The Scarecrow wrote:... like which of my amps I'm using...
I was just going to mention this point, I think a lot of it comes down to what amps you're used to. I always hated those Vox Heritage series amps because they sounded super harsh with a Strat, but they sounded nice with Humbuckers. Likewise the Fender Hot Rods sound great with singles but a little dark with buckers to my ear - unless it's quite a bright sounding bucker or you're after a really warm Jazz sound. And as much as I don't tend to lean towards full sized hummbuckers as a rule, for traditional Jazz stuff you can't beat a neck Humbucker on a hollowbody.
Again though, it totally depends on the individual pickups. But even with a really nice Humbucker I tend to find there's a lack of detail on the bottom strings - It'd be nice to be able to have a single coil for the bottom three strings and a humbucker for the top three.
I have both. I gig on my humbucker guitar, though thats as much because its such a good guitar to play as it is because of the pickups. At home recording demos I always pull out the strat, I find the humbuckers are too smooth / not enough bite when recorded.
I think I'd like a solid guitar with a humbucker and a P90 to have both bases covered - I had a Radian on loan for a bit with that config and it was brilliant. Im almost tempted to switch one of the SD antiquity humbuckers in my Aurum for a Humbucker sized P90 to have that set-up again, I just can't decide which to switch.
I've reflected upon this also and have ascertained that for me, the pickup is far less important than the feel of the guitar. This is why, when I was forced to sell a bunch of gear off recently, I still have 2 Strats and no LPs. SC Strats just suit me better. I'm not a fan of buckers in Strats.
Each of us have different aspects we look for in our music. Some have to nail a sound, good on you - go for it, but I don't. I just have to feel 'right' trying to play whatever song I'm currently murdering.
He hit a chord that rocked the spinet and disappeared into the infinite ...
As far as guitars go, I prefer humbuckers but I never seem to have guitars with humbuckers on them.
I'll play something in a shop, really like it and it's only when I get it home that I realise "Oh, shit... it's another guitar with single coils!"
I got into Danos (the reissues) sometime in the 90s and, once I upgraded the pups to Seymour Duncans, I was sold on lipsticks. I like that they are a bit darker than strat pickups. But yeah, one day I have to get a guitar with humbuckers.
"Vince, have you ever tried playing an expensive bass?" - Polarbear.
"And isn't that the finest acoustic bass guitar feedback solo you've ever heard?" - Billy Moose.
You are kind of bang on the money with the "perhaps it's the music I play and grew up with etc" (paraphrased). While it is perfectly possible to play a certain song originally played a Les Paul with humbuckers using a single coil Strat, LP or vise-versa and even get a similar sound with the very different guitar setup, it so often does not feel quite right because of the mental association factor.
Then again, we all know somebody around here who is more than comfy playing any kind of music on one of those headless mutants that barely qualify as a guitar, something that seems to blow my logic and reasoning on the matter right out of the water. There is always one exception to the rule though, he probably does not subscribe to the mental association either.
I came to electrics after a decade of playing old Martins. The 70's Les Pauls that were around then all seemed dark and woolly sounding to my ears so I gravitated towards Fenders and they became a habit. Most of my tones are jangly or light OD so they work fine.
I much prefer humbuckers for working an amp hard and GAS for a couple of nice Gibsons. Unfortunately, I am cursed with really strong opinions of individual instruments and the Gibsons I like are way outside my budget.
15 guitars and 10 amps; that's the answer!
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
