Best pickups for clean sound

[JoelToTheMax]

Which pickups are the best for a clean sound? and what kind of coil single coil humbucker etc, thanks alot

[Lu_B]

Welcome to the board!

You should get a wide variety of opinions on this one. There is no best as such as everyones ears, tastes, guitars, amps etc are different. Out of my gear I like the single coil SSL1 set in my Japanese Strat best for cleans.

[Dave_Mcpherson]

I love the '59 neck for it's bassy smooth tone, once your roll off the tone a little bit..and also the Jazz neck in my alder-bodied SG, very articulate!

[Baby Evil]

The Vintage Rails in my strat are the best I've had so far, and I get a lot of compliments on that tone.

Jan

[ModestCargo]

It's personal preference but IMO nothing beats a Strat or Tele with vintage type single coils for clean sounds.

Better be running it through an old blackface/silverface Fender amp too!

[Sludgenutz]

Single coils are better for "clean sound". Not only do they usually send a nice, gentler signal to the amplifier, the actual pickup itself samples a narrower band of string movements. The two coils of a typical humbucker sample string frequencies from a wider perspective, and generally sound "thicker".

Also, single coil pickups generally sound more open and "airy", due to the electrical properties of any coil of wire. The more winds of copper wire you turn on a pickup, the less treble can generate/pass through it. Humbucking pickups generally have more turns of wire, so they quench the highs and sound thicker with higher output.

The magnet component of pickups make things complex, but generally if you are looking for a "clean sound", you are probably better off looking at single coil pickups.

[Zhangliqun]

An odd restriction. My philosophy has always been that if it sounds good clean, it'll sound good in crunch time.