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

LR Baggs Element Active System VTC Volume and Tone Control

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£219.00

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Fishman Neo-D Acoustic Pickup

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£45.00 £62.00

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Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Black

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£89.00

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Seymour Duncan SCPB-3 Quarter Pound Single Coil P-Bass

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£129.00 £137.95

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Fender Pre-Wired Stratocaster Pickguard Custom Shop Custom '69 SSS Parchment 11 Hole

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£299.00 £319.00

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DiMarzio DP151FBK PAF Pro F-Spaced Humbucker Pickup

£99.00

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DiMarzio DP218W Humbucker Strat Super Distortion

£99.00

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DiMarzio DP175S True Velvet Black

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Seymour Duncan Antiquities II Mini Humbucker Neck Pickup

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£239.00 £259.95

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Seymour Duncan AHB-1S Blackouts 8 String HB Set Black

£399.00 £429.95

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Seymour Duncan 8 String Pegasus Bridge Pickup Black

£159.00 £198.95

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Seymour Duncan SH-1N 59 Humbucker Nickel 4C Neck Pickup

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£129.00 £137.95

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£419.00

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Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin Demon Nickel Humbucker

£209.00

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Guitar Pickups

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LR Baggs Element Active System VTC Volume and Tone Control

Fishman Neo-D Acoustic Pickup

Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Black

Seymour Duncan SCPB-3 Quarter Pound Single Coil P-Bass

Fender Pre-Wired Stratocaster Pickguard Custom Shop Custom '69 SSS Parchment 11 Hole

DiMarzio DP151FBK PAF Pro F-Spaced Humbucker Pickup

DiMarzio DP218W Humbucker Strat Super Distortion

DiMarzio DP175S True Velvet Black

DiMarzio DP110W FS-1 White Single Coil

Seymour Duncan SJB-3B Quarter Pound Jazz Bass

Seymour Duncan ASB-3ASB 6 String Soapbar With STC-3ASB

Seymour Duncan APJ-2 Lightnin Rods Jazz Bass Pickup

Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound SPJ-3 Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan SA-3 HC Woody Hum Cancelling

Seymour Duncan SRB-1B Rickenbacker Bass Pickup

LR Baggs ParaDI Acoustic Direct Box

Seymour Duncan SL59-1N Little '59 for Strat Cream

Seymour Duncan AS-1S Blackouts Hot Strat Set Black

Seymour Duncan STK-P1B P90 Soapbar Stack Black

Seymour Duncan SHPR-1B P Rails Pickup Bridge White

Seymour Duncan Antiquities II Mini Humbucker Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan AHB-1S Blackouts 8 String HB Set Black

Seymour Duncan 8 String Pegasus Bridge Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan SH-1N 59 Humbucker Nickel 4C Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan SH-2N Jazz Neck Humbucker Gold

Seymour Duncan SH-6B Duncan Distortion Bridge Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan PA-TB1N Parallel Axis Original Humbucker Neck

Seymour Duncan SJAG-2 Hot For Jaguar Neck Single Coil Pickup

Seymour Duncan SH-8b Invader Bridge Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan SHR-1N Hot Rails For Stratocaster Neck Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan SH-1B 59 Bridge Humbucker Nickel

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Neck Black

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered Stratocaster RWRP Singlecoil Middle

Seymour Duncan Full Shred SH-10N Humbucker Pickup Neck Black

Seymour Duncan Hot Rails Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Neck Gold

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker Set Nickel

Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin Demon Nickel Humbucker

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