Context is key when it comes to selecting a guitar pickup, so using your title to set the scene ensures that readers know they should pay attention.
Humbucker guitars offer thicker sounds with tighter, heavier bass response that taper back high-end response – ideal for rock and metal musicians.
Bridge Pickup
The bridge pickup, as its name implies, is placed near the bridge of your guitar and captures vibrations from strings that are strong here. This position is often preferred by rock and metal guitarists because of its sharp, bright sound that cuts through other instruments in the mix. Furthermore, this position captures more treble frequencies than neck pickup, producing a sparkly tone ideal for solos and melodies.
Combining a single-coil bridge pickup with a humbucker in the neck position can produce an extremely versatile tone suitable for many genres. The humbucker in the bridge will offer more mid and bass frequencies while adding extra treble frequencies from its counterpart in the neck position – something commonly seen on blues, classic rock and country guitars.
Single-coil guitars with Alnico II magnets tend to produce a warm vintage tone while those using Alnico 5 magnets or higher typically produce louder output. Some sets, like the Fishman Fluence Greg Koch set, combine both types of Alnico magnets for greater versatility.
Bridge pickups tend to produce more output than neck ones due to how strings vibrate less above them, allowing more string signals to reach them, leading to higher output than with neck pickups located closer. Of course, when it comes to sound pickup, there are no set rules; therefore it’s essential that you experiment different positions until finding what suits your guitar best.
Bridge pickups tend to work best for high-gain tones while neck pickups excel at creating clean sounds. Of course, these rules don’t have to be strictly adhered to – try different combinations and find sounds that work with your style of music – with patience and persistence, you will soon have found the ideal guitar pickup!
Neck Pickup
The neck pickup is located close to the end of your guitar’s neck. This position produces a more warm and mellow tone that’s great for soloing or rhythm in genres such as blues, jazz or other similar music genres. Some players also find this pickup useful when performing heavy palm muted riffs as it helps maintain clarity while preventing chords from sounding murky.
Reason being that neck pickups pick up string vibrations more strongly due to string vibration being closer to the magnet and this causes its output to be greater than bridge pickups, as they don’t amplify vibrating frequencies as strongly. Bridge pickups have lower output as their vibrating frequencies don’t get amplified as strongly by these pickups.
As a result, you’ll quickly notice that the neck pickup has less highs and mids than its counterpart, while its counterpart has more lows and mids – these differences create their unique sound, so experiment to find which best matches your playing style.
One helpful tip when testing both positions with a clean signal before adding any effects is to compare both pickups with each other without adding effects, then listen for how their tone shifts as you change settings on your amp or recording software. This will enable you to identify which pickup produces your desired effect as well as indicate any necessary adjustments needed in your gear or settings to achieve them.
If you want a pickup that can adapt well across a wide variety of musical genres, then consider investing in a medium output pickup. These will produce high-quality sound with minimal distortion – the ideal solution for any guitarist!
Medium output pickups offer versatile uses; you can use one for heavy distorted riffs and searing leads or use it more subtly when playing melodies and other types of lead lines that need subtler sounds. They make a perfect all-purpose pickup; however, their best qualities come out when combined with distortion, fuzz and overdrive pedals.
Mid Pickup
The middle pickup is an in-between option that works well with both neck and bridge pickups, offering slightly more midrange to your tone without overshadowing other instruments in your mix like bridge pickups would. It’s especially suitable for jazz and blues genres where bass tones may need to be highlighted while fingerpicking styles require accentuating more bass range; rock/metal genres, too, will benefit from increased treble.
An ideal time and place to experiment with this pickup is during solos as it will help your guitar stand out and be heard above other instruments. If you play in a band setting this pickup will come in handy by adding more of a lead sound to your playing.
With so many types of guitar pickups to choose from, it can be daunting deciding on one that best matches your playing style and genre of music. Experimentation will provide insight into which ones work better for your genre of music and personal preference; ultimately you need to find what sounds most comfortable as you gain experience and stick with that sound as time goes on.
Humbucker pickups are known for having a more dense and full sound than single-coil pickups, making them suitable for heavier styles like hard rock and metal. Their more prominent midrange frequencies and reduced treble levels also make them suitable for genres that need clearer tones like blues and jazz.
There are numerous companies that produce humbucker guitar pickups, each one offering its own distinctive sound. If you’re curious to try out a humbucker for the first time, start off with something high output like Seymour Duncan JB or DiMarzio Super Distortion before moving on to lower output options such as Sheptone Phat Cat or Fender CS Vintage ’57s for more of a vintage vibe.
Active Pickup
Active pickups tend to be preferred by guitarists who favor aggressive styles of music, since these pickups rely on an external power source (usually 9 V batteries) for preamplification purposes and to boost signal from their guitar.
Active pickups also add EQ and other effects to the signal, which may or may not suit your playing style. They’re generally known for their high output level and clarity, with lower impedance making them less prone to hum, buzz or interference issues than passive models.
Substantial improvements can be seen when switching out passive pickups for active ones; particularly for genres like funk, fusion and heavy metal music styles that rely heavily on active pickups (think James Hetfield’s punishing rhythm guitar and Zakk Wyld’s squealing leads). Furthermore, switching out your passive pick-ups for active ones will significantly alter its tone to become more suitable for these hard styles of music.
EMG is among the many active pickup manufacturers, but perhaps their most renowned offering is EMG’s Active Humbuckers Duality Set that provide both passive-like tone and an aggressive metal sound.
Passive pickups are constructed from coils of copper wire wrapped around magnets. When strings vibrate, their vibration disturbs the magnetic field of the magnet, creating an electrical disturbance which is amplified by your pickup and sent directly to your amplifier without needing additional amplification from a preamp – one reason passive pickups have proven so popular for their versatility.
If you want to try an active pickup but are worried about permanently altering your guitar to accommodate it, consider installing one via a solderless wiring kit. Installing active pickups using such kits is often painless and they may fit easily in existing cavities such as the tremolo cavity or behind volume and tone controls.