hi there,

i've searched a bunch of previous posts, but i still need some guidance.

i'm looking to replace guitar's humbucker with a humbucker-sized bridge pickup. in the band i play in, i play Bauhaus/Birthday Party-style "screaming pterodactyl" leads and the humbucker just isn't cutting it. i need something super-bright that picks up scrapes and rakes really well- since scraping my strings is like 75% of my sound.

here's a sample of my guitar: www.myspace.com/troubleeveryday
the song that pops up (Pedestrian) is the closest i've ever gotten to "the sound" i want, but there was alot of studio trickery involved (i.e. mulitple micing, EQ'ing, etc.) and i want to get this sound live.

the guitar i play is a Fernandes Native Elite.
i tired a zillion deifferent pedal/amp combos- but i'm pretty sure my issue is a pickup one.

anyhelp or suggestions would be awesome.

thanks,
-Darren.

what about a single-coil-in-a-humbucker-case pickup? GFS makes lots of those and they say they are really great. also, fullertons (the pickups that gretsch guitars have) can be very trebly i guess.

morze wrote:there was alot of studio trickery involved (i.e. mulitple micing, EQ'ing, etc.) and i want to get this sound live.

I would consider taking some of this "trickery" live in the form of an EQ pedal or treble booster. Something like this maybe.

The suggestion that Jose made about a single coil is a very good one, but I dont know that a single coil alone without something else on top of it will be sufficiently trebly for your purposes.

Seymour Duncan makes these Live Wire Classic Humbuckers, powered by two(!) 9v batteries. They're easy to control feedback wise, and they're incredibly bright.

A treble booster pedal is a cheaper and somewhat better idea, as is a graphic equalizer.

If you want bright, you can do that, as Steve says, with a stomp box.

Find a clone of a 60's effect called a Rangemaster - that's the best one. The originals are nowhere to be found. If you just want bright, any of the clones will get you there. The one that sounds the most like the real Rangemaster (to me) is the Keeley Java Boost.

There are cheaper clones that sounds great though, even if it's not exact, like the Keeley.


-A

for your bridge pickup, replace it with the highest-output four-conductor humbucker you can find... and then wire that pickup with the coils out of phase with each other.

I don't know what might be more trebly than an out-of-phase humbucker in the bridge position.

scott wrote:for your bridge pickup, replace it with the highest-output four-conductor humbucker you can find... and then wire that pickup with the coils out of phase with each other.

I don't know what might be more trebly than an out-of-phase humbucker in the bridge position.

I can do that on my Shergold and I assure you, it's trebley as all hell.
Andy Gill calls for advice.

-A

More (theorical ideas)
- fiddle with the electronics. i think that the volume and tone pots cut out some treble. if you wire a pickup straight to the jack it will have more treble.
- forget about guitar amps! play through a power amp and some cab and kill some bats in the process!

get a traynor amp with a bright channel. that's your sound

Id say some sort of single coil, I cant direct you to a brand, but a Tele bridge would be my best recommendation. Like Scott, said a humbucker out of phase would be good too. There is a pedal called the "Screaming Tree", its a treble boost and it will make your ears bleed.