To offset the interference in single coil pickup design, humbucker pickups use two coils. The reason for the noise-less single coils is due to the classic design where the pickup would pick up interference and hum, hence the term humbucking (hum canceling).
![single coil vs humbucker frequency response single coil vs humbucker frequency response](https://veevarguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/pickups-3-768x544.jpg)
If you listen to old-school country and rock music, the tone of the single coil pickup is unmistakable. They tend to be narrow, but are loved for their higher frequency response (when compared to humbuckers). Nevertheless, these humbuckers may be useful for Jazz, Blues etc. The main pickup designs are single coil, humbuckers and now humbucking single coils. Single coil pickups consist of either a single central magnet or separate magnets beneath each string. I measured one set of Epiphone Humbuckers without any potentionmeter load (“CH 57” from an Epiphone Dot VS, see below possibly the same model named “Alnico Classic” in other Epiphones guitars), but even without any load, there was hardly any resonance peak.Īs a consequence, even using 500kOhm or no-load pots in your guitar, you won’t get a typical Gibson humbucker resonance sound with the Epiphone pickups measured here. While single-coils are usually called 'glassy.
![single coil vs humbucker frequency response single coil vs humbucker frequency response](https://prosoundhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/p90-pickups-800x500.jpg)
That makes them great for blues and funk (and most 'clean' tones), but poor for hard rock and metal, where their noise gets compressed and amplified and high-end shimmer makes for a gritty sounding distortion. The non-resonant behaviour may result from the metal covers of the pickups. In general, single-coils are noisier and glassier (have more shimmer in their high-end) than humbuckers. This makes these pickups somehow mellow, lifeless and muddy compared to Gibson Les Paul humbuckers. I do it routinely on inexpensive pickups with metal covers. Look up Antigua Tele's frequency response curves in TDPRI.
![single coil vs humbucker frequency response single coil vs humbucker frequency response](https://tonetopics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Webp.net-resizeimage-45.jpg)
This extra output from HBs takes away some high frequency response (treble), so there's less detail in their sound - the notes are there, but the strings don't 'shimmer and shine' as much. On a clean amp, single-coils are noticeably quieter at the same volume setting. Epiphone pickups seem to not show any resonance peak at all, but only a treble roll off, when measured in the guitars listed below. It can work wonders if it is made of plated brass. First, humbuckers output a louder signal.