What sort of pickups should I get?

The two most popular types are single coil and humbucker pickups. Single coil pickups are more 'twangy' and can be susceptible to noise, and often used in rock, blues, pop, country and funk. Humbucker pickups have a darker tone and are less susceptible to noise and often used in metal, rock, punk and blues. You can play any genre on any pickups!

What is a hum cancelling single coil pickup?

Hum cancelling single coil pickups are pickups which retain the sound and look of single coil pickups but remove the associated hum of a 'true' single coil pickup.

What is the most popular bridge position replacement humbucker of all time?

The most popular bridge position humbucker is unquestionably the Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB. There is a good reason for this: for any style requiring any amount of overdrive, the Seymour Duncan JB sounds simply exceptional.

What is all the fuss about 'PAF' pickups? What even are they?

PAF pickups refer to late-fifties and early sixties humbuckers designed by Seth Lover and made by Gibson. PAF stands for Patent Applied For (it was later granted but habits persist and so the name remains). They are seen as some of the sweetest sounding pickups ever made. Tone is a subjective thing of course. Not everyone loves a PAF sound but in truth, most guitar players agree to the inherent quality of a vintage PAF sound. As such, many companies seek to emulate it, not least Gibson themselves. A good PAF sound has lots of bite and sustain with what we call note bloom where a picked note behaves in a certain way that is very pleasing to the ear. PAF pickups are known for having low levels of copper coil windings, as opposed to modern high output pickups which have significantly more output (volume.gain, it's the same thing in this context) due to the much higher number of coil windings. There is more to it, but the root of it is a sweet, sustaining pickup that sings and crunches with equal levels of authority. Actual PAF pickups cost more than cars these days so we recommend going for modern recreations, Check out the Gibson 57 Classic, the DiMarzio DP223F PAF, The Bare Knuckle Stormy Monday set and the Seymour Duncan Joe Bonamassa set & '59 set.

Can I still play Hard Rock and heavier stuff with PAF-style pickups?

Yes. Kirk Hammett plays Metallica songs on tour using Peter Green's priceless '59 Les Paul Standard. The pickups in that guitar are the very definition of PAF pickups. He sounds monstrously heavy therefore yes you can!

What's the difference between active and passive pickups?

Active pickups use a power source (usually a 9v PP3 battery) in conjunction with special circuits and controls to provide specifically different tonal characteristics. Regular pickups are known as 'passive' pickups as they don't need additional power.

Guitar Pickups | guitarguitar

Seymour Duncan Pickguard Assembly Classic White

£519.00

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Seymour Duncan Sh-3 Stag Mag Humbucker Zebra

£149.00

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Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin' Demon Humbucker Reverse Zebra

£179.00

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Seymour Duncan Full Shred Humbucker SH-10N Neck White

£159.00 £167.95

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Seymour Duncan Sh-10B Full Shred White

£159.00 £167.95

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Seymour Duncan Nazgul Humbucker 7 String Bridge Passive Mount Black Metal

£209.00

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Seymour Duncan TB-59 59 Model Trembucker Bridge Nickel

£179.00

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Seymour Duncan Tb-5 Duncan Custom Trembucker Bridge White

£149.00

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Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 Humbucker Nickel

£179.00

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Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker Neck Nickel

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£309.00

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Fishman Acoustic Matrix Pickup only Narrow Format

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£65.00 £146.00

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Rickenbacker 300 Series Treble Bridge Pickup

£98.99

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Schecter Apocalypse-VI Bridge Clear (TREM)

£185.00

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Schecter Pasadena Plus Bridge BLK(TRAD)

£169.00

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Seymour Duncan Pickguard Assembly Classic White

Seymour Duncan Sh-3 Stag Mag Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin' Demon Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Full Shred Humbucker SH-10N Neck White

Seymour Duncan Sh-10B Full Shred White

Seymour Duncan Nazgul Humbucker 7 String Bridge Passive Mount Black Metal

Seymour Duncan TB-59 59 Model Trembucker Bridge Nickel

Seymour Duncan Tb-5 Duncan Custom Trembucker Bridge White

Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 Humbucker Nickel

Seymour Duncan Sh-14 Custom 5 Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix Signature Loaded Pickguard - Standard Route

Seymour Duncan SSL-4T Quarter Pound Stratocaster Tapped Single Coil

Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix Signature Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan APS-2 Alnico II Pro Flat Stratocaster Singlecoil Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan SDBR-1N Duckbuckers for Stratocaster Neck Humbucker Cream

Seymour Duncan SPH90-1N Phat Cat Neck P90 Gold Cover

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Set Zebra

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Humbucker TB-APH1 Trembucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker Set Black

Seymour Duncan TS-1 Triple Shot For Trembucker Black

Seymour Duncan SHPR-2B P-Rails Bridge Pickup White

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan STL-2T Hot for Telecaster Singlecoil Tapped Bridge

Seymour Duncan Black Winter 7 String Humbucker Set 1611102-92B7

Seymour Duncan 7 String Pegasus Bridge Passive Mount Black

Seymour Duncan Pegasus Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Brad Paisley La Brea Telecaster Bridge Singlecoil

Seymour Duncan SSL-6 Custom Flat Stratocaster RWRP Middle Singlecoil Pickup White

Seymour Duncan Hot Stack Stratocaster Pickup STK-S2B Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Hot Jazzmaster SJM-2N Neck Singlecoil Black

Seymour Duncan SH-5 Duncan Custom Bridge Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan SJAG-1N Vintage Jaguar Neck Singlecoil Black

Seymour Duncan SLS-1B Custom Stratocaster Lipstick Bridge Singlecoil

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Neck Zebra

Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Bridge Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Schecter SGR-4T Tempest Models

Fishman Acoustic Matrix Pickup only Narrow Format

Rickenbacker 300 Series Treble Bridge Pickup

Schecter Apocalypse-VI Bridge Clear (TREM)

Schecter Pasadena Plus Bridge BLK(TRAD)

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