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.

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Seymour Duncan SA-3XL HC Woody XL Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Pickup Black

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Seymour Duncan Active Mag Acoustic Pickup

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Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Walnut

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DiMarzio Sixties P Bass Pickup Gloss Black Cover

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DiMarzio DP299G Relentless P Bass Pickup Gold Cover

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DiMarzio DP299N Relentless P Bass Pickup Nickel Cover

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Fender Custom Shop '62 Precision Bass Pickup

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Seymour Duncan Active Soapbar Phase II 6 String Bridge

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Seymour Duncan SMB-4DS 4-String Music Man Bass Pickup with STC-3M3

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Seymour Duncan SJB-5N 5-String Stack Jazz Bass Neck

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Seymour Duncan SMB-5D 90's Music Man Ceramic 5 String Bass Pickup

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Seymour Duncan 70's Music Man Alnico 5 5 String Bass Pickup

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Seymour Duncan SA-3XL HC Woody XL Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan Overture Pickup and Preamp

Seymour Duncan Active Mag Acoustic Pickup

Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Walnut

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Mandolin Pickup

LR Baggs Strap Jack and Cable M1/Anthem

LR Baggs HiFi Duet High-Fidelity Pickup

Fishman Fluence Bass Soapbar 5-String Black Plastic

DiMarzio DP122CR Model P Pickup Cream

DiMarzio Sixties P Bass Pickup Gloss Black Cover

DiMarzio DP299G Relentless P Bass Pickup Gold Cover

DiMarzio DP299N Relentless P Bass Pickup Nickel Cover

Fender Custom Shop '62 Precision Bass Pickup

Fender Custom Shop 60's Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan SJB-1N Vintage Neck Pickup for Jazz Bass

Seymour Duncan Apollo J-Bass 5 String 70 Bridge

Seymour Duncan SMB-4A 4 String Music Man Alnico Magnet

Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz Bass Bridge Pickup

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jazz Bass Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jazz Bass Bridge Pickup

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazz Bass Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazz Bass Bridge Pickup

Seymour Duncan Classic Stack Jazz Bass Pickup Neck

Seymour Duncan Active Soapbar Phase II 6 String Bridge

Seymour Duncan SMB-4DS 4-String Music Man Bass Pickup with STC-3M3

Seymour Duncan SJB-5N 5-String Stack Jazz Bass Neck

Seymour Duncan SMB-5D 90's Music Man Ceramic 5 String Bass Pickup

Seymour Duncan 70's Music Man Alnico 5 5 String Bass Pickup

Seymour Duncan SJ5S 70/74 For 5 String Jazz Bass

Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz Bass 67/70 5 String Pickup Set

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

Seymour Duncan STK-J1B Classic Stack Jazz Bass Pickup

Seymour Duncan AJB-5B Active 5 String Jazz Bass Bridge Pickup

Seymour Duncan ASB2-5S 5 String Phase II Set

Seymour Duncan ASB-5B Bridge 5 String Phase 1

Seymour Duncan ASB-5N Neck 5 String Phase 1

Seymour Duncan ASB-6B 6 String Phase 1

Seymour Duncan ASB-6N 6 String Phase 1

Seymour Duncan SMB-5A 5-String 3 Coil Music Man Bass

Seymour Duncan SSB-5NYC 5 String NYC Bridge Bass Pickup

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