Pickupsare the core of any electric, semi-acoustic or electro-acoustic guitar. Since there are so many versions of the pickup, and each one has its own specific role and distinct sound, what kind of pickups are best for you? To help you choose the right pickups to upgrade your guitar, or help you pick out the right guitar model, we’ve put together this pickup-focused Buyer’s Guide and answer your most frequently asked questions. If you can’t see the answer to your question here, feel free to contact us!
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1. What’s a Pickup and How Does it Work?
Pickups are one of the most important factors when it comes to the sound of electric guitars. Most of the time, an electric guitar will come mounted with two or three pickups. The average pickup has a magnet at its core (usually an alnico or ceramic magnet) and this is wound with isolated copper wire to make an electro-magnet. The pickup sits just under the strings of the guitar and when one or more of the strings vibrates when played, this causes changes in the magnetic field emitted by the magnet of the pickup. This then generates an alternating voltage in the coil (wound copper wire) which is usually then sent via a connected jack cable to an amplifier where the current is converted back into sound. Pickups are also used to amplify semi-acoustic guitars and electro-acoustic guitars, many of which come fitted with piezo pickups.
When you’re not totally satisfied with the sound of your electric guitar, then it’s worth considering replacing the pickups. If you love the feel and playing comfort of your guitar, changing the pickups is a much better option than getting a different model and can take the sound to a higher level.
If you’re a beginner guitarist, then you might not immediately hear the difference. As such, it’s a better idea to resist upgrading the pickups of your guitar until you have more knowledge of your instrument and a clearer image of the kind of sound you’re looking for.
Changing the pickups of a guitar can be daunting no matter how long you’ve been playing the guitar. Most of the time, the wiring of the pickups will need to be soldered, so the process demands some technical knowledge and the right materials. Setting the pickups at the right height is also really important to ensure accurate sound registration of the strings. These days, you can actually get pickups with what’s referred to as a ‘quick-change’ system, so that no soldering is needed and the wiring can simply be ‘clicked’ in place.
If changing the pickups of your guitar is just something you’d rather not do, then going to a local luthier (guitar builder) is probably the best option.
As the name suggests, a single-coil pickup only has one coil of a copper wire. As a result, these kinds of pickups have a relatively low impedance. These smaller coils are focussed on a small part of the strings, which has the effect of producing a brighter, pure sound. A disadvantage of single-coil pickups is their sensitivity to magnetic interference which can lead to a light hum. Single-coil pickups are famously found mounted on most ST-style (Fender Stratocaster-style), and T-style (Fender Telecaster-style) guitars and are renowned for their clean sound (so, they’re often played without using any overdrive).
5. What’s a Humbucker? And What’s the Difference Between a Humbucker and a Single-Coil?
While a single-coil pickup has just one coil, a humbucker has two coils of copper wire. These coils are magnetically out of phase to make sure that the sound remains hum free. Most of the time, humbuckers have more output and therefore, a more powerful sound than a single-coil. They’re also known for their fuller, warmer character and are often the go-to pickups for heavier playing styles. However, bear in mind that the difference in sound between one humbucker and another can be enormous, and telling the difference between some single-coils and humbuckers can be difficult these days.
The P-90 is a single-coil pickup that was introduced by Gibson® in 1946. The P-90 comes in two different shapes: the dog-ear and the soapbar. P-90 pickups have a flat and wide coil that’s combined with two bar magnets, so you get a more powerful and warm sound than that of a standard single-coil, but less output than that of a humbucker. The downside of the P-90 pickup is that it still suffers from the same hum problems you get with single-coil pickups.
In contrast to single-coils, humbuckers and P-90 pickups, piezo pickups are not magnetic. Instead, they use crystals that produce an electric current whenever pressure is applied – in this case, the pressure of sound waves. This kind of pickup is often fitted beneath the saddle so that, as well as picking up the vibration of the strings, it picks up the vibration of the instrument itself. This is so that the final amplified sound matches the natural sound of the instrument as closely as possible. As such, piezo pickups are usually used to amplify acoustic instruments, where the reproduction of the acoustic sound needs to be as faithful and accurate as possible. Electro-acoustic guitars are normally fitted with this kind of pickup, as well as other acoustic stringed instruments. For information about electro-acoustic guitars, see our dedicated Buyer’s Guide below.
A MIDI pickup converts the vibrations of the strings of an electric guitar into MIDI data. This data is then sent to special software or hardware that’s then able to translate the sound of your guitar into pretty much any sound you could imagine. A MIDI pickup is usually a small ‘strip’ that’s mounted betwen the bridge pickup and the bridge and is usually combined with a special port for a MIDI cable or a wireless transmitter and receiver.
9. What’s the Difference Between Passive and Active Guitar Pickups?
In contrast to the passive pickups mounted on most guitars, active pickups need to have a power source. This will usually be a 9V block battery or a battery pack and the sound produced by active pickups is shaped by a preamplifier. The coils of active pickups are not placed in series or in parallel, but are added together. The result is a clearer sound, without any peaks in the mid frequency range. A lot of metal guitarists prefer to use active pickups since, when they’re combined with distortion, the sound retains definition, meaning that every individual note can be heard clearly, no matter how much the sound is distorted. Guitarists who are bigger fans of passive pickups will probably say that they have more character and are better at amplifying the natural sound of the instrument.
10. What’s the Difference Between Normal Spacing and ‘F-Spacing’ When it Comes to Pickups?
Not every guitar has the same space between the strings (more commonly known as string spacing). Since each little magnet of a pickup needs to be precisely positioned beneath a string, if you’re replacing your pickups, it’s essential that the pickups you choose match up with the string spacing of your guitar. F-spacing is the widest of the two options and is generally used in the bridge position of Fender guitars, or guitars fitted with a Floyd Rose bridge (which explains the ‘F’ of F-spacing). Also Gibson® / Epiphone®, Les Paul®, SG®, and semi-hollow guitars from 1998 onwards use an F-spaced pickup. As such, it’s really important to know that when the nut width of the guitar is 43mm or more, you also need to use an F-spaced pickup at the neck position. The string spacing of a specific model has nothing to do with the sound character of the pickups since either spacing will sound the same.
