![single coil vs humbucker tone single coil vs humbucker tone](https://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/singlecoil_hero.jpg)
Only at the very ends of each of the clips will I reveal which pickup I was using. To test yourself, you can listen to these audio clips and try to figure out which type of pickup I am using here. Now that we’ve covered just about everything you need to know about Single Coils and Humbuckers, let’s see if you can actually hear the difference between the two. The neck position for Humbuckers is great for playing rock solos where there usually isn’t a lot of chords being played. Once again, much better than the Single Coils here. The distortion really works well with them and the notes are easier to tell apart. Here’s where the Humbuckers really start to shine. While I do like the sound of clean tone Humbuckers, they just aren’t quite the same as Single Coil pickups. Unlike the Single Coil pickups, you can clearly hear how warm and thick the sound is in this clip. I personally don’t like the sound of this one as much for the clean tones. Go ahead and listen to the following audio clips of me playing with Humbucking pickups.Īs you can probably tell, this gives off a much different sound than the Single Coil pickups do. Luckily, I also have a guitar with Humbucking pickups so that you can hear exactly how it stacks up to the Single Coil pickups.
![single coil vs humbucker tone single coil vs humbucker tone](https://www.guitartechcraig.com/techwire/tech13.jpg)
To see if Humbuckers might be more up your ally, take a look at some of the pros and cons. Some of the guitars that typically use Humbucking pickups include:įrom what we’ve just talked about above, Humbuckers might seem to be the “better option” between the two types of pickups but again, it really all depends on what you’re looking to get. This is also why Humbucker pickups are almost always bigger than Single Coil pickups are. The extra coil makes the magnetic field stronger which helps it to get rid of, or, “buck the hum” hence how Humbuckers got their name. As guitarists started to turn up the gain, they needed a way to get rid of the humming sound. This is also why Humbuckers were introduced right when Rock and Roll started to become popular.
![single coil vs humbucker tone single coil vs humbucker tone](https://images.saymedia-content.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:eco%2Cw_1200/MTg0MzQ4ODA2MTI3NTYwMTcw/single-coil-vs-humbucker-guitar-pickup-sound-and-difference.jpg)
This is the fact that Single Coil pickups create a nasty humming sound once you start to turn up the distortion. Humbucker PickupsĪlright, we’ve covered all of the important things to know when it comes to Single Coil pickups so now let’s move onto the Humbuckers.įunny enough, Humbuckers are essentially just Dual Coil pickups and they were invented to help solve a major problem that Single Coil pickups had. If you listen closely, you should be able to hear some humming here as well. Once again, much more muddy and gross sounding. If you listen carefully, you might even be able to hear the humming in the background. You might start to hear why distortion and Single Coil pickups don’t exactly work well together. Once again, each note was very distinct even though the tone was a little warmer than the last clip. To help you decide if this is something that you might be interested in, go ahead and listen to these audio clips of me using different pickups and tone settings!Īs you probably heard, each note was very defined and the tone came out very nicely. Great! So now you know some of the main pros and cons of Single Coil pickups.
![single coil vs humbucker tone single coil vs humbucker tone](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61JeJMB88DL.jpg)
Single Coil pickups get their name from the way that they are built which is basically a bunch of magnets with a single coil of wire wrapped around them. The magnets pick up the vibration of the metal strings which is why pickups don’t pick up sounds the way a regular microphone would. Like we talked about above, a Single Coil pickup will usually have a brighter and clearer tone than a Humbucker pickup will, but before we go into which one is better for you, we should talk about how Single Coil pickups work in the first place.īasically, the way a pickup works is with the help of magnets. We’ll kick this off by talking about Single Coil pickups. But with that being said, let’s tackle each of them individually and find out which pickups will work better for you. The answer to the question of which pickup is better depends on what you’re looking for personally, there really is no better option here, it all comes down to preference. While Single Coil pickups have a sound that is more defined, Humbucking pickups will reduce a lot of the background humming or buzzing that many Single Coil pickups struggle with. In general, Single Coil pickups will have a cleaner and crisper sound whereas Humbucking pickups will have a sound that is much warmer and full. Each has been around for a long time, and while both of these pickups are great, which one is the better option? Some of the most popular pickups for guitars out there today are Humbucking pickups and Single Coil pickups.