. Sounds like it's time for you to explore fuzz, germanium I like, or the tubbier sounding silicon.

Fuzz isn't just this thing where you hit the pedal and it sounds awful, like a skill saw and you're wondering why do people like these?

Fuzz is a thing you control with your volume knob, goes from chimey with a little hair to buzzsaw, sounds so sweet when you roll back, so dynamic, and quite shrill if you want it to be. It's the ticket for solving this problem.

Also in the same vain, a cocked Wha. In fact, a whole range of EQ and nasty tones ;)

With the Italian Vox Wha's, the "halo" or whatever inductor would give these especially human "vomity" tones , seems to go over with a lot of people. I always preferred the tone of the square TDK inductors in the USA made Cry Babys, and it turns out that's what Hendrix preferred also. These days you can tune your own Wha on the fly with a knob. I use a Budda Wha, happy with it but have the vintage one also just in case.

I use a relatively unknown treble boost, an original 2 knob Gamut (the newer one has three knobs, one too many), you run one knob wide open for best results (and control it with your guitar) and the other is your EQ, there's this dynamic interactive thing where certain frequencies are "excited", like using a compressor but better ;) With a Strat it sounds best with the EQ/Filter side completely rolled off, but you plug in a Les Paul and it sounds way better if you roll it back up to 2 o clock. Each instrument has a sweet spot.

Analogman makes amazing fuzzes. Sold all mine, they're just worth too much to sit around unused.

Also CBC, that 's what I have now, one with the Octavia switch.

And btw, Octavias sound most dramatic on the neck p'up with the tone rolled off, no need for a bridge p'up at all ;)
 
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AcornHouse

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Yes! i have a DeArmond New DeArmond 1100 with volume and tone knobs on a Guild A 500 and Newtone Double Wound 12 - 54 PBs and they sound great -- the tone knob gives me all sorts of options. Chris "Acornhouse" has given me the tip. Thanks Chris!
Glad you like them. Let’s hope they don’t become permanently out of stock.
 

mavuser

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both the starfires ive owned the neck pickup is grail- SD-1 N on a 97 SF-2 and California neck on a 84 SF-4 (w Guildsby)
 

mavuser

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I note Guild's original S50 had the standard single pickup located squarely between the 2 traditional locations:
1965jetstar_01__46038.1384986494.jpg

While some have mentioned ergonomic reservations about that location, all of a sudden it seems to make a whole lot of sense from a versatility perspective.
In fact seem to recall one member loving his to death for that, claiming the one pickup was all he needed with that guitar.

i have 2 of these and they dominate anything else ive ever played. no switches, no kickstand, no string signal lost to a second pickup (even if that pickup is switched off). i have 2 lp jrs also, they are a little hotter, one in particular is super hot. the Guilds S-50 are perfect for really pushing a vintage tube amp.

cnhp.jpg
 

mavuser

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also not sure how i forgot this, but a starfire 1 and M-65 Freshman, and many other archtops, Guild and Gibson, have only a neck pickup. they are the fat punchy creamy tones for sure, especially hollow like that.
 

Walter Broes

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You can't really imitate a neck pickup on the bridge pickup or vice versa, pickups are picking different areas of the string with different harmonic nodes in in different spots. I'm not crazy about single pickup guitars - two is my favorite, three and the middle one gets in the way of my picking.
 

GAD

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also not sure how i forgot this, but a starfire 1 and M-65 Freshman, and many other archtops, Guild and Gibson, have only a neck pickup. they are the fat punchy creamy tones for sure, especially hollow like that.

Yeah, but for the most part they were designed in a world where jazz was what electric guitars were for.
 

D30Man

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Bridge all the way for me.. My S-300 has only one pick up and it is a phat p90 HB in the bridge... Gives me all the tone I need..
My strat is primarily played in the bridge position except for when I am throwing down some blues than I throw it all the way up into the neck..
But by and large I like those treble tones.. just do..
 
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