elRayo Guitarworks carries a wide variety of pickups for any type of guitar. In order to choose the right pickup for your guitar, this primer explains some of the basic differences between pickups. If you have any questions regarding pickups, email us.

Single Coils, P-90's, and Humbuckers

These three pickup designs constitute the majority of pickups available. While magnetic pickups for guitars had been in existence and use since the 30's, the beginning of the 50's saw the wide spread use of these three designs, forever changing the history of guitar amplification.

Single coils have been around longest and are seen predominantly in Stratocaster and Telecaster style guitars. The tone from pickups can be described as "sparkly" (strong treble response) and "hollow" (reduced midrange response). Single coil pickups tend to suffer from an electronic 60-cycle hum that is greatly affected by lighting and electronic devices. Some of the great rock and blues guitarists associated with single coils are Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour and 70's era Eric Clapton.

Gibson also developed their own version of the single coil during the 50's: the P-90. The P-90 was in many ways an overgrown single coil, featuring a larger design, magnet, and more coil turns when compared to single coils. P-90's have more output than a single coil, but less than a humbucker. The midrange response is increased compared to single coils, but maintain much of the treble that is lost to humbucking designs. P-90's are sometimes described as more "rude" or "raw" when compared to single coils due to the increased midrange and output. Les Paul Juniors, older hollowbody designs, some SG's, and some more modern Tele-Deluxe guitars feature these pickups. Some great P-90 sounds can be heard from Santana's first couple of albums and the Woodstock recording, Leslie West of Mountain, and Pete Townsend's early tones with the Who.