This post is for non-guitarists or those who are just starting out. To understand the difference between the types of pickups, we'll start by explaining how a single coil (the most simple) type pickups work. A single coil pickup has only a few parts. First is a large magnet in the middle. This magnet is usually made of either a ceramic or alnico material. It is then wrapped in copper wire and this allows it to act as an electromagnet. The single coil then usually has six pole pieces that extend out the top towards the strings. When plugged in, the electromagnet creates a magnetic field around the strings. When the strings vibrate, the electromagnet receives varying amounts of power, and this is what transmits sound to the amplifier. The problem with single coil pickups is that they pick up 60 cycle hum from appliances and the amplifier. This is where humbuckers come into the picture. If you take two single coil pickups and put them together with opposite magnetic polarities, you eliminate the hum picked up by single coil pickups. This can be in the form of selecting two single coil pickups at the same time, or it can be in the form of a single humbucking pickup. Both types have different sounds. Single coils tend to be brighter and more raw, while humbuckers tend to be higher output and more even and smooth. The above picture shows a Fender Stratocaster with three single coil pickups, while the second picture shows a Fender Stratocaster with two humbuckers and a single coil in the middle. For the record, the top Strat is the Eric Clapton signature model and the bottom one is the Dave Murray signature model.
Very interesting. I'd always heard talk of humbucking pickups but never knew what they were or why they were so good. Why don't all the guitar manufacturers use them on all the guitars? If it's just because they're too cheap, why don't all the guitarists put them on all their guitars - especially the professionals? Is there some advantage to regular pickups in some circumstances?
ReplyDeleteThe primary reason you don't see them on every guitar is tone. You get a much more raw tone from a single coil pickup at the cost of 60 cycle hum. in some cases, though, it is a matter of cheapness. Professionals (myself too!) usually replace standard single coils with either active pickups which can retain the sound of the single coil pickup without the hum, or with "noiseless" single coils. Noiseless single coils are just stacked humbuckers where only one coil is exposed to the strings and the other sits beneath it. The only function of the second coil is to cancel the hum. They sound like single coils, but in reality are stacked humbuckers.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, single coils are most commonly found in music that doesn't require heavy distortion. The more distortion, the more hum you get. You hear a lot of single coil pickups in jazz, blues, and pop music. You hear a lot of humbuckers in rock, jazz, and metal.
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