humbucker

A humbucker, or humbucking pickup, is a type of electric guitar pickup designed to suppress electrical hum and other electromagnetic interference. It achieves this with two coil-and-magnet assemblies in a single housing. The coils are wired in series with opposite magnetic polarity and reverse winding; hum induced by ambient electronics appears in both coils and cancels in the combined output, while the string’s signal is reinforced.

History and use: Developed in the mid-1950s by Gibson's Seth Lover to replace the noisy single-coil P-90 pickups in some Les Paul models, the original design became known as the PAF (Patent Applied For). The approach quickly spread and remains common across many guitar styles, from jazz to rock and metal.

Construction and tone: Most humbuckers are passive, consisting of two coils and magnets (commonly alnico or ceramic) wired in series. The result is a thicker, warmer, and higher-output tone with reduced hum compared to single-coil pickups. Active humbuckers add a built-in preamp and require a battery, offering higher output and more consistent EQ control.

Variants and options: Modern designs feature four-conductor wiring to enable coil-splitting (producing a single-coil-like tone), series/parallel switching, or phase reversal for out-of-phase tones. There are also mini-humbuckers and various brand-specific variants aimed at different tonal preferences.