Ultimate Guide to Guitar Pickups

Ever wondered how the vibrant strum of your strings transforms into the powerful roar emanating from your amplifier? It’s all thanks to the electric guitar pickup.

What are Guitar Pickups?

At its simplest, a guitar pickup is like the microphone for your guitar strings. When you pluck a string, it vibrates. Pickups translate those mechanical vibrations into an electrical signal that your amplifier can then boost and project. Without them, your electric guitar or electric bass would be a much quieter musical instrument.

What They’re Made Of

While there’s a lot of specialized engineering involved, the fundamental components of most guitar pickups are surprisingly straightforward:

• Magnets: Magnets create a magnetic field that surrounds your guitar strings. When a metal string vibrates within this field, it disrupts the field, inducing an electrical current.
• Wire Coils: Insulated copper wire meticulously winds around the magnets. This coil acts as an antenna, picking up the subtle changes in the magnetic field caused by the vibrating strings.
• Bobbin: The bobbin, usually plastic or fiberboard, acts as a structure around which the wire is wound and the magnets are housed. It keeps everything organized and protected.
• Cover/Casing: Covers/casings are often made of plastic or metal; this component protects the delicate components from damage and gives the pickup its aesthetic appeal.

How They Work

1. Magnetic Field Creation: The magnets inside the pickup create a steady magnetic field that extends up towards your guitar strings. Since your guitar strings are made of ferrous (magnetically sensitive) metals like steel or nickel, they become magnetized themselves when they enter this field.
2. String Vibration: When you strike a string, it begins to vibrate rapidly.
3. Magnetic Field Disturbance: As the magnetized string vibrates, it moves within the pickup’s static magnetic field. This movement causes tiny fluctuations or disturbances in the magnetic field around the wire coils.
4. Electromagnetic Induction: According to Faraday’s Law of Induction, a changing magnetic field through a coil of wire will induce an electrical current in that wire. The vibrations of the string create these changes, and the coil then generates a very small alternating current (AC) signal.
5. Signal Transmission: This tiny electrical signal travels through the guitar’s wiring, through the volume and tone pots, and finally out through the output jack to your amplifier.
6. Amplification: Your amplifier receives this weak signal, boosts its strength dramatically, and then sends it to the speaker. The speaker then converts the electrical signal back into sound waves we can hear.

Main Types of Pickups

There are different types of pickups, each with its own unique sonic character. Understanding these main types is crucial for shaping your desired sound.

Single-Coil Pickups

Think of the bright, glassy tones of a classic Fender Stratocaster or the twangy bite of a Telecaster. That’s the signature sound of a single-coil pickup, popularized by Fender. Other major manufacturers of this style of pickup include Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, and Rickenbacker.

Construction

As the name suggests, a single-coil pickup consists of one coil of wire wound around a set of individual pole piece magnets (one for each string) or a single bar magnet.

Sound Profile

Single-coils are renowned for their clear, articulate, and often brighter sound with excellent note separation. They tend to have a crisp attack and a lively, dynamic response.

The Downside

Because these pickups act like antennas, single-coils are susceptible to picking up electromagnetic interference from external sources like lights, monitors, and dimmer switches. This interference manifests as a noticeable 50 or 60-cycle hum.

For many players, this hum is an acceptable trade-off for the iconic tone, while others find it a nuisance.

Humbucker Pickups

Humbuckers are for musicians that want to avoid single-coil humming, popularized by Gibson. Other major manufacturers of this style of pickup include EMG and DiMarzio-Ibanez.

Construction

A humbucker (short for “hum-bucking”) is essentially two single-coil pickups wired together. One coil has its magnets oriented differently, and its winding direction is reversed compared to the other.

Sound Profile

Humbuckers typically produce a fatter, warmer, and often louder output than single-coils. They have a thicker midrange, a smoother top end, and more sustain. This profile makes them ideal for rock, metal, jazz, and blues.

Variations

Humbuckers come in various forms, including the classic Gibson Seth Lover PAF (Patent Applied For) style, ceramic humbuckers for higher output, and mini-humbuckers, which offer a slightly brighter, more articulate take on the humbucker sound.

Other Types of Pickups

P90 Pickups

Often described as a “fat single-coil,” the P90 sits sonically somewhere between a traditional single-coil and a humbucker. It uses a wider, flatter coil with two bar magnets underneath.

P90s offer more output and a thicker, growlier midrange than a standard single-coil. Although, they still retain some of the single-coil’s clarity and bite, along with its characteristic hum. They have a wonderfully raw, dynamic response.

Popular brands of P90 pickups include Squier, Danelectro, and Epiphone.

Jazzmaster Pickups

These pickups are essentially unique single-coil designs, often with a wider and flatter coil geometry than a Strat or Tele pickup.

They tend to have a bright, airy, and sometimes jangly sound with excellent clarity, loved by surf rock and indie players. They also have a unique shielding system that affects their sound and hum characteristics.

Popular brands of jazzmaster pickups include Lollar and Seymour Duncan.

Piezo Pickups

Piezo pickups work by directly sensing the pressure changes caused by the vibrations. They are typically placed under the saddle of an acoustic guitar (or sometimes in electric guitars for an acoustic-like sound) and react to the actual movement and compression of the saddle as the strings vibrate.

They produce a different, often brighter and more percussive, acoustic tone and are not susceptible to magnetic hum.

Popular brands of piezo pickups include KNA and LR Baggs.

Z-Coil Pickups

A proprietary design by G&L Guitars, Z-coils are essentially humbuckers in a single-coil footprint. They use an innovative Z-shaped winding pattern to cancel hum while retaining a clear, articulate tone.

Factors Influencing Pickup Sound

Beyond the basic single-coil vs humbucker distinction, numerous other factors contribute to the unique voice of a pickup.

Magnet Type: Alnico vs. Ceramic

The type of magnet used is a fundamental determinant of a pickup’s character.

Alnico Magnets (Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt)

These magnets are the classic choice, found in many vintage-style and modern pickups. Alnico magnets come in different grades (II, III, IV, V, VIII), with each grade offering subtle variations in strength and warmth.

• Alnico II: Generally weaker, providing a warmer, softer attack, and sweeter sustain. Often found in neck position pickups or for vintage tones.
• Alnico III: Even weaker than Alnico II, offering the warmest, most mellow tone with a very soft attack.
• Alnico IV: A balanced magnet, offering good output with strong mids and clear highs.
• Alnico V: The most common Alnico magnet, offering a strong, punchy tone with good clarity and a bright, tight bottom end. It’s versatile and found in countless pickups.
• Alnico VIII: Stronger than Alnico V, providing a hotter output and a more aggressive tone while still retaining some of the Alnico warmth.

Alnico pickups generally offer a more organic, dynamic, and complex tone with richer harmonic content. They tend to “breathe” more and respond well to pick attacks.

Ceramic Magnets

Made from ceramic and iron oxide, these magnets are typically stronger and more cost-effective to produce.

Ceramic pickups tend to have a higher output, a tighter low end, and a brighter, more aggressive top end. They are often favored in modern rock and metal genres where high gain, clarity under distortion, and a powerful punch are desired. They can sometimes sound a bit more “brittle” or less nuanced than Alnico, but this characteristic is often exactly what a player is looking for in a high-output context.

Wire Gauge and Winding

The type of wire and how it’s wound around the bobbin significantly impacts the pickup’s output, frequency response, and overall tone.

Wire Gauge (Thickness)

Thicker wire (lower gauge number, e.g., 42 AWG) has less resistance, leading to a brighter, clearer tone. Thinner wire (higher gauge number, e.g., 44 AWG) has higher resistance, resulting in a warmer tone with more midrange and output, but potentially less high-end sparkle.

Windings

Number of Windings

More turns of wire generally increase the output (hotter pickup), boost the midrange, and roll off some of the high frequencies, creating a fatter, darker tone. Fewer turns lead to a lower output, brighter, and clearer tone.

Winding Patterns

A scatter winding pattern is a less uniform, more random winding technique often found in vintage pickups. It creates more capacitance between the turns, which can result in a more complex, harmonically rich, and airy tone.

A machine winding pattern is common in modern pickups. They are often machine-wound in a more uniform, tight pattern, resulting in a more consistent, focused tone with a tighter frequency response.

Potting

Potting refers to the process of encasing the pickup’s coils with wax or lacquer.

Why is pickup potting important?

The primary reason for potting is to reduce microphonic feedback. When a pickup is unpotted, the vibrating coils can pick up ambient sound waves and create a squealing feedback loop. Potting solidifies the coils, preventing them from vibrating independently and thus eliminating this unwanted microphonic noise.

How does potting impact sound?

While the main goal is noise reduction, some argue that heavy potting can slightly “dampen” the natural resonance of the coil, leading to a fractionally less open or dynamic sound compared to an unpotted pickup. However, for most players, the benefits of avoiding squealing feedback far outweigh any perceived sonic compromise, especially in high-gain situations. Vintage pickups were often unpotted or lightly potted, contributing to their unique (and sometimes unruly) character.

How to Choose the Right Pickups

Choosing the right pickups is a deeply personal journey, akin to selecting the perfect voice for your musical expression. It’s not about finding the “best” pickups, but the best for you.

Define Your Desired Tone

Ask yourself the following questions to help you define your desired tone:

• What bands or guitarists inspire you? Research what kind of guitars and pickups they use.
• Do you want something bright and articulate, or dark and brooding?
• Do you want punchy and aggressive, or smooth and mellow?
• Are you partial to clear and bell-like, or thick and sustaining?

Consider Your Genre

Many genres shine with a certain type of pickup. For example:

• Jazz/Blues: Alnico II/III humbuckers, P90s, or mellower single-coils
• Country/Surf: Single-coils (Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jazzmaster)
• Classic Rock: Versatile, from humbuckers (Les Pauls) to single-coils (Strats) to P90s
• Hard Rock/Metal: Ceramic magnets or hotter Alnico V humbuckers

Consider Your Playing Style

How you play can be a major factor when considering your pickup choice:

• Aggressive Pick Attack: You might appreciate pickups that don’t compress too much, retaining dynamics, or high-output pickups that can handle the assault.
• Fingerstyle: Clear, articulate pickups that highlight individual note clarity are often favored.
• Reliance on Sustain: Humbuckers or hotter pickups generally offer more sustain.
• Volume/Gain Settings: If you play at high volumes with lots of gain, humbuckers are often the practical choice to avoid unwanted feedback and hum.

Think About Your Guitar’s Wood

While pickups are arguably the biggest factor in your electric guitar’s sound, the instrument’s inherent acoustic properties still contribute.

Consider the tonal properties of the wood in your guitar. For example, if your guitar is naturally bright sounding, made with bright woods like maple or ash, you might choose warmer pickups to balance it out, or lean into the brightness with complementary pickups.

By contrast, if your guitar is you might opt for brighter, more articulate pickups to add clarity. You could also enhance the warmth with humbuckers.

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

The beauty of guitar pickups is that they are generally swappable components. Your first choice doesn’t have to be your last.

In other words: don’t be afraid to experiment. The best way to do just that is to find a guitar shop near you and try different options before you buy.

Guitar Pickup FAQs

What do pickups do on a guitar?

Guitar pickups act as transducers. They convert the physical vibrations of a guitar’s metal strings into a weak electrical signal. This electrical signal is then sent to an amplifier, which boosts it and projects it as audible sound. Without pickups, an electric guitar would be virtually silent.

What is the difference between a pickup and a humbucker?

A pickup is a general term for the component that converts string vibrations into an electrical signal. A humbucker is a specific type of pickup.

What are active pickups vs passive pickups?

The primary difference between passive and active pickups is that a passive pickup is a type of pickup that requires no external power source, whereas active pickups do.

How many pickups does a guitar need?

A guitar needs at least one pickup to be an electric instrument. Many guitars come with two or three pickups, each typically in a different position (neck, middle, bridge) to offer a wider range of tones.

• 1 Pickup: Simplistic, focused tone (e.g., some Telecasters, Les Paul Juniors).
• 2 Pickups: Offers good versatility (e.g., Les Pauls, many Telecasters). Usually a neck for warmer tones and a bridge for brighter, more aggressive tones.
• 3 Pickups: Maximum tonal options (e.g., Stratocasters). Adds a middle pickup for unique blended sounds. The “right” number depends on the versatility you desire and the sounds you want to achieve.

Are humbuckers or P90s better?

Neither is inherently better; it all depends on what you want, as an artist. Humbuckers offer higher output, making them great for rock, metal, jazz, and situations where high gain is used.

P90s have more output and a thicker midrange than standard single-coils, but retain more clarity and “growl” than many humbuckers. Blues, punk, and garage rock players love them for their raw and dynamic tone.

Can I change guitar pickups myself?

Yes, many guitarists change pickups themselves.

If you have basic soldering skills, a good quality soldering iron, wire cutters, a screwdriver, and a clear wiring diagram (usually provided by the pickup manufacturer), it’s a manageable DIY project.

Do acoustic guitars need pickups?

No.

Acoustic guitars do not need pickups, but performing and recording artists may use soundhole pickups to help amplify their acoustic instruments.

Do you need to take care of guitar pickups?

Yes.

Pickups require regular cleaning, height adjustment, wiring inspection, and more to protect sound quality and equipment longevity.

Ready to Explore the World of Pickups at Eddie’s?

Now that you know what guitar pickups are, it’s time to take the next step.

At Eddie’s Guitars in St. Louis, Missouri, we believe in empowering musicians with knowledge and providing the tools to bring their sonic visions to life.

Whether you’re looking to upgrade your existing guitar, find the perfect set for a new build, or simply want to chat about the endless possibilities of tone, our knowledgeable team is here to guide you. Come on down, try out some different guitars, listen to their unique voices, and let’s find the pickups that will truly make your instrument sing.

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Expert Insight From: Donny Thurmon – Electric & Acoustic Guitar Expert
Donny has over a decade of experience in the music retail industry and a rich knowledge of both electric and acoustic guitars. His hands-on experience helps ensure our recommendations and insights are grounded in real-world expertise.