{"id":2679,"date":"2018-04-24T12:31:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T20:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lollarguitars.com\/blog\/?p=2679"},"modified":"2022-03-22T14:08:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T22:08:10","slug":"a-humbucker-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lollarguitars.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/a-humbucker-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"A Humbucker By Any Other Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This is probably what you pictured when you read the word “humbucker”…<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The term humbucker<\/em> probably brings to mind the \u201cGibson\u201d sound, or rather \u2013 and more specifically \u2013  the \u201cPatent Applied For\u201d or \u201cP.A.F.\u201d sound. The pickups made by Gibson in this narrow time frame, spanning from the late ’50s to early ’60s (though the patent was officially awarded in 1959) have become synonymous with what a humbucker “should” sound like. Never mind the fact that rarely would you ever find two P.A.F.-era pickups that share the same exact sound, but that\u2019s a whole other topic unto itself. Because of this, what is now considered a traditional humbucker has become as much form as it is function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The reality is that there are countless pickups that are, by definition, humbuckers, and many don\u2019t even look anything like the image likely floating around in your imagination when you hear the term. Any pickup that is designed to reject hum (60 cycle, 120 cycle, etc.) is a humbucker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The basic construction of a “traditional” humbucker style pickup hasn’t changed much over the years, but the various recipes yield vast differences in tone.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Because of the confusion in the moniker alone, it\u2019s no wonder that many might assume that two pickups that appear to be identical would sound the same, but they may very well be mistaken. There\u2019s more than meets the eye, as you will see\u2026 er\u2026 hear\u2026 Our friend, Jeff Senn, has made this great video to demonstrate the differences between several of our humbucker models; though similar in execution, the dB, Imperial, and El Rayo humbuckers all feature various different design elements throughout, offering totally different tonal result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the making of the video, Jeff installed the pickups into the same guitar, using all the same components, signal chain, amp, and settings to give the most parallel comparisons between the various pickups and to offer the best possible frame of reference when contrasting the different strengths of each model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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