Humbucker and Single Coil Pickups

Pickups are one of a few things that define how an electric guitar sounds .A pickup is essentially a magnet, and your guitar strings are made of metals that are easily picked up by magnets. Somehow, in a very round-about confusing manner, the combination of the two leads to a sound. There are basically two types of pickups, called single coil and humbuckers. Both of these make different sounds.

Single coil pickups were the first type of pickup invented. Unfortunately, as well as picking up the sound from the strings, single coil pickups have to nasty habit of finding stray radio frequencies. Single coils have a very trebly sound in comparison with humbuckers, a lot more twangy (which isn’t a real word). Humbuckers were designed to eliminate this annoying hum sound, to “buck” the “hum” (whatever that means). This description isn’t that simple, however. Humbucker pickups don’t just sound like single coils without buzz, because of the larger amount of wire and the larger magnets that are used, there is more output from the pickups. If you set an amp up for single coil pickups then use a humbucker guitar, it will sound louder and more bassy (which also isn’t a real word).

Single Coil Pick-Up

Humbucker Pickup

Take the type of pickup into account when you buy a guitar, it will affect the sound that you get from the amp. This sound will stimulate the learning, if it is a bad sound; you are less likely to play the guitar more. If the sound is good, it will prompt you to pick the guitar up more and become better. But, as with most aspects of guitar, the type of pickup that you use is a matter of personal preference.

For more information see http://www.musiccorner.co.uk/Guitar-Shop-Electric-Guitar-Shop-Electric-Guitar-Pick-ups/c4941_5085_5440/index.html