P90 PickupsĪlthough certainly not quite as commonly used as a humbucker or single coil pickups, P90 guitar pickups have been around since the 1950s, first used in early Gibson electric guitars, and are technically a specific type of a single coil pickup. You will find these configurations on a lot of modern rock guitars like the Ibanez JEM guitar. Another common configuration is humbucker – single coil – humbucker, or even single coil – humbucker – single coil. In most cases, the single coil pickups will be on the neck and middle positions while the humbucker pickups are on the bridge. In many modern rock or fusion genres, many guitarists like to mix and match both humbucker and single coil pickups. You will find almost all the iconic hollow body and semi body guitars like Gibson ES-335 or D’angelico guitars are all equipped with humbuckers for both neck and bridge pickups. In fact, humbuckers and hollow-body guitars are inseparable from each other.
#Single coil vs humbucker vs p90 full
Because humbuckers provide such a full sound, humbuckers on neck pickup position will provide a desirable jazz guitar tone. Humbuckers are also the most popular pickup choice for jazz music as well. From classic rock, hard rock, and hardcore metal music, humbuckers are often the obvious first choice for guitarists. The humbuckers also have full, thick, and loud tones that are inseparable from genres like rock and blues. Compared with single coil pickups, humbuckers are known to have strong output and are generally “hot” pickups.
As the name suggests, Humbuckers are wound in a way in which they cancel out hum. Humbucker pickups are considered the most popular type of pickups alongside single coil pickups, and they are also very versatile pickups that can be applied to many different genres. And because of their affordable price and great reliability, single coil pickups are great choices if you’re thinking of getting a guitar pickup. They can really be used for everything from rhythm guitar to lead guitar, and anything in-between. Single coil pickups provide such a wide palette of sounds, and especially when paired with different guitars, the possibilities are endless. The 2nd and 4th positions also have their own distinguishable tone, and they are often used for funky guitar playing. The cutting nature of the pickup position makes it ideal for leads and solos. Therefore, many use the bridge pickup for rock, hard rock, and metal. Lastly, the bridge pickup position is the strongest of them all, and it provides the most cutting and biting tone of all the single coil pickup positions. It’s often used in funk music and sometimes in rock and blues as well. The middle pickup has a very unique tone which is literally in-between neck and bridge pickup both physically located as well as tone-wise. It’s also a great place to find your go-to clean sound as well. You can play genres like blues, jazz, pop, RnB, and rock with the neck pickup. The neck pickup position with single coil pickup has a relatively warm and silky tone. One of the more common single coil pickup configurations is the Stratocaster style with a pickup in the neck, middle, and bridge positions each different in characteristics that can be utilized for various tones and music across different musical styles. When compared to humbuckers, single coil pickups are not as “hot” when it comes to the overall output. Single coil pickups generally have a bright, biting, cutting, and even gritty tone when mixed with some drive. I can't even really name a favorite, but on any given day, I like the P90s as much as any of 'em.Single coil pickups are probably the most widely used across different styles of and with all levels of guitarists. But in the past year, since i started playing a lot again after many many years of barely playing at all, I've found that I love strats as much as I ever did, but I've also developed a taste for humbuckers and P90s. I had a set in an old Firebird I had in the early '80s, but never liked the neck on that guitar so I never really had a chance to learn to appreciate the pickups. I'm new to them or at least to liking them. Not as smooth as a humbucker, a little easier to play with just a bit of dirt. Growl is the term I keep coming back to - they've got a lot of midrange and they sound awesome clean or with just a bit of drive. I guess you could think of them as kind of a midpoint, a lot fuller, throatier, more growl than a strat or tele single coil, more midrange and easier breakup than a humbucker. I can't talk about the technical aspects of 'em, but P90s definitely have their own sound, unique from single coils or humbuckers.