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 Slash 2.0 SET Nickel Cover Humbucker Set

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Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Humbucker Set Raw Nickel Cover

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Seymour Duncan Little '78 Strat Bridge White

£189.00 £199.95

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Seymour Duncan Exciter Bridge Humbucker - Nickel

£239.00

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Seymour Duncan Exciter Bridge Humbucker Reverse Zebra

£199.00 £214.95

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Fender Joe Strummer Signature Telecaster Single Coil Pickup Set

£149.00

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Fender Custom Shop Custom '54 Stratocaster Pickups Set of 3

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£185.00

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Schecter Pasadena Bridge Humbucker Black Metal (TRAD)

£185.00

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Lollar P-90 Dogear Tall Neck Pickup (Ex-Demo)

£89.00 £109.00

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Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker 7 String Set Brushed Nickel

£355.00

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Gibson Dirty Fingers SM Onyx Double Black 4-conductor Potted Ceramic 15k

£119.00

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Gibson 57 Classic Underwound Double Classic White Humbucker

£99.00

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Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient Set Red Black Zebra

£319.00 £365.95

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Fishman V-200 Violin Pickup

£189.00

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Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 SET Nickel Cover Humbucker Set

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Humbucker Set Raw Nickel Cover

Seymour Duncan Little '78 Strat Bridge White

Seymour Duncan Exciter Bridge Humbucker - Nickel

Seymour Duncan Exciter Bridge Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Exciter Bridge Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Humbucker Set Nickel Cover

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Neck Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Neck Humbucker Gold Cover

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Neck Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Neck Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Neck Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Bridge Humbucker Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Bridge Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Bridge Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Trembucker - Black

Seymour Duncan Alex Skolnick Trembucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Warren DeMartini RTM Bridge Humbucker - Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Warren DeMartini RTM Humbucker Nickel Cover

Seymour Duncan Warren DeMartini RTM Trembucker White

Seymour Duncan El Diablo Bridge Humbucker

Seymour Duncan Slug Rail Humbucker Neck Black

Seymour Duncan Slug Humbucker Set

Fender Custom Shop Fat 60's Stratocaster Single Coil Pickups

Fender Joe Strummer Signature Telecaster Single Coil Pickup Set

Fender Custom Shop Custom '54 Stratocaster Pickups Set of 3

Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster Pickup Set

Fender 70th Anniversary 54 Strat Pickup Set

DiMarzio DP180W Air Norton Humbucker White

DiMarzio DP102BK X2N High Power Bridge Humbucker Pickup

Schecter Super Rock Neck

Schecter San Andreas Neck

Schecter Pasadena Bridge Humbucker Black Metal (TRAD)

Lollar P-90 Dogear Tall Neck Pickup (Ex-Demo)

Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker 7 String Set Brushed Nickel

Gibson Dirty Fingers SM Onyx Double Black 4-conductor Potted Ceramic 15k

Gibson 57 Classic Underwound Double Classic White Humbucker

Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient Set Red Black Zebra

Fishman V-200 Violin Pickup

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