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

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Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Pickup Set Black

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Seymour Duncan Antiquity for Telecaster '55 Single Coil Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Duo-Sonic Single Coil Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Set Gold

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd Humbucker Bridge

Seymour Duncan Antiquity P90 Pickups Dog Ear Set Black

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Set Gold

Seymour Duncan STK-S4 Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

Seymour Duncan Little 59 /Vintage Stack Tele Set

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Mini Humbucker Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jaguar Single Coil Set

Seymour Duncan Blackouts Coil Pack AHB-10N Neck Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Blackouts Neck Humbucker

Seymour Duncan Blackouts 8 String Humbucker Bridge

Seymour Duncan 78 Model Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan Green Magic Humbucker Set Zebra

Seymour Duncan Green Magic Humbucker Set Black

Seymour Duncan High Voltage Humbucker Set Nickel Cover

Seymour Duncan Scooped for Stratocaster Singlecoil Pickup Set White

Seymour Duncan Psychedelic for Stratocaster RWRP Single Coil Pickup Middle White

Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Humbucker P90 Pickup Set Nickel

Seymour Duncan SH-6N and B Humbucker Set Zebra Mayhem (Dist. Mayhem)

Seymour Duncan SH-2n Jazz Neck Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan STK-S2N Hot Stack Stratocaster Single Coil Neck Black

Seymour Duncan TB-APH1 Alnico II Pro Humbucker Trembucker Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Pickguard Assembly Classic White

Seymour Duncan SP90-1B Vintage Bridge P90 Soapbar Black

Seymour Duncan TS-2B Triple Shot For LP Bridge Cream

Seymour Duncan SH-1N 59 Humbucker Reverse Zebra 4C

Seymour Duncan SM-2B Custom Bridge Mini Humbucker Nickel

Seymour Duncan Pegasus/Sentient Set Black

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Neck Pickup Cream

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Middle Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Middle Pickup White

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Bridge Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan APH-2S Slash Alnico II Pro Humbucker Raw Nickel Set

Seymour Duncan TS-1S Triple Shot Flat Set For Trembucker Cream

Seymour Duncan TS-2N Triple Shot For Les Paul Neck Black

Seymour Duncan Custom Custom Trembucker Bridge Nickel

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Pickup Set Black

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