Single Coils or Humbuckers – what do you prefer and why?

[guavajelly]

What are your favorite pickups and why? Please give some information on the style and the instrument, too.

I found out that personally I like single coils (P90s and Fender Style) and Mini humbuckers – full size humbuckers are "not my cup of tea" – or I just didn't find "the right one" – I like clean and transparence more than "fat" tones.

[Little Jay]

A nice P90 is a wonderful thing!

(But I love a good humbucker too.)

I dig both actually, and have both.

[zcostilla]

I love the tone and clarity a nice single coil provides. Even when crunchy, my P90s have a sweetness to them with a little bark. And while I do love a smooth sounding clean Strat in positions 1 & 4, I can get the 1, 3, & 5 positions close with two P90s and some volume and tone roll off. And for jazz, the Charlie Christian suits me perfectly. I’m not too into the tone at zero sound I hear a lot of jazz players use; I much prefer some bell-like chime, but not too much.

I do hope to get something with mini-humbuckers in the future though. I love the way a Firebird sounds, but I don’t want something that large and cumbersome.

[marcwhy]

P-90s or a good PAF humbucker are my go-to pickups. Why? Because they sound good!

[sgosnell]

For most of my life I've preferred humbuckers. I liked full-size set pickups for the sound. Recently I installed a DeArmond Rhythm Chief on a carved top archtop, and fell in love with it. Now I don't like the sound of the humbuckers in my other guitars. I'm late to the party, but I expect I'll stay for the duration.

[rpjazzguitar]

I like single coil for comping. And, I like single coil when some other players are soloing. I like the crystalline sound, for want of better descriptor. By comparison, HBs can sound muddy. That depends on a lot of factors, including the room, but whatever is causing the mud, you get less of it with a single coil.

But, I usually prefer humbuckers (with the EQ deemphasizing lows) for my own soloing.

I need the highest notes to have a certain thickness and weight, without any twang or sizzle. That requires turning down the highs, even with HBs, and is difficult with single coils.

So, I usually play HBs and I occasionally split the coil for comping.

I have a Lil 59 in a Strat copy that is less dark than the usual HB, possibly because it's narrow like a single coil (senses a shorter length of string, which can sound like an increase in highs). It can sound good.

[EllenGtrGrl]

I ended up not responding to the poll, because I like them both. For a long time (about 20 years), it was mainly humbuckers for me, but when I hit financial hard times in 2000, which forced me to sell off my pro gear, and I went into gear arsenal rebuilding mode, I decided to expand my horizons guitar-wise, and discovered in the process, that while I like the beefy, smooth sound of a humbucker, I also like the chiming quality that single coils can exhibit sound-wise.

[Stringswinger]

Full size Humbuckers or DeArmond single coils for me....I like a warm, fat tone.

Mini Humbuckers and Strat single coils are too bright and thin to my ears.

P-90's are thick enough, but are a bit too bright for my taste.

[John A.]

I have both and like both. It's hard for me to compare, though, because the different pickup types I have are in very different guitars, and I haven't experimented with pickups in these guitars. The one thing I don't like about SC's is the buzz/noise (which can be pretty bad with P90s), and I definitely prefer that aspect of HB's.

John

[plinko]

I like the full tone of a humbucker, but tend to like some of the more modern interpretations, like a Lollar Low Wind Imperial.

[neatomic]

single coils for me...humbuckers buck hum by subtracting from the overall tone...single coils give it to you all..including hum!! haha


i like dearmond dynasonics, jazzmaster and gibby alnico v's....all single coil with actual magnets for polepieces..rich full sound..& very responsive


cheers

[fep]

Can't answer, I like them both, two different voices.

[Spook410]

I have commitment issues. I like Seymour Duncan P-Rails.

[guavajelly]

It's a multiple choice poll for a reason.

Speaking of myself, different pickups work different in different contexts. For example I played my Eastman with a mini humbucker until I (re-) discovered the tele neck pickup – which went with a shift of style and eventually genre. Played telecasters for like 10 years. But in my organ trio (soul-jazz and funk) the tele did not quite cut it so I started using semis. The obvious thing was to use semis with buckers – an Ibanez JSM and eventually a Gibson 335 – but I wasn't totally happy, neither with the semi nor with the buckers. So I tried a Gibson 330 which is fully hollow and has the wonderful P90s which I like a lot better. Then my wonderful wife gifted me with an Ibanez GB with the mini humbuckers – which I love as much or even a bit more. I will try to put an underwound fullsize humbucker pickup into my Ibanez AG75 anyway – I just like that little cheap guitar. But I think that single coils (I still use a tele when playing blues) and the mini humbuckers are for me Maybe it's the narrow magnetic field which make them brighter and more precise?

[Fred Archtop]

Depends on the music I have to play, but for classic jazz tone I prefer a real Charlie Christian pick up.

Cheers.

[icr]

Humbuckers for sure. I do own some single coil semi and hollow guitars, but I'd not take them out to play. I think one has to have some special dedication to managing the nuances and drawbacks of vintage single coil archtops and tube amps to make it work in a contemporary live setting. For example, I have a lot of respect for campus five, he acutally plays out with equipment I just own for fun.

[339 in june]

Different types of pick-ups are one of the way to justify to have more guitars in your shed

[entresz]

Single coils all the way for me - not a fan of humbuckers. Dynasonics, P90s, Charlie Christians are my favourites. I play more old school jazz so it's those vintage sounds of the 40's and 50's that I really like. The hum etc. can be a pain but it's a small price to pay for having the tone I want.

I find humbuckers a bit muddy and bland sounding personally... some are better than others though. I really like the Bill Lawrence L-90, it has a lot more high-end content than the typical PAF so in some ways it's a bit more single coil-like... not harsh or anything, just clear sounding.

[neatomic]

yeah original huge double magnet 3 body screw cc pup or the modern uk made ones are top stuff...

(all others beware)

classic and unique tone...thick wire, and huge magnetic aperture...



cheers

[Cunamara]

There is this slight phase cancellation with humbuckers that I find just a little annoying when I use them, but I hear so many other people sound great with the same pickups. Don't know why I don't. I have found some stacked humbuckers that I like, though (Dimarzio Area Ts, Wilde LS280) which seem not to have as much of the phase cancellation problem. I also like P90s and my pseudo-CC pickups from Pete Biltoft, as well as standard Tele neck pickups. Strat single coils less so, though- the glassy tone is not quite my thing, but I've heard others sound just great with them. I might be too critical for my own good with my sound...

[vintagelove]

Humbuckers, they’re quiet.

[mr. beaumont]

I'm a both too. Actually, I couldn't imagine not having guitars with both options.

I guess if I nitpicked, I'd lean slightly "single coil" in terms of tone, but performing with humbuckers is so much easier, and there's something to be said for that "hollowbody with a neck humbucker" jazz tone that's only been used, say, a billion times...because it sounds great.

[medblues]

I like humbuckers that can be split :-)

e.g. Seymour Duncan Stag Mag on my Tele or P-Rails (someone already mentioned this)

[cosmic gumbo]

They all sound good when you dial in the sweet spot.

[neatomic]

They all sound good when you dial in the sweet spot.

very true...but then it becomes which give you the largest area of sweet spots!! haha

cheers