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 Overture Pickup and Preamp

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Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Black

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Fishman PowerTap Earth Pro Jon Gomm

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Fishman Fluence Acoustic Rock Icon

£299.00 £349.00

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DiMarzio DP235 The Black Angel, Piezo Pick Up

£129.00

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Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Wide

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Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Narrow Split

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Fishman Passive Narrow Format / Standard Spacing

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£129.00 £139.00

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Seymour Duncan SJ5S 67/70 for 5 String Jazz Bass

£219.00 £269.00

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£319.00 £396.95

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Seymour Duncan SSB-4 NYC 4 String Set

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£245.00 £299.00

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DiMarzio Super 3 Pickup Standard Spaced Black + Nickel Poles

£119.00

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Fender Tex-Mex Hot Stratocaster Single Coil Pickup Set

£99.99

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DiMarzio DP416W Area 61 Singlecoil White

£109.00

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DiMarzio DP419W Area 67 Singlecoil White

£109.00

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Guitar Pickups

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Seymour Duncan Overture Pickup and Preamp

Seymour Duncan SA-3SC Single Coil Woody Black

Fishman PowerTap Earth Pro Jon Gomm

Fishman Fluence Acoustic Rock Icon

DiMarzio DP235 The Black Angel, Piezo Pick Up

Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Wide

Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Narrow Split

Fishman Passive Narrow Format / Standard Spacing

Seymour Duncan SJ5S 67/70 for 5 String Jazz Bass

Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Jazz Bass 5 String Bridge Pickup

Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Quarter Pound for P-Bass

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

Seymour Duncan SPB-4 Steve Harris Signature P Bass

Seymour Duncan ASB-5S 5 String Phase 1

Seymour Duncan Active Soapbar 6 String Phase II Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan STC-3PSB 3-Band EQ for Passive Bass Pickups

Seymour Duncan SJ5N Quarter Pound Jazz Bass 5 String Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan SJ5-3B 5-String Quarter Pound Jazz Bass

Seymour Duncan Scpb-2 Hot Single Coil P-Bass

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Precision Bass Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Blackout 4 String Bass Soapbar Set

Seymour Duncan SSB-4 NYC 4 String Set

Seymour Duncan Apollo J-Bass 4 String Set

Seymour Duncan STC-2A Active Bass Preamp 2 Band Active Pickups

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

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jazz Bass Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Heavy Weather for Jazz Bass Pickup Set

DiMarzio DP184W The Chopper Pick-up

Seymour Duncan SJB-3S Quarter Pound Jazz Bass Pickup Set 4 String

DiMarzio DP172C Twang King Tele Neck Chrome Single Coil Pickup

DiMarzio Super Distor'Tron Pickup F-Spaced Nickel Cover Cream Insert Humbucker Pickup

DiMarzio Super 3 Pickup Standard Spaced Black + Nickel Poles

DiMarzio DP228FBG Crunch Lab Bridge Humbucker F-Spaced Black/Green

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

Fender Pre-Wired Stratocaster Pickguard Custom Shop Texas Special SSS Parchment 11 Hole

Fender 70th Anniversary 54 Strat Pickup Set

Fender Tex-Mex Hot Stratocaster Single Coil Pickup Set

DiMarzio DP416W Area 61 Singlecoil White

DiMarzio DP419W Area 67 Singlecoil White

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