pretty simple question...

[Bullet79]

Why some pedals sounds diffrent with single-coil or humbucker pickup... 

[goulashnakov]

That is a good question, something I have also explored -- I play a singlecoil strat, my dad plays a washburn in HSS configuration.  His and my guitars sound very different on the same Daddy-O pedal.  Here's a few things I found that influence the difference in sound between the two coil types:

1)  Noise.  Though within single or HB variants, some perform better than others.  i.e. you could find a SC pickup that sounds cleaner and less hummy than a cheapo HB.  But, generally, the HB will have noticeably less mains hum than a single coil through a given high gain application.  That's what humbuckers were made for.  I figure you know this much already. 

2)  Tone.  Again, not all pickups follow the same set of rules, but generally my experience has been that the "typical" "humbucker sound" will be "fatter" or bass-ier and less trebly than the "typical" "single coil sound."  Case in point, the SC bridge on my strat sounds way "brighter" and more shrill than that washburns bridge humbucker.  (part of that too is the fact that typical strat's don't always have tone control on the bridge, whereas the washburn in question does.)

But in any case, how the tone is shaped before entering an effect, like distortion, will definitely make a difference in how it makes that effect sound.  That washburn's bridge humbucker, with more lows and less highs in the signal, made that Daddy-O pedal sound very warm and smooth.  My strat's bridge PU, on the other hand, sounded rather thin, twangy, anaemic, and overall just schytt in the very same pedal.

3) Output.  Yet again, all pickups are different, and they all seem to live by their own codes of conduct.  But, by stereotypical convention, HB's tend to be louder than single coils, especially if that HB is series-wound (just like putting two batteries in series ups the voltage).  So more punch out of a humbucker, combined with it's typically darker tone, is usually why humbucker-equipped guitars can make an amp sound more ballsy.


That's the best answer I can give you.  Bear in mind, much of this theory is based off surmise and very subjective material, including a doctoral thesis titled:  "Single Coils Totally Be Soundin' Better than Hum Buckers and Stuff!  How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Strat," by Some Moron Who Had No Idea What He Was Talking About.  (true story)

[FiveseveN]

The Secrets of Electric Guitar Pickups
By Helmuth E. W. Lemme