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 Svr-1B Vintage Rails For Stratocaster Cream

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Seymour Duncan SHR-1B Hot Rails Bridge Humbucker for Stratocaster Parchment

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Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Bridge Pickup White

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£189.00 £199.95

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Seymour Duncan STK-S10PGD Yngwie Malmsteen YJM Fury Loaded Single Coil Pickguard Off White

£549.00

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Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Stratocaster Bridge Single Coil Left Handed

£99.00

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Seymour Duncan Pa-Stk1N Parallel Axis Stack

£179.00

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Seymour Duncan '59 Custom Hybrid Humbucker TB-16 Trembucker Bridge Reverse Zebra

£159.00 £167.95

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Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Blackouts Bridge Humbucker Black

£209.00

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Seymour Duncan Mark Holcomb Alpha Omega Pickup Set Black

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£419.00

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Seymour Duncan TS-1S Triple Shot Trembucker Set Black

£99.00 £106.95

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Seymour Duncan SH-1N 59 Model Humbucker 4 Conductor Zebra Neck Pickup

£159.00 £167.95

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Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Bridge Nickel

£209.00

£109.00

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Fender Pre-Wired Stratocaster Pickguard Custom Shop Fat 50's SSS Parchment 11 Hole

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£299.00 £319.00

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DiMarzio Injector Neck Black

£99.00

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DiMarzio DP209CR P90 Super Distortion Humbucker Cream

£99.00

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DiMarzio DP130BK Acoustic

£69.00

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Fishman Neo-Buster Humbucking Soundhole Pickup and Feedback Buster

£79.00 £109.00

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Seymour Duncan Sld-1N Lipstick Tube For Danolectro

Seymour Duncan Svr-1B Vintage Rails For Stratocaster Cream

Seymour Duncan Sl59-1N Little 59 Neck Humbucker For Stratocaster Parchment

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Neck Black

Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Bridge Gold

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Neck Pickup Black

Seymour Duncan SHR-1B Hot Rails Bridge Humbucker for Stratocaster Parchment

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Bridge Pickup White

Seymour Duncan STK-S4M Stack Plus Stratocaster Single Coil Middle Parchment

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

Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack Plus Stratocaster Single Coil Pickup STK-S7 Neck Black

Seymour Duncan SH-1B 59 Bridge Humbucker Nickel

Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered Stratocaster RWRP Singlecoil Middle

Seymour Duncan Billy Gibbons Big Red Devil Bridge Pickup Cream

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Bridge Nickel

Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack For Tele Set

Seymour Duncan Dave Murray Loaded Pickguard Pearloid

Seymour Duncan Blackened Black Winter Trembucker

Seymour Duncan BG1400 Telecaster Lead Stack Bridge Logo

Seymour Duncan STK-S10PGD Yngwie Malmsteen YJM Fury Loaded Single Coil Pickguard Off White

Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Stratocaster Bridge Single Coil Left Handed

Seymour Duncan Pa-Stk1N Parallel Axis Stack

Seymour Duncan '59 Custom Hybrid Humbucker TB-16 Trembucker Bridge Reverse Zebra

Seymour Duncan Jeff Loomis Blackouts Bridge Humbucker Black

Seymour Duncan Mark Holcomb Alpha Omega Pickup Set Black

Seymour Duncan TS-1S Triple Shot Trembucker Set Black

Seymour Duncan SH-1N 59 Model Humbucker 4 Conductor Zebra Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Bridge Nickel

Seymour Duncan Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Humbucker Pickup Trembucker Bridge Black

Seymour Duncan STK-S4M Stack Plus Stratocaster Black

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot Set

Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Humbucker Trembucker Bridge Zebra

Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendix Signature Loaded Pickguard Voodoo Route

DiMarzio DP103BK PAF 36th Anniversary Black Neck Humbucker

Fender Pre-Wired Stratocaster Pickguard Custom Shop Fat 50's SSS Parchment 11 Hole

DiMarzio Injector Neck Black

DiMarzio DP209CR P90 Super Distortion Humbucker Cream

DiMarzio DP130BK Acoustic

Fishman Neo-Buster Humbucking Soundhole Pickup and Feedback Buster

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