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 Saturday Night Special Humbucker Neck Nickel

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Seymour Duncan Little 59 /Vintage Stack Tele Set

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Seymour Duncan STK-S4 Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

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Seymour Duncan Custom Custom Trembucker Bridge Nickel

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Seymour Duncan TS-2N Triple Shot For Les Paul Neck Black

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Seymour Duncan Antiquity for Telecaster '55 Single Coil Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Duo-Sonic Single Coil Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Set Gold

Seymour Duncan 78 Model Trembucker Nickel Cover

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

Seymour Duncan Green Magic Humbucker Set Zebra

Seymour Duncan Green Magic Humbucker Set Black

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd Humbucker Bridge

Seymour Duncan SSL-4T Quarter Pound Stratocaster Tapped Single Coil

Seymour Duncan SH-1B 59 Humbucker Zebra

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Mini Humbucker Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jaguar Single Coil Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Retrospec'd for Telecaster Neck Single Coil

Seymour Duncan Blackouts AHB-1S Set Black

Seymour Duncan AHB-2B Blackouts Metal Humbucker White

Seymour Duncan Blackout 4 String Bass Soapbar Set

Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Stratocaster RWRP Single Coil Middle

Seymour Duncan SSL-6 Custom Flat Stratocaster Cal Set Singlecoil

Schecter Apocalypse-VI Bridge Clear (TREM)

Schecter Pasadena Plus Bridge BLK(TRAD)

DiMarzio DP193BKF Air Norton

Seymour Duncan SJ5N Quarter Pound 5 String Jazz Bass

DiMarzio DP127BK Split P

Seymour Duncan SH-2n Jazz Neck Humbucker Reverse Zebra

DiMarzio DP122BK Model P Bass

Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Wide

Fishman Passive Narrow Format / Standard Spacing

Fishman Passive Wide Format / Standard Spacing

Fishman AGX-094 Passive Narrow Format for Classical & 12-string

Seymour Duncan SP90-1B Vintage Bridge P90 Soapbar Black

DiMarzio DP265F Velorum F Spaced Bridge Humbucker

Fishman Tune-O-Matic Powerbridge Pickup

Fishman Powerjack Preamp Jack

Fishman Acoustic Matrix Pickup only Narrow Format

Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Humbucker Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan Little 59 /Vintage Stack Tele Set

Seymour Duncan Psyclone Humbucker Neck Nickel

Seymour Duncan STK-S4 Stratocaster Pickup Set Black

Seymour Duncan Custom Custom Trembucker Bridge Nickel

Seymour Duncan TS-2N Triple Shot For Les Paul Neck Black

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