Surf with humbuckers

Photo of the Day

Insect Surfers 2013

Shoutbox

SHADOWNIGHT5150: Bank accounts are a scam created by a shadow government
274 days ago

sysmalakian: TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!
260 days ago

dp: dude
241 days ago

Bango_Rilla: Shout Bananas!!
196 days ago

BillyBlastOff: See you kiddies at the Convention!
180 days ago

GDW: showman
132 days ago

Emilien03: https://losg...
53 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!!!
47 days ago

glennmagi: CLAM SHACK guitar
32 days ago

Hothorseraddish: surf music is amazing
12 days ago

Shout History

Please login or register to shout.

IRC Status

#ShallowEnd is empty.

Need help getting started?

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

64%

64%

Donate Now

January Birthdays Cake

1st – antivirustales2, baccalaureateacademy, bookalimolv, helpemailtales2, Hitasg2, John_Lavelle, lootedbraincase, LosKioskBears, MariahDouglas, nevastechgpsupport, Printertales, SNOKE, tashannrestaurant, topstik, tubedogsurf
2nd – jonesrobertt, nsalmon, SpeedWave1, Syndicateofsurf
3rd – 2nanfer, 3Alex3, SurferHodadVR
4th – JonnyAngle, Wayfarer65, Wayfarer99
5th – dragonfly, JeremyeTheSurfRockGuy, UnsteadyFreddie
6th – Harkey, ReverbMadness, vendetta
7th – eltwang, oceansandoceans, squirt50
8th – Daddy, jamescouts, Mike_Vivisector
9th – BDUPRE, MedievalSurf, Shadowtone, TheFintastics
10th – 6strman1515, andrewstaff, samurairish, tattoo_bossman
11th – AlanSurf, BullSkullGuitars, odicolon
12th – dickhutchins
13th – Fender_Bender, jimbones, launchpad_mcquack, ricktrev, Rob_Markham, Slikbeer, WRAYMAN
14th – countrymen46, Rockandre, surf_music_is_not_dead
15th – JCStilley, Mr_Bill, SurfFan, twoslices
16th – Sha666yLabestia, TeteOrta, Vanhaye
17th – kenjolly, MountU, Sonichris, TommyCGuitar
18th – CousinMary, Nilstempo, Piratowill, TBZ
19th – bursky_ozbekov, Gerrym, SlotRods
20th – chrisparks, JoeySunset, leandroafonso85, Padraig
21st – BATLORD, budman1950, joebonni, PappyYokum, rottenman, SilverFlash, srf83
22nd – Davo, schoub, stratocastermotion, surfindave
23rd – Henry_Marechiaro, mitchvreed, TontoFSchwartz
24th – JeffLeites, JIMMYLIMO, JohnnyR, The_Cholla
25th – mrgraham58
26th – gremmie1, Jakehooker, mathead, NoisyDad, PLASTICCARZ, The_Patman, whiz1943, Wombat
27th – biworm, ldk, moseseatonjr, Outerwave_Allen, SL35Steve, tentaclejoe
28th – adammzgonzalez, brischneider14, Dbunny23, smallfish
29th – HapHazzard, hoagiebait, JetBlue, Kirill, reknball
30th – instit, wiggins
31st – BearJW, DaveF, normj, RistoA, thunderbass

SG101 MP3 Comps

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Surf with humbuckers

• New Topic

horax Joined: Mar 23, 2011 Posts: 518 colorado springs	Posted on Jun 26 2013 01:17 AM People say u need single coils to surf, but one of The best versions of sleepwalk I've ever hear was by les Paul On his Gibson lp. Anybody here play with buckers? Top
SanchoPansen Joined: Jan 04, 2011 Posts: 1588 Berlin L-Berg	Posted on Jun 26 2013 01:39 AM Played Surf on a Gibson ES-335 for a decade. Worked well. Gear really doesn't matter. There is no right or wrong. It's what you do with it. — The Hicadoolas Last edited: Jun 26, 2013 01:42:49 Top
Brian Joined: Feb 25, 2006 Posts: 19297 Des Moines, Iowa, USA	Posted on Jun 26 2013 07:36 AM Sleepwalk predates surf music. But in any event it isn't that important what guitar you play. — Site dude - S3 Agent #202 Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me "It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea Top
DannySnyder Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 11053 Berkeley, CA	Posted on Jun 26 2013 09:09 AM Brian's right, but your guitar does affect how you should approach the arrangement. Surf relies on the lead guitar cutting through the rest of the band and establishing the melody. That's why a lot of people use Jags,JM's and Strats, relatively bright guitars, and with thicker strings the notes really have some body to them. Very important when playing on top of a rhythm guitarist. Humbuckers generally seem to squash notes down. The bigger signal will put the amp into overdrive which compresses it and subtracts dynamics. Even when clean, the tone is less bright than with most single coils and doesn't cut through a loud band. Therefore the answer is to play in a 3 piece band or leave a lot of space in the arrangement, so the guitar is not fighting anything to be heard. — Danny Snyder "With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF Top
horax Joined: Mar 23, 2011 Posts: 518 colorado springs	Posted on Jun 26 2013 04:35 PM Thanks, guys. I appreciate learning about the nuances, etc. If my les Paul had a trem, it would be amazing for it. I play my jag and strat for surf, but sometimes I like to try alternatives. Sometimes I feel like it can get too twangy, and I confuse myself. Sorry for rambling. Had surgery today and I'm still feeling the effects of the drugs. Top
bluez Joined: Jul 11, 2010 Posts: 135 Norway	Posted on Jun 26 2013 04:52 PM I think that humbuckers changes the feeling over in to another genre than surf. A little more in to country or jazz like. Listen to the Ventures after Noki Edwards changed guitar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQSPivbWwuY It reminds me of a Tele with humbucker, so for me it's sound a bit more like country than surf. Still nice to listen to. Compliments for trying to sound a little different Top
horax Joined: Mar 23, 2011 Posts: 518 colorado springs	Posted on Jun 26 2013 05:43 PM Thanks blues. I have a video on YouTube of me playing some blues that people say sound surfy. :). I will dig it up a bit later. Top
kenposurf Joined: Feb 23, 2007 Posts: 1650 Santa Rosa, CA	Posted on Jun 26 2013 06:14 PM Instrumental my dear watson — www.northofmalibu.com Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Jun 26 2013 10:32 PM Dave Insect plays Epi SG's all the time through a Fender Super Reverb and I don't notice it compressing. Must be his picking is light 'n' fast, volume not that high for a small club. Didn't sound very humbucky to me at all, the way he plays. THe other fellow played a Strat. The contrast between their tones was not that striking, just very good altogether. — Squink Out! Top
DannySnyder Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 11053 Berkeley, CA	Posted on Jun 26 2013 11:08 PM I agree Dave always sounds great. I could be wrong, but I thought he uses p90's, which are single coils. And his other guitarist has a massive pedal board, all bets are off regarding pickups once you send it through more than 2 effect pedals IMHO. — Danny Snyder "With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Jun 27 2013 01:34 AM The new fella Bertrand played with few effects and Dave's Epi SGs had HBs. Dave even used a mild boost, something called a Punch Factory – with no audible compression going on. Just goes to show, a player can make it happen with whatever gear. — Squink Out! Top
ElBirkerio Joined: Dec 17, 2012 Posts: 519 Vienna	Posted on Jun 27 2013 03:11 AM hi! not being a huge fan of Fender - style guitars, i have tried some of my other guitars; here is my opinion: P90s (got 4 guitars equipped with those): too harsh, too crunchy. fantasic pickups, but not for surf mini - humbuckers: quite close to a single coil sound filtertrons: i love them !!! low output humbuckers (PAF-style): not infeasible, but they do sound different high output humbuckers: no idea ... any B.C.Rich guitar owners here? i once made a little comparison of seven guitars, bridge pickup only - https://soundcloud.com/gisela-gramml/pupcheck yours wolfi — http://www.surfgrammeln-san.org https://www.facebook.com/BaluUndSurfgrammeln http://greencookierecords.bandcamp.com/album/coming-out-soon-los-chicharrones-del-surf-10 Top
nacho_grande Joined: Jun 26, 2013 Posts: 44 Izmir	Posted on Jun 27 2013 06:00 AM ElBirkerio wrote: filtertrons: i love them !!! How about T-Armond's? ;) — All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions - Leonardo da Vinci Top
ElBirkerio Joined: Dec 17, 2012 Posts: 519 Vienna	Posted on Jun 27 2013 07:07 AM I don't have t-armond style guitar Yours wolfi — http://www.surfgrammeln-san.org https://www.facebook.com/BaluUndSurfgrammeln http://greencookierecords.bandcamp.com/album/coming-out-soon-los-chicharrones-del-surf-10 Top
Brian Joined: Feb 25, 2006 Posts: 19297 Des Moines, Iowa, USA	Posted on Jun 27 2013 07:34 AM JObeast wrote: The new fella Bertrand His name is Bernard Yin. — Site dude - S3 Agent #202 Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me "It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea Top
ParkRowe Joined: Apr 01, 2013 Posts: 147 Vancouver BC	Posted on Jun 27 2013 11:43 AM my "surf" guitar is a Gretsch DSW with Dynasonic pick ups ...similar to t-armonds,. and they sound pretty good to me. i really think it's about how you play, and even how you set the amp. Top
nacho_grande Joined: Jun 26, 2013 Posts: 44 Izmir	Posted on Jun 27 2013 01:14 PM ParkRowe wrote: my "surf" guitar is a Gretsch DSW with Dynasonic pick ups ...similar to t-armonds,. and they sound pretty good to me. i really think it's about how you play, and even how you set the amp. I'm totally agreed with you about the fact that tone comes from knowledge and fingers literally. G6120DSW is a great choice by the way. My holy grail axe is one of those Gretsch USA Custom Shop Eagles. They are around $10k though — All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions - Leonardo da Vinci Top
Supercompdad Joined: Jun 17, 2012 Posts: 132 West Central Illinois	Posted on Jul 02 2013 12:43 AM I'm playing a foreign made used les paul with a les trem on it. I like the action of the trem but then, I'm too dumb to know the difference. My instructor really wants to me check the pickups to see what they are. Next time I swap strings we'll have a peek. Last edited: Jul 02, 2013 00:43:43 Top
Guitar_Guy Joined: Jun 25, 2013 Posts: 20	Posted on Jul 02 2013 11:15 AM DannySnyder wrote: Brian's right, but your guitar does affect how you should approach the arrangement. Surf relies on the lead guitar cutting through the rest of the band and establishing the melody. That's why a lot of people use Jags,JM's and Strats, relatively bright guitars, and with thicker strings the notes really have some body to them. Very important when playing on top of a rhythm guitarist. Humbuckers generally seem to squash notes down. The bigger signal will put the amp into overdrive which compresses it and subtracts dynamics. Even when clean, the tone is less bright than with most single coils and doesn't cut through a loud band. Therefore the answer is to play in a 3 piece band or leave a lot of space in the arrangement, so the guitar is not fighting anything to be heard. Or get an E-H Screaming Bird and leave it on Last edited: Jul 02, 2013 11:16:28 Top
skeeter Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 2063 Virginia, USA	Posted on Jul 02 2013 02:37 PM Here's Rick Miller from SCOTS playing some surf on a Les Paul. I've also seen him play surf on a Gibson Firebird and it sounds great! — Paul Atomic Mosquitos Bug music for bug people is here! Killers from Space Top

Top

Please visit our friends in the surf music community:

Thanks to all the surf bands, past and present. And thanks to all the fans who care about and keep surf music alive.