pickups 101

[varunkapahi]

am sorry if theres a thread like this already but i was just trying to find out a bunch of things and thought, why dont we have a one single thread explaining all popular TYPES of pickups?
so there could be an explanation for basic single coil v/s dual coil and then all the variations of each type?

anyway i had to ask,

1.whats the difference between humcancelling pu's and humbuckers?
w.how is a soapbar different from the two above?
3.do stacked and split humcancelling jazz pu's sound very different?
4.would a split coil humcancelling jazz pu sound like a p pickup!?

thank you

[lindseyp]

I'll start off with your first question.

1.whats the difference between humcancelling pu's and humbuckers?

Two phrases for the same thing. Two coils are used to cancel or "buck" hum.

2.how is a soapbar different from the two above?

In guitars a soapbar pickup was a large, higher output single coil pickup.
Someone else will have to help with the other two questions, although I can say I have a couple of guitars with "noiseless" single coil pickups by different manufacturers which use two coils for one magnet to give a single coil sound with little to no hum. They work by varying degrees to sound like true single coil pickups.

[Stealth]

1. A humcancelling pickup is also called a humbucker, there's no difference between the two. Two names for the same thing.
2. A soapbar isn't a pickup type - it can be a singlecoil or a humbucker, but the name soapbar means just its physical size, e.g. it's not a Precision, Jazz, MusicMan or "mudbucker"-size pickup.
3. Stacked and split humcancelling J-pickups usually sound different because the coils aren't positioned the same, and depending on how they pick up the strings' sound, they will give a different output and tone. As to how much they're different, trust your ears - some can hear a difference, some don't (or ignore it).
4. A split-coil Jazz pickup won't sound like a P pickup for three reasons. First, the split-coil Jazz coils are in-line, they're not vertically offset like the P so they don't sense the string in the same spot. Second, the P pickup coils are much wider than Jazz coils, so they sense a bigger area of the string giving them a mellower tone. Third, P pickups are shallower (squatter) so that gives them a deeper sound.

[OOZMAN]

Originally Posted by Stealth

2. A soapbar isn't a pickup type - it can be a singlecoil or a humbucker, but the name soapbar means just its physical size, e.g. it's not a Precision, Jazz, MusicMan or "mudbucker"-size pickup.

On that note, what is a musicman pup? I know what it looks like, but I'm not quite sure of the anatomy. Is it anything like a humbucker?

[Luis Fabara]

The Musicman is a dual coil, humbucker, usually wired in parallel bor that bright tone.

The sterling uses a 3 coil. ( dual coil humbucker, plus a dummy coil.) that allows one of the coils to be used alone without hum. it is wired: Series, Parallel/ Single coil, on the sterling.

[varunkapahi]

thanks