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 Alnico II Pro Staggered Stratocaster Singlecoil APS-1

Seymour Duncan Sh-55b Nickel Seth Lover Bridge Position

Seymour Duncan Custom Custom Bridge Humbucker SH-11 Black

DiMarzio DP158F Evolution Neck Black Humbucker

Seymour Duncan Pete Anderson Working Class MJ's 40th Humbucker Set

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Noumenon Bridge Black

Lollar Imperial Set Nickel 4 Conductor

Lollar Imperial Neck Nickel 4 Conductor

Lollar P-90 Soap Bar Set Cream

Lollar Royal T Neck Chrome

Lollar Special T Series Neck Nickel

Lollar Vintage T Bridge

Lollar 52 T Series Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Noumenon Bridge Zebra

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Noumenon Neck Zebra

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

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

Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Narrow Split

Fishman Passive Narrow Format / Standard Spacing

Fishman Passive Wide Format / Standard Spacing

Seymour Duncan Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan '59 Humbucker Pickup TB-59 Trembucker Bridge Zebra

Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine Thrash Factor Humbucker Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Duncan Distortion Humbucker SH-6N Neck 7 String Passive Mount Black

Seymour Duncan Signature Wes Hauch Jupiter Rails Humbucker Pickup Neck

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Blackout Humbucker Set Black

Seymour Duncan Brad Paisley La Brea Telecaster Neck Singlecoil

Seymour Duncan STK-S1B Classic Stack For Strat Black

Seymour Duncan SJBJ-1N JB Jr Strat Neck Humbucker Cream

Seymour Duncan SJ5-3S 5 String Quarter Pound Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Overture Pickup and Preamp

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd P90 Dog Ear Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd for Telecaster Neck Single Coil

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd Humbucker Bridge

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd Humbucker Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity P90 Pickups Dog Ear Set Black

Seymour Duncan Antiquity P90 Soapbar Set Black

Seymour Duncan Vintage P90 Bridge Soapbar Pickup Cream

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