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 Sld-1N Lipstick Tube For Danolectro

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Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Bridge Gold

£199.00 £239.00

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Seymour Duncan SH-55N Seth Lover 4-Conductor Neck Humbucker Nickel

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£119.00 £149.00

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Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Bridge Humbucker Gold

£165.00 £189.00

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Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Neck Gold

£189.00 £219.00

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Seymour Duncan Black Winter Bridge Humbucker Pickup Black 1611102-91B

£139.00 £159.00

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Seymour Duncan Hot Rails Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

£369.00 £449.00

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

£139.00 £159.00

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DiMarzio DP100CR Super Distortion

£99.00

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DiMarzio Tone Zone F Spaced Humbucker Black Cream

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£105.00

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DiMarzio DP218BK Super Distortion S

£105.00

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Fender Custom Shop Custom '54 Stratocaster Pickups Set of 3

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Fender Custom Shop Fat 50s Stratocaster Pickups

£249.00 £279.00

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Fender Custom Shop Custom 69 Stratocaster Pickups

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DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup Set Majesty Chrome

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£389.00

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

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Seymour Duncan Active Mag Acoustic Pickup

£299.00 £379.95

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Seymour Duncan SH-1B 59 Humbucker Zebra

£119.00 £152.95

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DiMarzio DP102BK X2N High Power Bridge Humbucker Pickup

£105.00

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DiMarzio DP389BK Tone Zone T Telecaster Bridge

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£115.00

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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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Seymour Duncan Sld-1N Lipstick Tube For Danolectro

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Bridge Gold

Seymour Duncan SH-55N Seth Lover 4-Conductor Neck Humbucker Nickel

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Neck Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan SH-8b Invader Bridge Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan PA-TB1N Parallel Axis Original Humbucker Neck

Seymour Duncan 8 String Pegasus Bridge Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan TB-5 Duncan Custom Trembucker Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Bridge Humbucker Gold

Seymour Duncan SM-3N Seymourized Mini Humbucker Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan AS-1S Blackouts Hot Strat Set Black

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

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

Seymour Duncan SH-16 '59/Custom Hybrid Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan Antiquities II Mini Humbucker Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Neck Gold

Seymour Duncan Black Winter Bridge Humbucker Pickup Black 1611102-91B

Seymour Duncan Hot Rails Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

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

DiMarzio DP100CR Super Distortion

DiMarzio Tone Zone F Spaced Humbucker Black Cream

DiMarzio DP218BK Super Distortion S

Fender Custom Shop Custom '54 Stratocaster Pickups Set of 3

Fender Custom Shop Fat 50s Stratocaster Pickups

Fender Custom Shop Custom 69 Stratocaster Pickups

DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup Set Majesty Chrome

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

DiMarzio DP193BK Air Norton Black Humbucker

Seymour Duncan APJ-2 Lightnin Rods Jazz Bass Pickup

Fishman PRO-PSY-201 PreSys+ Pre Amp

Seymour Duncan SRB-1B Rickenbacker Bass Pickup

Seymour Duncan SA-3HC Hum-Cancelling Woody Walnut

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

Seymour Duncan SPB-2 Hot Pickup for Precision Bass

Seymour Duncan Active Mag Acoustic Pickup

Seymour Duncan SH-1B 59 Humbucker Zebra

DiMarzio DP102BK X2N High Power Bridge Humbucker Pickup

DiMarzio DP389BK Tone Zone T Telecaster Bridge

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

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