What is the difference between single coil & humbucker pickups?

The single coil pickup is more commonly associated with the Stratocaster (shown in the diagram). The sound it produces is less powerful than a humbucker and is often quoted as being 'brighter' sounding and more refined. The single coil suffers from an inherent background hum but this is widely accepted as 'part of the single coil sound'. The stratocaster usually has 3 single coil pickups which can be turned on and off via the pickup selector switch. The humbucker pickup is often associated with the Les Paul guitar . The humbucker has a powerful 'fatter' sound that will help notes sustain. The thicker creamier texture of the humbucker sound lends itself well to warm jazz lines through to wailing rock solos. The humbucker (as the name implies) does not have the same background noise as associated with the single coil. The most common mixture of single coil and humbucker is the same as the diagram with 2 single coil pickups (1 in the neck and 1 in the mid position) and 1 humbucker in the bridge position. This gives a nice blend of classic single coil tones with a powerful bridge pickup for lead lines. SEE MORE QUESTIONS
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