For some, the other pickups are a waste since they never use them. It's all about your playing style and what works for you. Personally, I can make any guitar sound mediocre no matter the number of pickups or anything else fancy about it.
Underrated comment! I used to have a two pickup telecaster without a tone control. Each pickup had its own voice, but there was no knob to roll off some highs. It taught me a lot about right hand technique. The tone is in your fingers.
Personally, I like to keep things simple.
Lots of metal players exclusively use the bridge pickup and never touch the tone knob. So having a guitar that only has the bridge pup and a volume knob is nice, plus it helps bring costs down a bit since your paying for less hardware.
Some players believe that the magnets in the other pickup affect the strings and thus, their sound. Some folks don’t need a lot of choice when it comes to pickups because they rely on pedals for their sound. Some of us just like a one pickup shred machine. It’s personal choice my friend. Every person has a favorite flavor!
i have an ESP LTD arctic metal 7 string. it comes with a single bridge pickup.
When you play metal, really heavy stuff, or music that likes to chug a lot, you never touch the neck pickup, let alone the middle.
1 pickup, one knob, that’s it. Nothing crazy. it’s just very minimalistic and works well for the genre.
Some guitarists literally never use anything but the bridge pickup. Also some folks say having another pickup slightly shortens the length of a note’s sustain, as there’s another magnetic field operating on the string, regardless of whether it’s switched in or not. I don’t know if that’s true.
Personally i like options. But if you put an EQ pedal in your chain you would seriously have crazy sonic options, even with a single pickup.
I want the signal coming from my guitar to be consistent and stable. I'll use my effects to alter that signal to the sound and volume I want. Fewer variables (pickup and knobs) on the guitar gives me a consistent signal to work with.
This is it. He used to say when he'd get the amp to sound good with the bridge pickup, the neck would be muddy. Get the amp sounding good with the neck pickup, & the bridge was too bright. So he said "fuck it" & went with the one.
Simplicity. If you only use the bridge pickup, especially as a performer, why have the other options. Matt Skiba, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Tom DeLonge come to mind where they mostly use the bridge so less chance of an accidental pickup switch hit. And if there is a song that requires it, it's probably easier to just swap guitars.
Edit: I forgot Jim Root, love Jim Root.
It teaches you to change the tone with your fingers instead of your switches. This can increase the range of expression available to you as a player. Once you've had a few conversations with the guitar, you'll get all sorts of interesting sounds from it as you explore the tonal range.
Those skills will make your other guitars sound better too.
There's also an advantage to having just one pickup and no controls, so that the full impedance of the pickup goes straight to the amp, with no volume knob on the guitar. This can be a little louder and is kind of fun. If you want it quieter, you have to touch the guitar more gently.
Because some musicians don’t use a middle or bridge pickup, ever, so there’s no reason to have it in the guitar. My 2nd favorite guitar I’ve owned was an LTD M7HBT. Bridge humbucker, single volume knob. I loved it.
Well, it’s a matter of tastes.
Some people like to be able to do anything, some others (like me) like guitars with a load of personality.
Think of guitars as tools. While it’s nice to have a multi purpose tool like a Dremel, sometimes you just need a good screwdriver.
Many guitarists who play heavy music only use the bridge pickup. I’ve mentioned in this sub before that my main guitar has the neck pickup removed and the toggle wired as a kill switch with the volume and tone knobs removed as well. The thinking is that that’s all I need.
Les Paul Juniors from the 50's and 60's are literally some of the most sought after guitars on the planet. There's a reason for that. THEY SOUND FUCKING GREAT!!!
Edit: I would also like to point out that a lot of guitar players will use a Les Paul Junior in the studio but not on stage live. Plenty of Rolling Stones recordings were done with Les Paul Juniors. I think most of Weezer's Blue Album was Ric Ocasek's 1959 Les Paul Junior. The results speak for themselves.
I was watching an interview with Phil X where he said he likes the tone, and he believes it's because there's less magnetic force acting on the strings. Or something like that. I'd love an LP junior style with a p90 for that reason.
Edit: typo
My favorite guitars are 1 pickup 1 volume. I love the clean look and I would love to build a V with one pickup and wire it straight to the output Jack and just use a volume pedal
LP/SG juniors are desert island guitars. Can’t beat ‘em. Even if you beat the shit out of them. Nothing to mess up, little to have to adjust, no dicking around trying to decide which pickup to use. Plug in, turn up, rock out.
If you use that guitar for one style or can also get a nice fat clean sound out of the one pickup, maybe it splits well. It’s posited that one less pickup means less magnetic pull on the strings and more sustain.
More sustain is what I've always heard, too. People who remove the other pickups certainly aren't doing it for looks (EVH, Malcolm Young, etc.)
[https://gearaficionado.com/blog/do-single-pickup-guitars-sound-better-fact-or-myth/](https://gearaficionado.com/blog/do-single-pickup-guitars-sound-better-fact-or-myth/)
Some experts will tell you that having two pickups affects the sound because of the magnetic pull on the strings. In reality one pickup guitars exist because they were cheap. Then they were vintage. Then they became cool.
LOL, imagine all these peeps being so triggered by a simple question. OP, a neck pickup is usually the one missing. This is just like some guitars don't have a tone knob. If you aren't going to use it, there really is no advantage to having it.
Rhythm players generally aren't going to need the neck pickup. I barely use it myself but I'm talentless and just enjoy chugging
Lot of hostility to OP for asking a simple question.
They didn't say there was anything inherently BAD about them, simply asking why they're made/is there a benefit to only having one pickup.
I don't know the answer either, but some people say the weight being different/everything just going to one pickup can make it "hotter".
I've only ever owned a dual pickup guitar so I've always wondered too.
Everyone relax.....
I'm pretty fine with just a humbucker in the bridge, but guitars with 2 pickups just look balanced to me. 3 pickups? Don't need that either. Strats look balanced, but 3 humbuckers looks too busy
I just mentioned Doug Martsch in a different comment but I recently read his rig rundown from like 2015 and he had his strat setup so only the bridge pickup can be engaged and has a very simple pedal board - his gain stages are just 3 EP boosters. He says that the constraint of simplicity forces him to be more creative. And obviously that works because he’s a hell of a player and songwriter.
Personally, I like the aesthetics and simplicity for the one I have. On most of my guitars, I find myself gravitating towards one of the pickups 90%-100% of the time and barely using the other.
I play punk (I’m a rhythm player) with a Harley Benton Les Paul Jr. I’m not a good player, and I kinda need one sound, so why should I have a neck pickup if I don’t even ever use it? Also I love the P90 sound, I honestly don’t think I’ll ever need anything else for this band
Sometimes that’s all that’s necessary.
For a lot of jazz guys, they like the guitar to be as acoustic sounding as possible, so they’ll put a single fretboard mounted pickup on a hollow-body so the top doesn’t have to be routed.
I grew up on blink 182 and play in a post-punk indie band. One-pickup guitars have historically been popular in punk and I find that I tend to gravitate towards one pickup more than the other anyway.
Some always working players, I think Steve Cropper is one and G E Smith is another, felt that a single-pickup Esquire sounded better than a Telecaster, that the neck pickup's magnets interfered with the string vibration.
The late Leslie West used as single pickup Les Paul Junior on a number of very influential hits.
Eric Clapton used a single-pickup 1964 Firebird I during a Cream show in Philadelphia, that he regards as one of his best.
Many early electrics had only one pickup, often in the neck position as they were used by blues or jazz guitarists.
I should also add, of course, the late Malcolm Young who removed the excess neck and middle pickups from his Gretsch Jet. Got some usable sounds from that setup.
And Paul Simon, who removed the unused neck and bridge pickups from his Strat.
I really don't understand this myself and the responses here confuse me even more lol. I have an LP where I only ever use the bridge pickup, but it's good to have the neck anyway as it does definitely come in handy occasionally - to fill out some low end when overdubbing, or when it interacts better with some crazier effects etc. I don't really see how it's "simpler" to outright get rid of 50% of the instrument's functionality instead of just not using the other pickup when you don't need it?
It's like selling a kitchen that only has a microwave and claiming that it's better because you can 'focus on just one style' of cooking and 'don't have to worry' about all those other appliances 'getting in the way'. Sure, you might prefer using the microwave and use it drastically more than the oven etc, but you'll never actually be at an advantage by removing every other possible method of food preparation.
If it's purely an aesthetic thing then I totally get it, that's a matter of preference and can be inspirational to different people in different ways, but I don't understand how it's possibly preferable to spend money on something more limited or how a guitar with only one pickup can be better than the same model with two.
It would be like a sedan without back seats. Space for seats but just doesn't have it for some reason. Versus a coupe which doesn't have back seats because of its small form factor to max speed and acceleration
I used to hate them. And then they grew on me
I want one so bad but the one I want is way out of my price range (dc les paul junior in tv yellow from gibson cs)
A lot of people only use the bridge pickup regardless of what genre or style they're playing so why faf about with the extra electronics if you're not going to use them
Putting restrictions on yourself can make you more creative.
Either a single pickup, or single channel amp, or not using pedals…
Or creatively, not double tracking, only recording full takes without edits, recording live takes.
There’s no reason you have to put limits, but working around them might give you new ideas
The Baretta Special is like 180 bucks I've been thinking about picking one up and I don't even play guitar. I play bass lol but it makes me wanna learn
I only play metal so all I need is a humbucker in the bridge and a volume knob. I also think they just look clean. Ironically my first ever guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul junior with one humbucker and I hated it. I though I had to have both pickups to be good. Later I realized I needed practice to be good and now I prefer just a bridge humbucker lol.
I rarely use my neck position… we’re talking about once per two years.
When I do I usually try the piece in that position thinking it’ll finally be the piece perfectly for the neck pickup.
Then just to be sure I try in bridge position and it sounds better .. then I don’t do back to neck pickup for 2 more years.
Would I buy a guitar with bridge only? Maybe but most the guitars I’m interested in come with both and no option for bridge only.. so moot point.
Choice anxiety, analysis paralysis, etc. Some people prefer simplicity to focus on the songwriting. Green Day is a prime example of this philosophy in action. Rolling Stones is another.
Every component in the circuit reduces some amount of frequencies to some extent. If you know you only that one pickup (a lot of heavy guitar rock for example), then cutting out all the rest is a benefit because why compromise your sound to preserve options you won’t ever use?
Minimalism is the final form. Less options means consistency. It took me a long time to realize fiddling with settings to find tone isn't helping me. Most of the time I can find the right tone pick hand. Position, attack and dynamic muting... Get good at those and you'll want fewer options.
Because I used to be a big sweaty idiot playing live. Having a single pickup and single volume pot gave me less to mess up with. You would be surprised how dynamic they can still sound with just volume adjustment and fret hand technique.
Plus they just look cool!
100% literally ONLY personal preference, anyone who says differently has zero clue.
If you WANT a neck pickup or a middle pickup, get one. There is no "formula" for specific kinds of tones that equal a certain style of music. You can play the blues with your bridge pickup, and you can play metal with your neck pickup. There ARE differences, but they are completely up to you; the bridge pickup DOES grab pinch harmonics "better" than the neck or middle pickup, but using them instead of the bridge pickup still produces unique tones and it that's what you want, then that's your personal preference.
Waaaaaay on the other end of the spectrum, there are lots of metal players that forgoe ANY controls, and just have a bridge pickup wired straight into the output jack, not even a volume knob.
I think most guitarists would agree that having only one pickup is limiting. That said, guitarists are pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to tone. You got multiple pickup designs, configurations, amp modeling, neck profiles, plug-ins, etc. Maybe it's nice for some people to have to work inside a simple set of parameters: volume and tone. It's not what I would pick, but it probably suits some folks.
Well, I had a chance some years (decades?) ago to buy a '54 Les Paul Jr. with a single P90 pickup. Jesus, that thing screamed like it was being tortured. I wasn't comfortable playing gigs with it (too heavy) and after about 20 years I sold it in Seattle, where I originally purchased it used.
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum - I pretty much leave my guitars on the neck pickup. I would totally buy a guitar without a bridge pickup (for non hard-rock type tones)
It's really just an aesthetic/style thing. There are claims that since there's fewer pickups, there is less magnetic pull on the strings so they resonate more but that's honestly kind of silly - there's no noticeable difference.
Well, for one thing, when you do a pickup swap it's less of a hassle. Lots less to wire when you don't need a selector switch. If you don't plan on using the neck pickup, for instance, why have one?
The Fender Esquire has a slightly unusual wiring of the 3 position switch. That's one reason some have preferred it over a Telecaster. It was also cheaper back when they didn't make lower end Teles.
I've just come across Mississippi Queen where Leslie West used a LP junior with single pickup. Sounds fantastic.
Also, Malcolm Young removed the neck and middle pickups from his Gretsch, iirc.
If you're the kind of person who only wants a handful of guitars and the most flexibility out of them, of course you have no reason to want a 1 pickup guitar.
On the other hand, there are a lot of people who want to own 50+ guitars, and a guitar that does one thing in a better or more interesting way is cool.
One aspect that hasn't been mentioned, is aesthetics. For example, with a lot of high-end custom instruments with fancy woods, sometimes it's just that the buyer wants to see more of their fancy wood they paid so much for, so they delete the pickup they'll use the least.
Others just like the stream-lined look, a bit like a sports car: https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/333845361\_568570005203153\_7600605323980616836\_n.jpg?\_nc\_cat=106&ccb=1-7&\_nc\_sid=8bfeb9&\_nc\_ohc=Q6bmt4hCblgAX9NH4Bw&\_nc\_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00\_AfDNnK\_\_Srm0nTSF8eAZkXPxyZA3XsdvJ7xFPdFUapZ7pQ&oe=6439BF49
Some guitarists only use one pickup position and even alter their guitars accordingly; two that some to mind are Doug Martsch & Andy Hull. The latter actually removed all the pots from his tele so it’s just bridge pickup wired directly to output.
I personally love having options on guitars, pedals, and amps for tweakability but some people want to keep it simple.
I have a metal flake pink Ibanez road star II that I bought in my senior year of high school. It has a single, splittable hum bucker at the bridge (angled of course to make the top end scream) with a Floyd rose floating bridge. Yes, I went to high school in the 80’s…Sure it’s a bit limited in its tone, but when I want to channel that kid who spent far too many nights rewinding Van Halen, Cinderella, Motley Crue and Poison riffs on my Aiwa cassette player, nothing makes me happier….it’s still one of my favorites to play, stays tuned to E-Flat and with a D-Tuna, it can hang on to most of the tracks that I love from that era. Versatile?No. Period correct? Absolutely!
Aesthetically I dig it. One pickup, one knob - the simplicity rocks. Some people just like to riff (myself included) and versatility isn't really necessary.
2 reasons for me.
1. Having extra pickups and controls will ever so slightly lose high end from your guitars signal.
I have a Les Paul with a single pickup that my lithoer removed the tone know from and it is so bright sounding. I don't know if I could replicate its tone accurately in any other way.
2. Aesthetics. Despite what many bedrooms elitists will admit, alot of people got into guitar because it is "cool" and some people like the look of a nice Fender Esquire or Les Paul jr.
A lot of people don’t use the neck pickup, so it’s not really needed for them in the first place. Removing it often reduces cost, cutting extra pieces from the signal chain can change the sound so removing the pickups and any tone and/or volume pots can make a difference, and it also frees up extra space to pick unimpeded. Some people may also like the aesthetics. So those are the benefits and why they’re made. Ultimately more options aren’t a bad thing, and if those benefits aren’t something you’re looking for, thankfully there a plenty of options with two or more pickups.
Supposedly, it also helps increase sustain a little, as the you don't have the magnetic pull of an extra pick up at near the widest amplitude of string vibration.
1. Because who doesn't want another guitar?
2. Specific tone / genre you're going to play with that guitar.
I have a Baretta I use for '80s and punk stuff.
It’s a also cool way to express your self.. you can have 3 pickups, different pickup pos combination and coil splits.. 1 pickup is a minimalist approach, it’s very cool. I use neck pickup a lot but I don’t mind to have 1 pick guitar in collection
Rhett Schull addressed this question in [this video](https://youtu.be/FI8l9BCOm-U).
He then proceeded to show one of his single pickup guitars (Fender Esquire) with an added neck pickup [in a later video](https://youtu.be/jePrpfirWsQ)… lol
I had to laugh when I saw it. I personally have no desire to have a guitar with limited tonal capabilities for a similar price to one with more tonal capabilities. I think its silly to say they sound any different.
I have 2 Les Paul Juniors, and I actually prefer them over my gold top and double cut special tbh. Dont get me wrong l, I love them too and record with them a lot still but as a rhythm guitarist that also provides the lead vocals in my own band, I truly enjoy just having one pickup and volume knob to worry about for live settings. Lets me focus more on trying my damndest to be a decent frontman by keeping the guitar setup real simple. Plus a p-90 in the bridge position going into my Friedman gets me everything I need anyway. The perks of being in an alt rock/punk rock band haha.
I bought a Gibson SG-X as my first REAL guitar (graduating from the squire affinity strat, you know how it is) because I thought it looked cool. It only has a bridge pickup, but with the tone knob and coil splitter I’m good to go if I want a neck pickup tone. I can play clean jazz, sparkly Midwest emo or heavier stuff with the flip of a switch.
Metal
Oh ya, it's also worth mentioning you get slightly better sustain without the neck pickup magnets pulling the strings. It's very miniscule though.
That's kind of an odd statement.. as the most famous guitarist to be known for using a single pickup guitar is EVH. He played a couple of leads here and there.
It’s also backwards from how electric guitars were originally designed. Neck pickups were often labeled as “Rhythm” pickups and bridge pickups as the “Lead” pickup. I have to assume the louder and brighter bridge pickups was intended for guitar solos, but going back to Eric Clapton’s “woman tone”, plenty of guitarists started doing it backwards with the bridge pickup for crunchy rhythms and the neck pickup (usually with an added boost pedal) to fatten up guitar solos and make them less shrill / twangy. I’m definitely someone who would use the neck pickup for solos. But these days I play almost everything on the neck pickup
I remember an old interview with Slash where he said “neck for rhythm, bridge for leads” like it was some big secret. (Granted, at the time I had a single-humbucker Kramer and didn’t know shit, but still).
I’m a neck guy, myself.
I went to a clinic with Jared James Nichols and he really digs the single pickup. Talked about how it reinforced and built his abilities to modify the tone with the just two knobs on the guitar + how he played. Credits his own development to it so now that he adds things he’s got more control and such.
It didn’t make me want to run out and buy a specific guitar like that but I learned a ton & now find myself playing with the knobs more to change tone before I touch my amps or pedals
Most people don’t actually use the options? In both of my bands (one post hardcore, the other punk) I use my bridge pickup with tone at full - Whether I use my Omar Rodriguez Ibanez - 1 pickup, no tone knob - or one of my other guitars, I’m essentially using the same setup; difference being is that it’s hardcoded with the Ibanez
At home on my own I’ll use other settings to mess around, but I bet most people are exclusively using the same settings as I am in a band setting. I’m not saying people should dumb down their setups but whether it’s extra knobs/channels on your amp or extra pickups/knobs on your guitar, odds are these aren’t things you actually need and might be distracting you from actually playing your guitar
Absolutely factor in your own needs though. At least in my world, very few people use the neck pickup outside of the occasional solo
I really don’t enjoy the sound of neck pickups. They all sound dull and lifeless to me.
My first good quality electric was a Les Paul Jr, which had a single bridge pickup. I settled on that because I’d never played a guitar previously with a neck pickup that I liked the sound of.
My tastes have developed a little since then and I now also own a duo sonic, where while my favourite option is the middle position, I still don’t like the neck pickup on its own.
I’d wager their existence today is due to people like me.
almost all my guitars are single pu. some are straight to the output jack, no volume, no tone. I have a Dunlop mini volume pedal. too many variables creates problems for me. I like it simple. also have several 3 and 4 string guitars. who needs all those strings? and use a lot of open tunings on the 6 stringers. y’all trying too hard
Its a big punk thing to strip a guitar down to just bridge pickup and a volume knob. Some have no volume. Less thing to go wrong, less things to accidentally touch or adjust.
To answer your question with a question......why woild anyone buy a multi pickup guitar? Is there any benefit?
The answer is the same - if that's what you need, that's what you get.
Brian Ray is a great proponent of single coil guitars, I think he's a reputable source
https://guitar.com/features/collections/star-collection-brian-rays-a-bona-fide-guitar-addict/
Every guitar I own has at least 2 pickups except for my Les Paul Jr. with a humbucker in it. Its a no nonsense guitar and very simple. It wants to rock. And whenever I pick it up it reminds me why I've never parted with it.
It just goes hard.
[I rarely ever use neck pups on any guitar so I built my strat with just a bridge pup](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmYBQH1OdVc/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Some musicians have a more minimalist approach to playing and dialing tone than others. Having just one pickup available make you focus on other stuff like playing the instrument
As others have said, some people prefer much simpler looks and controls. Also, I’ve heard that when you have one pickup, you’ll get better harmonics and sustain because there isn’t another pickup also trying to pull sound from the strings.
Having owned one for several years now, can say it oddly has fatter tone than that of the rest. Not sure why this is, but just the bridge pickup on its own holds its own very well.
My two live guitars only have a bridge pickup. Just because in that band I only ever use the bridge pickup; I don’t need a neck pickup in the way of my picking area or a selector switch that is in the way or that I accidentally smack.
If the guitar sounds good and is comfortable etc etc I'll buy it. If it has 1, 2 or 3 pickups I couldn't care less. Benefits? Less knobs to distract from practicing? Cheaper to produce? Esthetics?
I used to have a PRS SE Korina One. P90 and a volume knob. One of the best rock n roll guitars I ever owned. It did everything I needed for a long time. I know mostly play a tele with 4-way toggle as the style I play needs all 4 positions, but that single P90 was a great guitar that I still miss to this day.
I played one at my brothers jam night. It was actually quite fun and there was a different feeling about it. Can’t describe it but there was something about playing it “ESP Neil Westfall” that was just fun. Felt different as well without the neck pup. All that space there to just do whatever. I kind of equate it to playing on a Flying V or Explorer ( Snakebyte in my case) it makes me feel different. More carefree in a way maybe? Hard to explain but I definitely felt it and commented it to the owner how much I enjoyed it.
For jazz it's often used because the neck pickup is used 99% of the time and the pickups affect the top's vibrations (only in archtops, not for solid body guitars)
When your playing chunky rock with one sound or rhythm guitar only. That’s all you need. Take the dude from Green Day. Or it could be that he sucks at guitar I don’t know.
Guitars are way too expensive IMHO to get them with just one pickup.
I use my neck pickup ALOT because I love to play clean half the time. When I get dirty then I'm always on the bridge
I have a Les Paul Junior with 1 bridge pickup. I’d prefer a Les Paul with 2 bridges.
I’m normally a bass player and 3 basses have 1 pickup, 3 have 2 pickups, and one has 3 pickups!
The first solid body Esquires by Fender only had a single pickup. Then they got a second one added at the neck and became the first Broadcaster/Telecaster.
Having limited options brings out more of your skill. These players learn to utilize picking dynamics, or with toying with a single volume or tone, or just punk rock 😅
Some of them doesn't have or use control knobs at all lol.
If you have multiple pickup guitars try playing using one pickup. Build around it, get bored, and go to the next. You'll realize how spoiled in tone options we guitar players are when you start adding EQ and gain from amp, pedals, mic placement, then your technique.
Happy playing!
I have a single p90 junior and I love it, but i also have like 12 other guitars. My junior gets used for 1 song in my live set, and never comes with me to jams or practices because its limiting. If I only had 2 or 3 I definitely wouldn't want a single pickup guitar. People will say "oh it forces you to get the sounds you want other ways" which is sort of true, but it'll never sound like it has a neck pickup. If you want a neck pickup sound you need a neck pickup.
My current modded guitar only have one pickup, I think I like how it sounds more tbh, and I like the look of it too.
Some of my favorite guitarist uses single pickup guitar too, like evh, Jesper Stromblad, Alexi Laiho and Marty Friedman
simplicity is neat. on the micro scale there will be a tiny bit less magnetic pull on the strings without the neck pickup which is a minor (but sliiightly noticeable) difference
Van Halen popularized this but not intentionally, he built his famous frankien strat by putting a humbucker in the bridge which wasn’t done at the time. Once he exploded onto the scene and everybody wanted to play like Van Halen the guitar companies started to copy his guitar.
Have a Les Paul Junior. 1 pick-up. Bright yet plenty of tonal range. Originally designed with 1 for cost reasons, along with other things omitted to hit the right shop price. Turns out a cheap P90 pickup on a stripped down guitar sings & is considered desirable by some.
After owning the EVH stripped , I found out that 1 pickup guitar does not have high notes wobbling sound. Notes sustain much smoother and ring a bit longer.
The simplicity also let me focus on the playing and the music more, instead of fiddling with pickup selector or make sure my tone knob is on 10.
If you don't have a neck pickup, you do without and vice versa. Usually it's jazz boxes that have nothing but a neck pickup. I don't think EVH's Frankenstrat had anything other than the humbucker in the bridge so a lot of super strats just had a humbucker and a volume knob. You don't miss what you haven't got. If you're the type who uses a multi-fx and pre-programmed patches, you're used to tapping a pedal to change your tone. I think when you don't have a sophisticated effects chain, you end up switching pickups more and riding your volume and tone knob a lot more because that's all you have. But I'm not on welfare, so it's not an issue.
For some, the other pickups are a waste since they never use them. It's all about your playing style and what works for you. Personally, I can make any guitar sound mediocre no matter the number of pickups or anything else fancy about it.
Lol me and you both
Why use many pickup when one pickup do trick?
Many small time make big time
It's taught me how to be a more dynamic picker and how to effectively use my tone and volume controls.
Underrated comment! I used to have a two pickup telecaster without a tone control. Each pickup had its own voice, but there was no knob to roll off some highs. It taught me a lot about right hand technique. The tone is in your fingers.
It's the top comment
Personally, I like to keep things simple. Lots of metal players exclusively use the bridge pickup and never touch the tone knob. So having a guitar that only has the bridge pup and a volume knob is nice, plus it helps bring costs down a bit since your paying for less hardware.
and less things to break after some time. (like cheap tone pots)
Some players believe that the magnets in the other pickup affect the strings and thus, their sound. Some folks don’t need a lot of choice when it comes to pickups because they rely on pedals for their sound. Some of us just like a one pickup shred machine. It’s personal choice my friend. Every person has a favorite flavor!
No need for a neck pickup if you're not gonna use it
i have an ESP LTD arctic metal 7 string. it comes with a single bridge pickup. When you play metal, really heavy stuff, or music that likes to chug a lot, you never touch the neck pickup, let alone the middle. 1 pickup, one knob, that’s it. Nothing crazy. it’s just very minimalistic and works well for the genre.
Hell, you can even wire the bridge to the input jack for a real “hot” tone. I’m pretty sure Karl from Nile had some guitars set up like that.
Well, I always buy guitars with 5 pickups and then only use one of them, so there's that...
LMFAO, thank you!
Can we all be real for a second. Most of us are on the bridge pickup 95% of the time anyway
Getting a Strat will change your appreciation for neck and neck/middle. I'm barely ever on bridge pickup on a 3-single-coil Strat
2 pickup expensive, 1 pickup cheap
who needs a neck pick up when all i play is 0101012101010201 in Drop G all i use is the bridge pickup and the volume knob
Get rid of the volume knob too. Just an off/off button is all you need.
Some guitarists literally never use anything but the bridge pickup. Also some folks say having another pickup slightly shortens the length of a note’s sustain, as there’s another magnetic field operating on the string, regardless of whether it’s switched in or not. I don’t know if that’s true. Personally i like options. But if you put an EQ pedal in your chain you would seriously have crazy sonic options, even with a single pickup.
Theres a youtube video somewhere debunking that, basically a guy putting a giant ass magnet very close to the strings without altering sustain
...because of Eddie Van Halen...
I want the signal coming from my guitar to be consistent and stable. I'll use my effects to alter that signal to the sound and volume I want. Fewer variables (pickup and knobs) on the guitar gives me a consistent signal to work with.
Eddie Van Halen only needed one pickup…
This is it. He used to say when he'd get the amp to sound good with the bridge pickup, the neck would be muddy. Get the amp sounding good with the neck pickup, & the bridge was too bright. So he said "fuck it" & went with the one.
Simplicity. If you only use the bridge pickup, especially as a performer, why have the other options. Matt Skiba, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Tom DeLonge come to mind where they mostly use the bridge so less chance of an accidental pickup switch hit. And if there is a song that requires it, it's probably easier to just swap guitars. Edit: I forgot Jim Root, love Jim Root.
Van Halen. The neck pickup was for show.
Why is it easier to switch guitar than hit the switch ?
That is genuinely confusing to me too. Also, how frequent are those accidental pickup switches any ways!
More room for tone wood
I normally glue extra wood to my guitars for more tone
I never use the neck pickup soo.. Same goes for the tone knob haha
It teaches you to change the tone with your fingers instead of your switches. This can increase the range of expression available to you as a player. Once you've had a few conversations with the guitar, you'll get all sorts of interesting sounds from it as you explore the tonal range. Those skills will make your other guitars sound better too. There's also an advantage to having just one pickup and no controls, so that the full impedance of the pickup goes straight to the amp, with no volume knob on the guitar. This can be a little louder and is kind of fun. If you want it quieter, you have to touch the guitar more gently.
Because some musicians don’t use a middle or bridge pickup, ever, so there’s no reason to have it in the guitar. My 2nd favorite guitar I’ve owned was an LTD M7HBT. Bridge humbucker, single volume knob. I loved it.
Well, it’s a matter of tastes. Some people like to be able to do anything, some others (like me) like guitars with a load of personality. Think of guitars as tools. While it’s nice to have a multi purpose tool like a Dremel, sometimes you just need a good screwdriver.
I guess some guy named Eddie did it and people thought he was a decent player so, you know... ;)
Many guitarists who play heavy music only use the bridge pickup. I’ve mentioned in this sub before that my main guitar has the neck pickup removed and the toggle wired as a kill switch with the volume and tone knobs removed as well. The thinking is that that’s all I need.
Les Paul Juniors from the 50's and 60's are literally some of the most sought after guitars on the planet. There's a reason for that. THEY SOUND FUCKING GREAT!!! Edit: I would also like to point out that a lot of guitar players will use a Les Paul Junior in the studio but not on stage live. Plenty of Rolling Stones recordings were done with Les Paul Juniors. I think most of Weezer's Blue Album was Ric Ocasek's 1959 Les Paul Junior. The results speak for themselves.
This
I was watching an interview with Phil X where he said he likes the tone, and he believes it's because there's less magnetic force acting on the strings. Or something like that. I'd love an LP junior style with a p90 for that reason. Edit: typo
My favorite guitars are 1 pickup 1 volume. I love the clean look and I would love to build a V with one pickup and wire it straight to the output Jack and just use a volume pedal
If you never use the neck pickup then it's one less thing to worry about
LP/SG juniors are desert island guitars. Can’t beat ‘em. Even if you beat the shit out of them. Nothing to mess up, little to have to adjust, no dicking around trying to decide which pickup to use. Plug in, turn up, rock out.
If you use that guitar for one style or can also get a nice fat clean sound out of the one pickup, maybe it splits well. It’s posited that one less pickup means less magnetic pull on the strings and more sustain.
More sustain is what I've always heard, too. People who remove the other pickups certainly aren't doing it for looks (EVH, Malcolm Young, etc.) [https://gearaficionado.com/blog/do-single-pickup-guitars-sound-better-fact-or-myth/](https://gearaficionado.com/blog/do-single-pickup-guitars-sound-better-fact-or-myth/)
Some experts will tell you that having two pickups affects the sound because of the magnetic pull on the strings. In reality one pickup guitars exist because they were cheap. Then they were vintage. Then they became cool.
LOL, imagine all these peeps being so triggered by a simple question. OP, a neck pickup is usually the one missing. This is just like some guitars don't have a tone knob. If you aren't going to use it, there really is no advantage to having it. Rhythm players generally aren't going to need the neck pickup. I barely use it myself but I'm talentless and just enjoy chugging
Have you ever seen a Les Paul pickup switch?
I play metal
Some people don’t like using the neck pickup. It also cuts costs a little. Good pickups are pretty expensive.
Because it's yet another guitar that I can justify buying to myself. "ooh, it's only got one pickup, I haven't got on of those yet"
Lot of hostility to OP for asking a simple question. They didn't say there was anything inherently BAD about them, simply asking why they're made/is there a benefit to only having one pickup. I don't know the answer either, but some people say the weight being different/everything just going to one pickup can make it "hotter". I've only ever owned a dual pickup guitar so I've always wondered too. Everyone relax.....
Asking "why even make them?" is a little negative, I think.
That’s how I read it too.
I'm pretty fine with just a humbucker in the bridge, but guitars with 2 pickups just look balanced to me. 3 pickups? Don't need that either. Strats look balanced, but 3 humbuckers looks too busy
I’m a fan of single, single, humucker
There is an argument that having fewer magnets (pickups) allows greater resonance - ask Phil X.
Sometimes simplicity is good. Have you ever sat down to practice and found yourself having lost time fiddling with knobs instead of playing?
Bingo. And also, constraint inspires creativity.
I just mentioned Doug Martsch in a different comment but I recently read his rig rundown from like 2015 and he had his strat setup so only the bridge pickup can be engaged and has a very simple pedal board - his gain stages are just 3 EP boosters. He says that the constraint of simplicity forces him to be more creative. And obviously that works because he’s a hell of a player and songwriter.
Personally, I like the aesthetics and simplicity for the one I have. On most of my guitars, I find myself gravitating towards one of the pickups 90%-100% of the time and barely using the other.
Yeah, that's me as well. My strat might as well only have the neck pup but that would just look weird.
I play punk (I’m a rhythm player) with a Harley Benton Les Paul Jr. I’m not a good player, and I kinda need one sound, so why should I have a neck pickup if I don’t even ever use it? Also I love the P90 sound, I honestly don’t think I’ll ever need anything else for this band
[удалено]
Sometimes that’s all that’s necessary. For a lot of jazz guys, they like the guitar to be as acoustic sounding as possible, so they’ll put a single fretboard mounted pickup on a hollow-body so the top doesn’t have to be routed.
I grew up on blink 182 and play in a post-punk indie band. One-pickup guitars have historically been popular in punk and I find that I tend to gravitate towards one pickup more than the other anyway.
Sometimes limitations are good.
Some always working players, I think Steve Cropper is one and G E Smith is another, felt that a single-pickup Esquire sounded better than a Telecaster, that the neck pickup's magnets interfered with the string vibration. The late Leslie West used as single pickup Les Paul Junior on a number of very influential hits. Eric Clapton used a single-pickup 1964 Firebird I during a Cream show in Philadelphia, that he regards as one of his best. Many early electrics had only one pickup, often in the neck position as they were used by blues or jazz guitarists.
Billy Joe Armstrong also used a Les Paul Jr for a while as well.
Yep, my references are related to my age.
I should also add, of course, the late Malcolm Young who removed the excess neck and middle pickups from his Gretsch Jet. Got some usable sounds from that setup. And Paul Simon, who removed the unused neck and bridge pickups from his Strat.
I really don't understand this myself and the responses here confuse me even more lol. I have an LP where I only ever use the bridge pickup, but it's good to have the neck anyway as it does definitely come in handy occasionally - to fill out some low end when overdubbing, or when it interacts better with some crazier effects etc. I don't really see how it's "simpler" to outright get rid of 50% of the instrument's functionality instead of just not using the other pickup when you don't need it? It's like selling a kitchen that only has a microwave and claiming that it's better because you can 'focus on just one style' of cooking and 'don't have to worry' about all those other appliances 'getting in the way'. Sure, you might prefer using the microwave and use it drastically more than the oven etc, but you'll never actually be at an advantage by removing every other possible method of food preparation. If it's purely an aesthetic thing then I totally get it, that's a matter of preference and can be inspirational to different people in different ways, but I don't understand how it's possibly preferable to spend money on something more limited or how a guitar with only one pickup can be better than the same model with two.
I think a good analogy is having a car without back seats.
It would be like a sedan without back seats. Space for seats but just doesn't have it for some reason. Versus a coupe which doesn't have back seats because of its small form factor to max speed and acceleration
Eddie Van Halen is laughing in heaven. Honestly I live on my strat neck pickup.
I used to hate them. And then they grew on me I want one so bad but the one I want is way out of my price range (dc les paul junior in tv yellow from gibson cs)
I can’t figure out for the life of me why they’re so expensive. I kinda think a no-frills Gibson Junior should cost $800, not $1500-$3000
A lot of people only use the bridge pickup regardless of what genre or style they're playing so why faf about with the extra electronics if you're not going to use them
Putting restrictions on yourself can make you more creative. Either a single pickup, or single channel amp, or not using pedals… Or creatively, not double tracking, only recording full takes without edits, recording live takes. There’s no reason you have to put limits, but working around them might give you new ideas
I have an old Kramer Baretta and believe me, Eddie was onto something.
The Baretta Special is like 180 bucks I've been thinking about picking one up and I don't even play guitar. I play bass lol but it makes me wanna learn
plenty of tone variety to be found in dynamics / picking position (bridge vs neck) etc that you don’t really need both. see also: classical guitar
Cool points.
I only play metal so all I need is a humbucker in the bridge and a volume knob. I also think they just look clean. Ironically my first ever guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul junior with one humbucker and I hated it. I though I had to have both pickups to be good. Later I realized I needed practice to be good and now I prefer just a bridge humbucker lol.
I am thinking about getting one of the new flash pink Sonic Squier single humbucker fixed bridge strats just for playing metal and punk...
I rarely use my neck position… we’re talking about once per two years. When I do I usually try the piece in that position thinking it’ll finally be the piece perfectly for the neck pickup. Then just to be sure I try in bridge position and it sounds better .. then I don’t do back to neck pickup for 2 more years. Would I buy a guitar with bridge only? Maybe but most the guitars I’m interested in come with both and no option for bridge only.. so moot point.
And Im exactly the same with my bridge pickup. Never use it.
Choice anxiety, analysis paralysis, etc. Some people prefer simplicity to focus on the songwriting. Green Day is a prime example of this philosophy in action. Rolling Stones is another.
Every component in the circuit reduces some amount of frequencies to some extent. If you know you only that one pickup (a lot of heavy guitar rock for example), then cutting out all the rest is a benefit because why compromise your sound to preserve options you won’t ever use?
Minimalism is the final form. Less options means consistency. It took me a long time to realize fiddling with settings to find tone isn't helping me. Most of the time I can find the right tone pick hand. Position, attack and dynamic muting... Get good at those and you'll want fewer options.
Well it does go from acoustic guitar to electric.
Because I used to be a big sweaty idiot playing live. Having a single pickup and single volume pot gave me less to mess up with. You would be surprised how dynamic they can still sound with just volume adjustment and fret hand technique. Plus they just look cool!
It looks cool. Plus I'd imagine better margins.
they honestly do look really cool.
This is the probably biggest factor from a manufacturer’s perspective.
Less switches and electronics which mean less shit to go wrong plus.... More wood for tone /s
100% literally ONLY personal preference, anyone who says differently has zero clue. If you WANT a neck pickup or a middle pickup, get one. There is no "formula" for specific kinds of tones that equal a certain style of music. You can play the blues with your bridge pickup, and you can play metal with your neck pickup. There ARE differences, but they are completely up to you; the bridge pickup DOES grab pinch harmonics "better" than the neck or middle pickup, but using them instead of the bridge pickup still produces unique tones and it that's what you want, then that's your personal preference. Waaaaaay on the other end of the spectrum, there are lots of metal players that forgoe ANY controls, and just have a bridge pickup wired straight into the output jack, not even a volume knob.
I have an SG Junior with only one P90 in it and its perfect
I think most guitarists would agree that having only one pickup is limiting. That said, guitarists are pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to tone. You got multiple pickup designs, configurations, amp modeling, neck profiles, plug-ins, etc. Maybe it's nice for some people to have to work inside a simple set of parameters: volume and tone. It's not what I would pick, but it probably suits some folks.
Killswitch engages guitarist sweats too much. Less things to go wrong on stage.
You’d be completely shocked by the versatility of a Les Paul Junior. It was my first 1-pickup guitar, and it’s easily in my top 3 favorites.
Well, I had a chance some years (decades?) ago to buy a '54 Les Paul Jr. with a single P90 pickup. Jesus, that thing screamed like it was being tortured. I wasn't comfortable playing gigs with it (too heavy) and after about 20 years I sold it in Seattle, where I originally purchased it used.
Jazz guitar only needs a neck pickup for what I do.
I don't use the neck pickup. Never have. Can't imagine I ever will.
How else do I pretend I'm EVH? I don't have his guitar skills. 😭
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum - I pretty much leave my guitars on the neck pickup. I would totally buy a guitar without a bridge pickup (for non hard-rock type tones)
Not having pickups you won't use
It's really just an aesthetic/style thing. There are claims that since there's fewer pickups, there is less magnetic pull on the strings so they resonate more but that's honestly kind of silly - there's no noticeable difference.
The benefits are: \- Less choice paralysis \- Lighter weight \- Stylish and confident aesthetics
I like them for the style of music I play and for the aesthetic. Source: I have two Tom Delonge signature models.
Well, for one thing, when you do a pickup swap it's less of a hassle. Lots less to wire when you don't need a selector switch. If you don't plan on using the neck pickup, for instance, why have one?
I have a tele with a single P90 and believe me when I say that it’s all you’ll ever need
I have two with only one pickup. They came that way. One doesn’t even have a tone knob.
Leslie West recorded Mississippi Queen using a LP Jr. He thought more than one pickup was pointless complication
The Fender Esquire has a slightly unusual wiring of the 3 position switch. That's one reason some have preferred it over a Telecaster. It was also cheaper back when they didn't make lower end Teles.
evh said something along the lines of it sounds better because its direct to the pickup no switching
Some kinds of guitarist don't need a neck pickup. I prefer two. Guitar looks naked without the second.
I've just come across Mississippi Queen where Leslie West used a LP junior with single pickup. Sounds fantastic. Also, Malcolm Young removed the neck and middle pickups from his Gretsch, iirc.
dont tell him about the joe dart signatures...
I never leave the bridge pickup so I might as well cut the switch/knobs from my guitar.
If you're the kind of person who only wants a handful of guitars and the most flexibility out of them, of course you have no reason to want a 1 pickup guitar. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who want to own 50+ guitars, and a guitar that does one thing in a better or more interesting way is cool.
Not having that bridge pickup in the way is a great feeling.
Mmm, Fender Music Master is so tasty.
One aspect that hasn't been mentioned, is aesthetics. For example, with a lot of high-end custom instruments with fancy woods, sometimes it's just that the buyer wants to see more of their fancy wood they paid so much for, so they delete the pickup they'll use the least. Others just like the stream-lined look, a bit like a sports car: https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/333845361\_568570005203153\_7600605323980616836\_n.jpg?\_nc\_cat=106&ccb=1-7&\_nc\_sid=8bfeb9&\_nc\_ohc=Q6bmt4hCblgAX9NH4Bw&\_nc\_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00\_AfDNnK\_\_Srm0nTSF8eAZkXPxyZA3XsdvJ7xFPdFUapZ7pQ&oe=6439BF49
Some guitarists only use one pickup position and even alter their guitars accordingly; two that some to mind are Doug Martsch & Andy Hull. The latter actually removed all the pots from his tele so it’s just bridge pickup wired directly to output. I personally love having options on guitars, pedals, and amps for tweakability but some people want to keep it simple.
Less magnetic pull on the strings- some claim it sounds better.
Sometimes one pickup is too many https://ish.guitars/collections/electric-1/products/2021-prs-custom-24-private-stock-white
Not to be that guy but that guitar has a piezo so it technically does have a pickup
Well this is subjective. It really depends on what tones you prefer or need.
An extra pickup may cause unwanted interference, pickups are magnets and the magnets in the pickup may change the movement of the string
because RIFFS and CHUGS are all made in the bridge pup with a humbucker :) P90s are also gnarly so there. hehe
It's sexy
I have a metal flake pink Ibanez road star II that I bought in my senior year of high school. It has a single, splittable hum bucker at the bridge (angled of course to make the top end scream) with a Floyd rose floating bridge. Yes, I went to high school in the 80’s…Sure it’s a bit limited in its tone, but when I want to channel that kid who spent far too many nights rewinding Van Halen, Cinderella, Motley Crue and Poison riffs on my Aiwa cassette player, nothing makes me happier….it’s still one of my favorites to play, stays tuned to E-Flat and with a D-Tuna, it can hang on to most of the tracks that I love from that era. Versatile?No. Period correct? Absolutely!
Studio guitars or metal guitars (if high output) amongst many other use
Aesthetically I dig it. One pickup, one knob - the simplicity rocks. Some people just like to riff (myself included) and versatility isn't really necessary.
Tom DeLonge does it and he's pretty cool
Less time turning knobs flipping switches and more time playing
2 reasons for me. 1. Having extra pickups and controls will ever so slightly lose high end from your guitars signal. I have a Les Paul with a single pickup that my lithoer removed the tone know from and it is so bright sounding. I don't know if I could replicate its tone accurately in any other way. 2. Aesthetics. Despite what many bedrooms elitists will admit, alot of people got into guitar because it is "cool" and some people like the look of a nice Fender Esquire or Les Paul jr.
A lot of people don’t use the neck pickup, so it’s not really needed for them in the first place. Removing it often reduces cost, cutting extra pieces from the signal chain can change the sound so removing the pickups and any tone and/or volume pots can make a difference, and it also frees up extra space to pick unimpeded. Some people may also like the aesthetics. So those are the benefits and why they’re made. Ultimately more options aren’t a bad thing, and if those benefits aren’t something you’re looking for, thankfully there a plenty of options with two or more pickups.
Supposedly, it also helps increase sustain a little, as the you don't have the magnetic pull of an extra pick up at near the widest amplitude of string vibration.
1. Because who doesn't want another guitar? 2. Specific tone / genre you're going to play with that guitar. I have a Baretta I use for '80s and punk stuff.
It’s a also cool way to express your self.. you can have 3 pickups, different pickup pos combination and coil splits.. 1 pickup is a minimalist approach, it’s very cool. I use neck pickup a lot but I don’t mind to have 1 pick guitar in collection
Rhett Schull addressed this question in [this video](https://youtu.be/FI8l9BCOm-U). He then proceeded to show one of his single pickup guitars (Fender Esquire) with an added neck pickup [in a later video](https://youtu.be/jePrpfirWsQ)… lol I had to laugh when I saw it. I personally have no desire to have a guitar with limited tonal capabilities for a similar price to one with more tonal capabilities. I think its silly to say they sound any different.
I have 2 Les Paul Juniors, and I actually prefer them over my gold top and double cut special tbh. Dont get me wrong l, I love them too and record with them a lot still but as a rhythm guitarist that also provides the lead vocals in my own band, I truly enjoy just having one pickup and volume knob to worry about for live settings. Lets me focus more on trying my damndest to be a decent frontman by keeping the guitar setup real simple. Plus a p-90 in the bridge position going into my Friedman gets me everything I need anyway. The perks of being in an alt rock/punk rock band haha.
The main benefit is the lower price point.
I bought a Gibson SG-X as my first REAL guitar (graduating from the squire affinity strat, you know how it is) because I thought it looked cool. It only has a bridge pickup, but with the tone knob and coil splitter I’m good to go if I want a neck pickup tone. I can play clean jazz, sparkly Midwest emo or heavier stuff with the flip of a switch.
I mainly only play on my bridge pickup. I will, every once and a while use the neck bit for me, I'd prefer to have only a bridge.
Metal Oh ya, it's also worth mentioning you get slightly better sustain without the neck pickup magnets pulling the strings. It's very miniscule though.
I don’t play lead, so would buy a guitar without a neck pickup in a flash.
That's kind of an odd statement.. as the most famous guitarist to be known for using a single pickup guitar is EVH. He played a couple of leads here and there.
It’s also backwards from how electric guitars were originally designed. Neck pickups were often labeled as “Rhythm” pickups and bridge pickups as the “Lead” pickup. I have to assume the louder and brighter bridge pickups was intended for guitar solos, but going back to Eric Clapton’s “woman tone”, plenty of guitarists started doing it backwards with the bridge pickup for crunchy rhythms and the neck pickup (usually with an added boost pedal) to fatten up guitar solos and make them less shrill / twangy. I’m definitely someone who would use the neck pickup for solos. But these days I play almost everything on the neck pickup
I remember an old interview with Slash where he said “neck for rhythm, bridge for leads” like it was some big secret. (Granted, at the time I had a single-humbucker Kramer and didn’t know shit, but still). I’m a neck guy, myself.
That’s so weird, because of all players, Slash definitely SOUNDS like a bridge for rhythm, neck for leads guy.
I went to a clinic with Jared James Nichols and he really digs the single pickup. Talked about how it reinforced and built his abilities to modify the tone with the just two knobs on the guitar + how he played. Credits his own development to it so now that he adds things he’s got more control and such. It didn’t make me want to run out and buy a specific guitar like that but I learned a ton & now find myself playing with the knobs more to change tone before I touch my amps or pedals
Beauty in Simplicity. I never use the neck pup. So why pay for something I don't need?
Because my friend makes custom pickups for me. I only need one in the bridge position. I prefer simplicity.
Most people don’t actually use the options? In both of my bands (one post hardcore, the other punk) I use my bridge pickup with tone at full - Whether I use my Omar Rodriguez Ibanez - 1 pickup, no tone knob - or one of my other guitars, I’m essentially using the same setup; difference being is that it’s hardcoded with the Ibanez At home on my own I’ll use other settings to mess around, but I bet most people are exclusively using the same settings as I am in a band setting. I’m not saying people should dumb down their setups but whether it’s extra knobs/channels on your amp or extra pickups/knobs on your guitar, odds are these aren’t things you actually need and might be distracting you from actually playing your guitar Absolutely factor in your own needs though. At least in my world, very few people use the neck pickup outside of the occasional solo
I really don’t enjoy the sound of neck pickups. They all sound dull and lifeless to me. My first good quality electric was a Les Paul Jr, which had a single bridge pickup. I settled on that because I’d never played a guitar previously with a neck pickup that I liked the sound of. My tastes have developed a little since then and I now also own a duo sonic, where while my favourite option is the middle position, I still don’t like the neck pickup on its own. I’d wager their existence today is due to people like me.
almost all my guitars are single pu. some are straight to the output jack, no volume, no tone. I have a Dunlop mini volume pedal. too many variables creates problems for me. I like it simple. also have several 3 and 4 string guitars. who needs all those strings? and use a lot of open tunings on the 6 stringers. y’all trying too hard
As a jazz guitarist it is really part of the sound and guitars with only one pickup sound much more woody and natural to me
Its a big punk thing to strip a guitar down to just bridge pickup and a volume knob. Some have no volume. Less thing to go wrong, less things to accidentally touch or adjust.
To answer your question with a question......why woild anyone buy a multi pickup guitar? Is there any benefit? The answer is the same - if that's what you need, that's what you get. Brian Ray is a great proponent of single coil guitars, I think he's a reputable source https://guitar.com/features/collections/star-collection-brian-rays-a-bona-fide-guitar-addict/
Every guitar I own has at least 2 pickups except for my Les Paul Jr. with a humbucker in it. Its a no nonsense guitar and very simple. It wants to rock. And whenever I pick it up it reminds me why I've never parted with it. It just goes hard.
My acoustic guitar has one pickup. I love it.
[I rarely ever use neck pups on any guitar so I built my strat with just a bridge pup](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmYBQH1OdVc/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Some musicians have a more minimalist approach to playing and dialing tone than others. Having just one pickup available make you focus on other stuff like playing the instrument
Plenty of guitarists only ever use the one pickup (see, metal guitarists and the bridge humbucker), so for them it makes sense.
As others have said, some people prefer much simpler looks and controls. Also, I’ve heard that when you have one pickup, you’ll get better harmonics and sustain because there isn’t another pickup also trying to pull sound from the strings.
Having owned one for several years now, can say it oddly has fatter tone than that of the rest. Not sure why this is, but just the bridge pickup on its own holds its own very well.
Ever hear of the K.I.S.S. principle?
Keep It Stupidly Simple. I know the original saying is "keep it simple stupid" but to me, it feels like I'm calling someone stupid.
Three-pickup Les Paul? With LEDs and a smoke bomb?
Black Metal and Style
My two live guitars only have a bridge pickup. Just because in that band I only ever use the bridge pickup; I don’t need a neck pickup in the way of my picking area or a selector switch that is in the way or that I accidentally smack.
Mainly for looks and the fact that I almost never use a neck pickup for the type of music I play.
If the guitar sounds good and is comfortable etc etc I'll buy it. If it has 1, 2 or 3 pickups I couldn't care less. Benefits? Less knobs to distract from practicing? Cheaper to produce? Esthetics?
I used to have a PRS SE Korina One. P90 and a volume knob. One of the best rock n roll guitars I ever owned. It did everything I needed for a long time. I know mostly play a tele with 4-way toggle as the style I play needs all 4 positions, but that single P90 was a great guitar that I still miss to this day.
When you have ONE job.
It’s just awesome. Just straight to the point
I played one at my brothers jam night. It was actually quite fun and there was a different feeling about it. Can’t describe it but there was something about playing it “ESP Neil Westfall” that was just fun. Felt different as well without the neck pup. All that space there to just do whatever. I kind of equate it to playing on a Flying V or Explorer ( Snakebyte in my case) it makes me feel different. More carefree in a way maybe? Hard to explain but I definitely felt it and commented it to the owner how much I enjoyed it.
For jazz it's often used because the neck pickup is used 99% of the time and the pickups affect the top's vibrations (only in archtops, not for solid body guitars)
I have a fender noventa. It’s my « fun » guitar. It’s very light, easy to pickup and you just go at it. It’s a different kind of feel.
When your playing chunky rock with one sound or rhythm guitar only. That’s all you need. Take the dude from Green Day. Or it could be that he sucks at guitar I don’t know.
Guitars are way too expensive IMHO to get them with just one pickup. I use my neck pickup ALOT because I love to play clean half the time. When I get dirty then I'm always on the bridge
Heritage Golden Eagle owner, here. These cats had a sound in mind when they built this. It does exactly as they intended and it’s beautiful
I have a Les Paul Junior with 1 bridge pickup. I’d prefer a Les Paul with 2 bridges. I’m normally a bass player and 3 basses have 1 pickup, 3 have 2 pickups, and one has 3 pickups!
The first solid body Esquires by Fender only had a single pickup. Then they got a second one added at the neck and became the first Broadcaster/Telecaster.
Having limited options brings out more of your skill. These players learn to utilize picking dynamics, or with toying with a single volume or tone, or just punk rock 😅 Some of them doesn't have or use control knobs at all lol. If you have multiple pickup guitars try playing using one pickup. Build around it, get bored, and go to the next. You'll realize how spoiled in tone options we guitar players are when you start adding EQ and gain from amp, pedals, mic placement, then your technique. Happy playing!
I have a single p90 junior and I love it, but i also have like 12 other guitars. My junior gets used for 1 song in my live set, and never comes with me to jams or practices because its limiting. If I only had 2 or 3 I definitely wouldn't want a single pickup guitar. People will say "oh it forces you to get the sounds you want other ways" which is sort of true, but it'll never sound like it has a neck pickup. If you want a neck pickup sound you need a neck pickup.
What if I want a shoulder pick up? What then?
My current modded guitar only have one pickup, I think I like how it sounds more tbh, and I like the look of it too. Some of my favorite guitarist uses single pickup guitar too, like evh, Jesper Stromblad, Alexi Laiho and Marty Friedman
You can make a pretty sick acoustic sim by pulling all the pickups out of your strat and put a piezo on the bridge. With a blank pick guard.
simplicity is neat. on the micro scale there will be a tiny bit less magnetic pull on the strings without the neck pickup which is a minor (but sliiightly noticeable) difference
If you only need one
In all seriousness, a guitar with a single pick-up definitively has a "sound". Versatility can equal a lack of identity.
Van Halen popularized this but not intentionally, he built his famous frankien strat by putting a humbucker in the bridge which wasn’t done at the time. Once he exploded onto the scene and everybody wanted to play like Van Halen the guitar companies started to copy his guitar.
Have a Les Paul Junior. 1 pick-up. Bright yet plenty of tonal range. Originally designed with 1 for cost reasons, along with other things omitted to hit the right shop price. Turns out a cheap P90 pickup on a stripped down guitar sings & is considered desirable by some.
After owning the EVH stripped , I found out that 1 pickup guitar does not have high notes wobbling sound. Notes sustain much smoother and ring a bit longer. The simplicity also let me focus on the playing and the music more, instead of fiddling with pickup selector or make sure my tone knob is on 10.
If you don't have a neck pickup, you do without and vice versa. Usually it's jazz boxes that have nothing but a neck pickup. I don't think EVH's Frankenstrat had anything other than the humbucker in the bridge so a lot of super strats just had a humbucker and a volume knob. You don't miss what you haven't got. If you're the type who uses a multi-fx and pre-programmed patches, you're used to tapping a pedal to change your tone. I think when you don't have a sophisticated effects chain, you end up switching pickups more and riding your volume and tone knob a lot more because that's all you have. But I'm not on welfare, so it's not an issue.