Answer me this. If Leo Fender were so smart, why did he not utilize Humbuckers??

[Jethro Rocker]

or, they have these...

Zero Gravity straps:

[NEW 2023 models] CFG™ - 'ZERO-GRAVITY' Strap for Bass & Electric Guit

Introducing Our New Bass & Guitar Strap, Adjustable Length, 2 sizes

www.cablefreeguitar.com

I tried a foamy one once but couldn't stand the kinda springiness of the rubber ones. They stretch on your shoulder.
I like Brad's straps, support a small business and completely custom. IMO.

 

[tallcoolone]

or, they have these...

Zero Gravity straps:

[NEW 2023 models] CFG™ - 'ZERO-GRAVITY' Strap for Bass & Electric Guit

Introducing Our New Bass & Guitar Strap, Adjustable Length, 2 sizes

www.cablefreeguitar.com

Not long enough--just measured and I'm at 66"

 

[tallcoolone]

I tried a foamy one once but couldn't stand the kinda springiness of the rubber ones. They stretch on your shoulder.
I like Brad's straps, support a small business and completely custom. IMO.

Just shot him a note!

I'd feel bad about the derail but what exactly are we derailing ?

 

[Old Guitar Player]

Pretty sure some of Pee Wee Crayton's recordings from the early 60s feature in-between bridge and middle settings.

I don't know exactly when it happened. But, by 1975 every kid that walked into our music store who owned a Strat, was looking for a 5 way! I upgraded a ton of factory 3 ways, and we couldn't keep them in stock. A year later, EVERY guitar vendor was offering his version of a 5 way replacement. Also, as I recall, it took Fender YEARS to finally offer them as factory OEMs.

 

[ronald a aguiar]

And did you know that he only had one eyeball??

And did you know that he only had one eyeball??

well first off understanding pickups may help, but the most important aspect is that hum buckers do no just squash the hum, they also reduce certain other frequencies. There are many people who believe the best sounding Gibson pickups are the P 90's and I certainly agree. My favorite hum bucker is the Gretsch Filtertrons, they retain a bit more of the sparkle that hum buckers often kill

 

[Cal Nevari]

And did you know that he only had one eyeball??

Dunno if anyone has mentioned it but there is a wonderful book that covers pretty much all you might want to know about both Leo Fender and Les Paul. It's called The Birth of Loud. Very interesting book if you like guitars, amps, and music, which is all of us! Highly recommended.

 

[Sparky2]

And did you know that he only had one eyeball??

Hi, there is a place for both Single-Coil pickups and Humbuckers in music. Single -coils produce 50 to 100 Millivolt signals, and Humbuckers produce 150 to 250 Millivolts, with a reduced high frequency response, due to the inductance of the greater number of wire turns. I have some of both types of pickups. I even converted my old 1965 Fender Mustang to humbuckers, and wired my own coil taps and switches, in the year of 1976. I hated the old, weak pickups in my Mustang, although it served me well from ages 12 to 23, I still have all of the original parts to convert the Mustang back to original, but probably never will. I love my 1985 Stratocaster with single-coils for the old Ventures, Johnny Cash, and Lynyrd Skynyrd sounds. Of course Eric Clapton toned down the Strat and uses it masterfully for his Blues. Think Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy and other blues greats using Stratocasters. There is no substitute for a Telecaster single-coil pickup for bright Country Chicken Pickin' sounds. The single-coils with more wire winds, like the Gibson P90 and the Fender Jazzmaster pickups also have a clear sound, but with warmer, more subdued highs. The Jazzmaster has wonderful warm sounds for Jazz and Blues. Now, Humbuckers are the only thing that can get the sounds of the Allman Brothers, Van Halen, Eagles, Marshall Tucker, and others. These can range from very dark, warm sounds, sometimes with lots of distortion when pushing an amp into preamp overlaod, or nice clean sounds when using an amp with great high-frequency response, but not overdriven (Fender Twin, Hiwatt 100, and others). I have a 1980 Gibson Les Paul, and a much later Epiphone LP Special with humbuckers. Both sound great and play well. Of course, the Gibson is the better one! A Strat is the most versatile guitar I have ever seen, and can be adjusted to play a reasonable facsimile of almost any sound that you want. However, there is still no substitute for switching to Humbuckers for the warmer sounds, or overdriving for heavy rock, metal sounds. I just use one of each type of guitar, and occasionally pull out my full-hollow Jazz guitar with humbuckers. I would recommend having two guitars with the 2 types of pickups, and maybe some variation on the body style. Here is a hint: If you have a Modeler board, use the Pad setting (-3db attenuaion or more) for Humbuckers, and the Normal setting (No attenuation) for single-coils to get about the same distortion level out of either a Strat or Les Paul for any patch. This also works for traditional Stomp Box pedalboards, but requires you to have an external Attenuation box ahead of the pedal chain. I built my own attenuator out of Radio Shack parts. We could talk about this subject all night long. Cheers!

 

[dro]

Dunno if anyone has mentioned it but there is a wonderful book that covers pretty much all you might want to know about both Leo Fender and Les Paul. It's called The Birth of Loud. Very interesting book if you like guitars, amps, and music, which is all of us! Highly recommended.

I don't like guitars, amps, or music.
They make me poor.

 

[Old Guitar Player]

They are iconic, lightweight, flexible and ergonomic--you have to search the ends of the earth for a Les Paul under 9lbs. Standing up for 2-3hrs with a 10lb guitar hanging from your shoulder can make you feel old lol

During my formative years (in the late 1960s) Les Pauls ALL weighed AT LEAST 10lbs+, and I just couldn't deal with the weight (No matter how cool they looked or sounded!) Also, my band mate played a black beauty with 3 pickups and it weighed a TON!

So, I regularly borrowed a friend's Recording Les Paul for studio work, and I weighed it once. It was just over 14lbs!. So I only used it while setting down. It sounded great, but was way too heavy!

I recently realized they are now available with weight reduction. So in 2021, I purchased a Gibson Les Paul HP4 Studio Plus, which weighs just under 8lbs! That's less than my HSS Stratocaster or my Nashville Telly!

 

[El Gringo]

Because some folks actually love the sound of single coils. Set his guitars apart from his main competitor.

Leo used humbuckers in later endevours with Music Man and G&L.

Fender didn't start using humbuckers as a regular thing until way after Leo had departed, so it's not all on him.

I prefer my FENDER strats and teles with single coils. I want my Fender guitars to sound like a Fender guitar. If I want something else I go somewhere else.

YMMV 🍻

Perfectly summed up ! Even though Strat's drive me nuts trying to dial them in , and Tele's just rock flat out and give you the twang, no buckers for me . Leo knew what he was doing all the way , plus as you said they set him apart from Gibson . Plus you have to have both types of guitars , ones with buckers , and ones with single coils .

 

[Videosplicer]

I'm no expert, but it could be it's because the Stratocaster was developed in 1953 and the humbucker was invented in 1955. Fender did offer humbuckers as an option later on, probably starting in the '80's

 

[PowerTube44]

All of my guitars stay in the bridge humbucker mode, 99% of the time.
I almost never switch to a neck pickup, of any type.
But,
My favorite local guitarist plays in a band that does Zepplin, Nugent, Black Sabboth, etc...
He is a great guitarist, with a great sound.
Oddly enough, he plays a Stratocaster, with some sort of (Fender?) single coil-sized humbucker in the bridge, and a Marshall 4010 combo that sounds absolutely great.
Everytime I hear him, I scratch my head and wonder why he chooses a Strat with a single coil sized humbucker.
Why not play a guitar with a traditional humbucker??
Whatever his reason is, thats what he prefers, and he always sounds absolutely great!

Some of those single coil-sized pickups sound great. I have a Duncan Hot Rails in one Strat and a cheap Guitar Fetish (GFS) copy in another one, and they both sound killer.

 

[Old Guitar Player]

Because some folks actually love the sound of single coils. Set his guitars apart from his main competitor.

Leo used humbuckers in later endevours with Music Man and G&L.

Fender didn't start using humbuckers as a regular thing until way after Leo had departed, so it's not all on him.

I prefer my FENDER strats and teles with single coils. I want my Fender guitars to sound like a Fender guitar. If I want something else I go somewhere else.

YMMV 🍻

In 1980 Leo stopped producing instruments for MusicMan. At that point, he focused on building the first model for "G&L" called the F-100. I was lucky enough to work with Leo, beginning with his first mahogany prototype (seen below). He ultimately decided on Humbuckers over single coils, offering active or passive electronics (a customer option), and he included his newly patented vibrato - tremolo design. Also, after much prodding by George, myself, and many of the guitarists who visited Leo, he offered a 7 1/2" or a 12" radius fingerboard, available in maple or ebony.



In September 1981 Leo gifted me the above Ash F-100 for my 25th birthday.
The Musicman 112 RP65 was a gift from Forrest White, the VP of Musicman.

 

[tallcoolone]

In 1980 Leo stopped producing instruments for MusicMan. At that point, he focused on building the first model for "G&L" called the F-100. I was lucky enough to work with Leo, beginning with his first mahogany prototype (seen below). He ultimately decided on Humbuckers over single coils, offering active or passive electronics (a customer option), and he included his newly patented vibrato - tremolo design. Also, after much prodding by George, myself, and many of the guitarists who visited Leo, he offered a 7 1/2" or a 12" radius fingerboard, available in maple or ebony.

View attachment 124987 View attachment 125051 View attachment 125050

In September 1981 Leo gifted me the above Ash F-100 for my 25th birthday.
The Musicman 112 RP65 was a gift from Forrest White, the VP of Musicman.

Coolest post I think I’ve ever read on here. Ironic is comes in the thread with maybe the stupidest title lol

 

[Old Guitar Player]

Coolest post I think I’ve ever read on here. Ironic is comes in the thread with maybe the stupidest title lol

You are very kind...
Here's a little known fact...

Leo Fender could not play a guitar! Or even tune one!
When Leo tested instuments at G&L he laid them out on his bench flat, and either strummed across the open strings, or occasionally he reached down from the top, and formed a basic C chord with 3 fingers, standing over the guitar. He had absolutely no interest in learning how to play a guitar, only in designing the worlds greatest electric guitar (which I believe, he did at least TWICE). He knew every technical detail of each of his instruments (and ALL of his competition too). He kept a large rectangular wooden bin in his Office/Workshop, with pretty much one of everything propped up in it. I remember seeing a Ricky, a Ricky Bass, an SG, several Les Pauls, 1 of every Fender available at that time, and his working prototypes. He seemingly knew all the specs for all of them (off the top of his head). One final note: In the picture of Leo & I, you can see a Musicman 2x12HD 130 watt guitar amplifier in the background, setting on a 15" ported cabinet. He kept the bright switch ON, the volume and the tone knobs dimed, and the master volume set at 7! By 1980 Leo suffered from extreme hearing loss, and he absolutely refused to wear hearing aids. So, I wore earplugs.