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Comparison Of Single Coil Versus Humbucker Pickups On Electric Guitar

A side by side comparison of humbucker and single coil electric guitar pickups.
As you think about the next guitar you play to buy, you might be asking about what kind of guitar to get. You might be asking if you should get a guitar with single coil pickups, or get one with the humbucker pickups. The pickup configuration is one of the main factors in determining the overall sound of the electric guitar you choose to play. There are camps that say the single coils have more of singing sound, a brighter sound, etc. And there are other camps that boast the extra punch of power you have with the humbucker pups. You also tend to get a warmer sound out of the humbucker pickups, all other things being equal.


Want to know more about the background information available regarding electric guitar pickups? In addition to listening to the actual single coil and humbucker recordings available below, you can research all the details of of the sound of each of the pickup types: You'll find information on the humbucker pickups here. You'll find items like the history of the humbucker pickups,
single coil pickups on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.
and what makes them tick. You'll also get a characterization of what they sound like, compared to other pickup options. Learn about some available alternative humbucker designs out there, and some other technology in noise reduction of electric guitar pickups.


As far as the single coil world goes, you can study up on the single coil pickup explanation here. You also get the sound characteristics and history of the single coils. As well as some typical designs that have been used, including the famous soap bar and the dog ear. Read about the famous guitars that use the single coil pickups, and the magnet stagger design.


On this page you can hear for yourself the sound difference between the single coil and the humbucker electric guitar pickups. Listen to the audio files on this page and judge for yourself which of the sounds you like better. Which pickup sound has the best sound for the music you play.
humbucker elecric guitar pickups on a Les Paul guitar.
Why not listen to the different pickups and let your own ears decide which sounds the best to you. The humbucker pickup has 2 coils in each pickup. The idea is for each coil to cancel out the noise and eliminate any hum. It used to be that if you wanted single coils you looked at a Stratocaster or Telecaster. And if you wanted humbuckers you were looking at a Les Paul. But these days you can order a Fender Stratocaster with a humbucker pickup if you want. You can even get stacked humbuckers which will fit into the same size hole as the original equipment single coil pickups that come standard on a Stratosaster.


Listen To The Difference Of Single Coil vs Humbucker Here


Single Coil Humbucker
single-coil-neck-lead-distorted humbucker-neck-lead-distorted
single-coil-neck-lead-clean humbucker-neck-lead-clean
single-coil-bridge-lead-distorted humbucker-bridge-lead-distorted
single-coil-both-chords-clean humbucker-both-chords-clean