Cant we make a Humbuck PU that sounds like a TT

Scott Appleton · From: Ashland, Oregon

I have not ask TT to comment but it seems with all that tech expertise out there that someone could build a active PU that souded like a TT PU without Humm or interferance.

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Mullen S12 Almost Mooney
71 Tele, Regal 45
Sho Bud S10 NP
Line 6 Flextone 3 + JBL D130

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Active pckup? That's an amplified pickup (a pickup/preamp combination). They're not terribly popular because people get tired of worrying about batteries all the time.

It's really hard to construct humbuckers (I think that's what you were talking about) that sound like single coils. Humbuckers take a lot more wire, and that additional wire adds impedance. That increased impedance is what kills the presence in a humbucking pickup. A good amp, or amp/EQ combination will go a long way towards making a humbucker sound really good, but it will probably always be a "not quite" situation for those that recognize and love that single-coil sound. The controversy is much the same as the tubes vs. solid-state thing. The purists just won't accept "close".

jerry wallace · From: Artesia , NM (deceased)

Scott, The objective of building a humbucker that "sounds" like a single coil has been and is at this time, impossible in my opinion.
Tons of hours of research etc. have gone into trying to do just that by many talented people.

Who knows one day someone might get it done..But for now its like having your cake and eating it too..Or another statement that applies in this situation "there is always a trade off somewhere"..

Today to my knowledge, and with the current "state of the art" any current method of cancelling out noise/hum from a single coil pickup will also change the frequency response and therefore the sound/tone.
As most of you already know, I only build single coil pickups..I agree a single coil pickup is more prone to hum/noise than a humbucker..That is exactly what humbuckers were designed to eliminate..I cannot improve on the great humbucking pickups out there on the market today so I refer people to BL or GL if they need a humbucker pickup.

You will find that many "pro" players are going back to single coil pickups in the past couple of years..The reason is better sound/tone..Most will tell you any small amount of noise is not a problem for them even in studio situations..

However, I am aware that the noise from a single coil can be a problem..There are many contributing factors such as location, enviorment, other devices in your signal chain etc..

I feel that single coil pickups are not for everyone and every situation..But if the noise/hum is not excessive, I feel most players will be happier with the sound and tone of their steel guitars with a single coil pickup.
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Jerry Wallace/TrueTone pickups-2001 Zum: D-10,8+6, "98 Zum: D-10,8+8,Nashville 1000,Session 500 ,Session 400 head only amp,Tubefex,ProfexII, Artesia, New Mexico
http://www.jerrywallacemusic.com

[This message was edited by jerry wallace on 11 September 2004 at 02:19 AM.]

Scott Appleton · From: Ashland, Oregon

Thanks Jerry, I have no complaint myself as you know I recently purchased a PU for my Mullen from you and am quite happy with its performance. I think a tread on this subject is interesting. For example: how about individiual wound stacked coils for each string with a pre amp for each PU ? I think that is basicly how the Roland guirtar synth PU works. Line 6 also makes the Variax guitar with multiple guitar voiceings. Maybe if that tech could be
infuzed into a Steel guitar we would have an instrument that could double as any other type of instrument we could think of. I used to use a IVL pitchrider Midi converter interface with my MSA
but it busted so many times i junked it. I love the pure tone of any steel old or new. I am just interested in where we could go with new innovations

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Mullen S12 Almost Mooney
71 Tele, Regal 45
Sho Bud S10 NP
Line 6 Flextone 3 + JBL D130

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

I was worried about noise going to single coil from the stock humbuckers on my Carter, but after I put in Jerry's TrueTones, I couldn't believe the improvement in the sound, to my ears- crisper, brighter, and warmer and fatter overall- but there was no appreciable increase in noise, and the "tone gain" was just ridiculous. They also seem to put out plenty of signal.

Most of us who have tried TTs can't say enough good stuff about them. Thanks again, Jerry!

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff.

Joe Alterio · From: Irvington, Indiana

I have always had problems with a lot of buzz coming from my sing;le-coil guitars in my house. I was doubtful that the new Zum I had coming (with True Tones) would be any better, despite others' claims on here that they have not had any problems.

Well....I'm happy to say I have absoutely NO hum or buzz coming from my True Tones, and that single-coil sound is, as you would guess, GREAT. This pickup really has to be heard to be believed.

I'm curious, Scott.....are you having hum/buzz problems with your True Tone???

Joe
'03 Zum S-10 4/5, '77 Peavey Session 400

Bob Snelgrove · From: san jose, ca

Isn't the George L TPP pickup a single coil type humbucker? I thought that's what Billy Phelps told me at the show.

bob

Rich Young · From: Georgetown, TX, USA

I found the TT really quiet for a single coil, so there is definetly something in how it is built.

I played guitar a long time, and was always looking for a way to get single coil sound without the noise. Active, lace sensor, stacked humbucker, I've tried pretty much all that is out there. I've gone back to Van Zant's on most of my stats and Duncans on my tele. The tone is way better and I live with the noise.

A steel doesn't compress the signal like a guitar would, most of the time. Compressors, distortion, just the amp itself, cranked a bit. Steel, I try to get clean, so the noise is not much of a problem, compared to guitar.

Although, I have to say, the couple of times I've messed with distortion with my steel and the TT, it seemed pretty quiet anyway.

Scott Appleton · From: Ashland, Oregon

I get buzz in the TT if I am too close to a beer light
or a CRT TV screen.
It is usually no problem with properly set up stages
or clubs with good sound systems.

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Mullen S12 Almost Mooney
71 Tele, Regal 45
Sho Bud S10 NP
Line 6 Flextone 3 + JBL D130

Jerry Van Hoose · From: Wears Valley, Tennessee

I moved my neon beer light from the living room where I practice to the dining room. Not only did that take care of the hum, but now I feel right at home at suppertime.

Scott Appleton · From: Ashland, Oregon

Well it appears the "Basic Stamp" may hold the future of how our steel guitars sound. That is what I'm talkin about. I am gonna order up some of this stuff and experiment with tone modeling. That sould keep me busy for the next 10 years.

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Mullen S12 Almost Mooney
71 Tele, Regal 45
Sho Bud S10 NP
Line 6 Flextone 3 + JBL D130

Buck Dilly · From: Branchville, NJ, USA * R.I.P.

All pickups have deficits. Humbuckers lack edge, active ones seem to sound compressed and dull, single coils are noisy. Try everything and go with what you can live with. I deal with Single Coil problems on my Emmons, because I get the lively response I like. Comprimises rarely work out for me.

Gerald Menke · From: Stormville NY, USA

I tried a humbucker for awhile, but missed the "open" quality of a single coil. Since most of the hum is in the lower end of the frequency range, I've found that if I roll some bass off in very noisy rooms, the hum is greatly minimized. I've also noticed picking harder forces me to keep the volume pedal back a little bit and the hum a bit more manageable. I'll take a little noise and some real highs any day.

Gerald

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

I'm a single- coil guy. Steels and guitars. I recently got a Zion guitar that's a thinline Tele style with 3 Barden pups. I never liked Bardens on my other guitars, but on this one, they sound great, and they sound like single-coils. I wonder if a steel pup, made in this manner, would sound good. Course, nobody knows what's going on with Barden right now. JB

Chuck Fisher · From: Santa Cruz, California, USA * R.I.P.

it IS possible to come very close.

a few ideas have come to mind, like Bill Lawrence's sidewinder, it uses a single blade so the string isn't sensed in 2 places like a conventional humbucker, which causes the "mush" so many of us dislike. IMO.

I built hexaphonic pickups with individual coils per-string and a fet pre on each, each coil and magnet was reverse-phase of the next adjacent one. Really complicated but it worked, not completely quiet but pretty much. It had that open-ness.

Jerry or Jason could make use of the fact steel players don't bend notes sideways, so 2 simgle coils - one for each side - treble and bass could be done magnetically and mechanically out of phase. This would do it IMO. Its mechanically difficult and care in not overlapping fields would be trickey at the center-gap.

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