It all came about when applying the principles of “common-mode rejection,” which is essentially an electrical device’s tendency to reject the same common signals coming from two different leads. Humbuckers were invented to take care of just that.
When pickups pick up the string’s vibration they also pick up some of this interference, and although it might be slight at first, the more this signal goes through other electrical devices such as an effects pedal or amplifier, the more the interference itself is amplified, resulting in a very noticeable hum from the amplifier during the silent sections of songs while the guitar is not in play. The interference can come from anything that uses alternating magnetic fields such as transformers and power supplies – pretty much most things that are electrical. One of the earliest problems with the electric guitar single coil pickup has always been their propensity of being affected by electrical interferences. Sometimes there might be a pre amplifier that is located between the actual pickup and the output cable which is used to give the signal a certain trait or effect (usually band EQ, compressors or signal amplifiers) before it is sent out through the guitar cable and into the amp in which case it’s referred to as an active pickup, although these are far more prevalent in electric basses as opposed to guitars. That signal created is what is sent over to the amplifier through the guitar cable. Basically, this means that plucking a guitar string causes a magnetic shove of sorts to the copper in the pickups which then causes the magnetism in the copper to push back a magnetic signal of its own (we’ve all played with magnets and noticed how they push back if you have them facing a certain way, same thing). When a string is plucked, the inherent magnetism of the vibrating metallic string (usually nickel plated) causes a modulation, or change in frequency, in the magnetic field of the coil which then creates an alternating current that is sent over as an electrical signal to the amplifier (or anything else in between your guitar and amp). So, here’s the question: do you know the key differences between a humbucker and a single coil pickup? Are they interchangeable on any guitar? What are some important differences as far as sound and tone goes? And finally, which one is fight for you? All of the veterans out there can take a break on this one as they probably already learned this a while back, but for the rest of you out there, let’s get some answers.įor those of you unfamiliar with the workings of a standard electric guitar pickup – also known as a single coil for all intents and purposes – they consist of a magnet that is wrapped around thousands of times with copper wire, creating a coil around the magnet and as any of your science major friends can tell you, wrapping a metal coil around a magnet creates a magnetic field, and one that can be measured and altered. This article doubly important for those newbies out there who are in the middle of trying to buy a brand new axe. Alright, this one is going to be for all of the newbie guitarists out there who need a crash-course on some of the very important essentials when it comes to electric guitars. How’s it been, music fans? For our guests coming in from the east coast, hopefully everything is going smoothly after the devastation that was brought by Sandy and life can get a bit easier once again.
TV JONES TV Classic Plus-HB Humbucker Mount