Oct 16 2008
Pickups, They Influence Your Sound
Single-coil pickups: The first electric guitars all use single-coil pickups. A single-coil pickup has only one coil of wire. It may have a single magnet, a single magnet with screws for adjustable pole pieces, or a separate magnet for each string. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. They are responsible for the “hum” sound. Single-coil pickups are common on Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, who are common in rock, country, and pop.
Humbucker pickups: A conventional humbucker (or Humbucking pickup) is a type of electric guitar pickup that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have high output since both coils are in series and because the magnetic circuit is low loss. Like a single coil pickup, a humbucker induces a slight magnetic field around the strings which in turn induce an electrical current on the coils as the strings vibrate. But since the two coils are of reversed polarity and reverse-wound and connected in series, noise and interference is significantly reduced via common-mode rejection. They get their name because they cancel out a large portion of the interference (they “buck the hum”) induced by alternating current sources normally experienced with single coil pickups.
The double-coil sound: The warm, smooth, double-coil sound of the Gibson Les Paul is a favorite for rock, blues, pop, and jazz. Many guitars have a combination of single and double-coil pickups. In such cases you will find a switch that will turn one of the coils off to offer the player a choice between single- and double-coil.
