Are you confused by all the different types of single-coil pickups? You’re not alone. So we thought we’d do a deep dive into some of the most popular ’60s Fender-style single-coil pickup designs. We find these 60-year-old designs fascinating and hope you will too. We’ll discuss each of these pickups’ history and their unique sounds. We’ll also take a look at how their construction differentiates them from the others.

Traits every single-coil pickup has in common

There are seemingly infinite types of single-coil pickups. And each seems to have a million offshoots. From Gibson’s original P90s to modern, active pickups, it never ends. Understanding them all gets more complex with the boatloads of myths and inaccuracies floating around the internet. But you may be surprised to find how similar most of them are.

Every true single-coil pickup is just that, an electric guitar pickup made with a single coil of wire. But it’s how that coil interacts with the other pickup components that gives them their signature tone.

Those components include:

• A bobbin
• A magnet or magnets
• A coil of copper wire
• Pole pieces (magnets, screws, or slugs)

Bobbin

A bobbin is a structural piece that holds the pickup together. Often made of plastic, wire is coiled around it like a spool of thread.

Magnets

A pickup’s magnet(s) are either in bar or pole-piece form (more on that in a minute). They create the magnetic field around your guitar’s strings. When your strings vibrate within this field, it’s turned into an electric signal by the pickup coil.

Alnico magnets and ceramic magnets are the two most common magnet types used. Each offers unique tonal qualities and output characteristics.

Copper Coil

Inside of nearly all pickups is a coil of copper wire that is wound thousands of times around the bobbin. The wire is responsible for taking the magnetic vibrations of your strings and translating them into an electric signal. Everything from the wire material to the wire gauge impacts the pickup’s tone.

Pole pieces, screws, slugs

Pickups feature either pole pieces, screws, or slugs, or a combination of them. They are the string’s direct link to the rest of the pickup. They’re either magnetized by an additional bar magnet or made from magnets themselves.

Dissecting 6 Famous Fender-style Single-Coil Pickups

All of the following pickups use the above components. But that’s where their similarities end. Even though many look similar, they combine these elements in different ways to achieve unique sounds that have remained favorites through the decades.

So without further ado, let’s jump into six of the most popular Fender single-coil pickups from the 1960s.

• Telecaster Bridge
• Telecaster Neck
• Stratocaster
• Jazzmaster
• Jaguar
• Mustang / DuoSonic

Telecaster

From their legendary country twang to smokey blues, jazz to straight-up rock, Fender Telecaster single-coil pickups do it all. Maybe that’s why players as diverse as Prince, The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, and Brad Paisley swear by them.

Though many pickups come from these original designs, Teles are very different from other single coils. Not only that, but a Telecaster bridge and neck pickup are also very different from each other.

Bridge

The Telecaster Bridge pickup’s snap, snarl, and twang are the soul of all T-style electric guitars. They look a lot like a Stratocaster bridge pickup, but boast a sound all their own. And it all comes down to construction.

Traditionally, a Telecaster bridge pickup mounts to a metal bridge plate with three mounting screws. The screws then thread through a steel plate at the base of the pickup. While the tonal nuance of pickup mounting is up for debate, attaching a magnetic pickup to two metal plates and the guitar’s bridge makes a big difference.

Also, the bobbin of a Tele bridge pickup is relatively large compared with the other types of single-coil pickups. This allows for more windings of thicker-gauge wire around the bobbin. As a general rule, this results in a punchy sound with increased output.

Tech Tips:

Discussing pickup output can be relative. In this article, we’re talking about vintage pickup designs. So what qualifies as higher or lower output is relative to each pickup.

Tele bridge pickups feature magnetic pole pieces. They are inserted vertically down the middle of the pickup and are placed one under each string. This is all very similar to the next pickup on the list. But Tele bridge pickups are hiding a secret.

When designing a pickup for the Telecaster’s bridge position, Leo Fender added a steel plate to the bottom of the pickup. He did this for two main reasons: It plays a role in shielding the pickup and keeping noise down, and it interacts with and focuses the pickup’s magnetic field. This can increase the magnets’ overall output and is the secret to that incredible twang.

Neck

Many T-style players never venture off the Tele’s bridge pickup. But those who do flip to the neck are greeted with a classic, single-coil tone all its own.

Initially designed for jazz tones, Telecaster neck pickups are warmer and rounder than many other types of single-coil pickups. Flip to the neck, roll off your tone a bit, and you’ll discover some smokey blues and jazz tones that no other single-coil can touch.

A great example of this is Brad Paisley’s tune “Les is More” from his instrumental album, Play. Without knowing any better, you’d think he was playing a big ‘ole jazz box. But nope! That’s Paisley’s trusty Tele.

So how does such a small single-coil create these sounds?

It’s all thanks to the pickup’s size. Though constructed similarly to the bridge pickup (sans the steel base plate), Tele neck pickups are much narrower and taller. Traditionally, this necessitated the use of smaller, 43-gauge, plain-enamel copper wire. The pickup’s pole pieces are then flat-mounted and covered with the pickup’s trademark chrome pickup cover.

Each one of these details culminates in a midrange-forward pickup with plenty of its own character and clarity.

Stratocaster

When guitar players mention single-coil electric guitar pickups, Fender Stratocaster pickups are generally what come to mind. That’s what happens when a design from the 1950s remains essentially unchanged today. In fact, Stratocaster pickups’ bell-like tone, clear top end, and incredible flexibility define the single-coil sound and are among the bestselling pickups ever.

You’ll find them used by everyone, from heavy metal and hard rock greats like Iron Maiden to blues legends like Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan. They were the go-to pickups for rock originators like Buddy Holly, and of course, we have to mention Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour. Today Stratocaster pickups are still pushing boundaries with bands like Biffy Clyro. And H.E.R. even used them to kick off Super Bowl LV.

So what’s the magic behind these pickups’ notoriety? There’s no magic. It still comes down to the same elements mentioned above, just tweaked a bit.

Based around the Telecaster pickups that came before, Strat single-coils part ways with them in a few ways. Their bobbin is slightly larger than a Tele neck pickup, allowing more windings of thicker-gauge wire. And the Strat pickups’ magnetic pole pieces aren’t influenced by a steel bridge plate. This results in a wider magnetic field and a mellower sound.

These Fender single-coil pickups are also the only ones on the list to come as a trio, adding a middle pickup. This gives Strat single-coils a palette of different tones that are among the most recorded guitar tones in history. And because they pair wonderfully with other styles of pickups—especially in a classic HSS setup with a humbucker in the bridge position—there’s no end to what this style of Fender single-coil pickup can do.

Jazzmaster

The Fender Jazzmaster single-coil is the most unique in terms of look and construction. Like many Fender single-coils, they were designed for jazz but still excel at everything else. Their sound is big and warm while also retaining Fender’s trademark clarity. And they often feature a lower output and all of the accompanying traits. That is why they’re often paired with 1 Meg potentiometers, which allow their wide frequency range to hit your amp in all its glory.

While many confuse Fender Jazzmaster single-coils with Gibson’s P90 pickups, they couldn’t be more different. While still a true single-coil, P90s actually share more in common with humbucker pickups. They have steel screws or pole pieces that meet a bar magnet at the bottom of a larger bobbin. This bobbin allows for a lot of windings and the use of thicker copper wire. It’s how P90s get their higher output and gorgeous midrange bark.

With Jazzmaster pickups, Fender’s goal was much different. They wanted to give their top-of-the-line Jazzmaster pickup a warmer tone, more flexibility, and more detailed highs than their Teles or Stratocasters before.

They accomplished this with very wide and shallow bobbins and magnetic pole pieces. This “pancaked” bobbin necessitates spreading the copper windings out over a wider area and restricting the number of windings. As you can imagine, the spread coil throws the Jazzmaster single-coil’s magnetic field over a wide string area, capturing a wider array of frequencies.

As mentioned above, to articulate these new frequencies, Fender paired Jazzmaster single-coil pickups with 1 Meg pots. These highly rated potentiometers allow the maximum amount of frequency response and electrical signal to pass through your guitar. So if you want vintage Jazzmaster tone with all of the chime, snap, and warmth, 1 Meg pots are the way to go.

Jaguar

The unsung hero of Fender’s 1960s electric guitar lineup is probably the Jaguar. Today it’s often relegated to surf and alternative rock bands. But that doesn’t mean that traditional Jaguars are without their modern devotees. Players like Johnny Marr have proudly slung Jaguars across their shoulders for decades.

Upon its release, the Jaguar was to be Fender’s top-tier, bold-sounding electric guitar. It featured a more aggressive tone than the Jazzmaster and was perfect for rock ‘n’ roll and country twang.

Fender utilized many ground-breaking designs to arrive at this sound, including complex electronics, a shorter scale length, and two unique pickups.

Well, kind of unique.

Jaguar and Stratocaster pickups are actually very similar. While there’s a bit of difference in their covers and dimensions, their internal structure is pretty much identical. But Leo Fender wanted more. He wanted something with attitude. And he found his answer in the Jaguar pickup’s trademark metal claw.

These bold-looking pickup surrounds give Jaguar single-coils their immediately identifiable appearance. But they’re much more than a visual cue. Fender discovered that, by dropping the pickup into these notched metal pieces, he manipulated their magnetic field. It became more focused and delivered more midrange growl than a Strat. While the output didn’t actually change, Jaguar single-coils seemed to hit harder than his other designs.

Today, the Jaguar pickup is largely unchanged. Like other types of single-coil pickups, you can find models with varying output levels and voices. But when it comes down to it, you’re still playing a tough-sounding Strat pickup in a metal claw.

Mustang / Duo-Sonic

Who would have ever thought that two bottom-dollar, student-level electric guitars would go on to the notoriety of the Fender Mustang and Duo-Sonic? How in the heck did these starter instruments rise to the level of bonafide classics?

A lot of it has to do with their unique single-coil pickups.

As soon as you grab one of these guitars, you notice that everything seems a bit different. The body is more petite, the scale length is shorter, and even the plastic-covered pickups sound stringier and weaker. That’s precisely why people love them.

Though they were less expensive to produce in the 1960s, the Mustang and Duo-Sonic single-coil pickups were still very carefully designed. Their basic structure is similar to Fender’s other 1960s single-coils: You have a bobbin, copper wire, and magnetic pole pieces. But utilizing such a small bobbin also means using fewer windings of thinner wire. And fewer windings of thinner wire means less output and that trademark stringy sound.

Tech Tips:

When first designed, Fender found the pickups’ magnets made a terrible racket when touched. Hence the protective plastic covers that give them their legendary look.

The pickups are just one of these guitars’ unique traits. Their 24″ scale length, switching, and bridge designs also play a significant role in why swaths of offset-loving guitarists worldwide still clamor for these “budget” electric guitars.

There are so many different types of single-coil pickups that it’s hard to keep them all straight. But many can be traced back to these Fender single-coil pickups of the 1960s. Hopefully, this article answers your questions about their differences and guides you toward the best single-coil pickups for your guitar.

If you have any other questions about swapping your stock pickups for other types of single-coil pickups, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Also, don’t forget to dig into the rest of the Seymour Duncan blog. There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a whole lot more.

So much of That Great Gretsch Sound comes from the great Gretsch-style pickups. Yet as legendary as they are, they’re also often overlooked. DynaSonic and Filter’Tron pickups are perfect examples. These two pickups are responsible for thousands of legendary guitar tones. They’re the undisputed kings of rockabilly guitar. And their history runs parallel to better-known Gibson PAF humbuckers and Fender-style single coils. But P90s also share a similar, twangy history and a similar sound. So how do you differentiate them, and what can you expect from the different designs? We’re here to answer these questions and more.

We’ve all heard the pickup debates, “DynaSonic vs. Filter’Tron pickups,” or “Filter’Tron pickups vs. P90s.” Yet, while some players scrutinize every detail of their chime, attitude, and clarity, many get these pickups mixed up.

Though each one sounds different, they look different, are different sizes, and boast very different builds, this confusion is very common. Making things more complicated, hundreds of Gretsch-style pickup options are available today, ranging from different pickup housings and output levels to retrofit sizes and more.

Here we’ll dig into three of these popular twang machines. We’ll dissect the DeArmond DynaSonic, the Filter’Tron, and the Gibson P90. We’ll discuss each’s history, their unique construction and suggest a few modern versions of each.

DynaSonic

DynaSonic single-coils are some of the first Gretsch pickups. Originally they were known as the Gretsch DeArmond Fidelitone, later adopting the more popular name DynaSonic. And as soon as you look at its mini humbucker-sized cover, you can tell it’s unique. But don’t let its size fool you.

The DynaSonic is in every way a proper single coil pickup. That means there is only one bobbin and one coil of copper wire. The pickup is wider because the DynaSonic places a thick Alnico 5 bar magnet to the side of the bobbin instead of using magnetic pole pieces like most single coils. That magnet magnetizes the steel spacer between itself and the bobbin then transfers it through a single row of adjustable pole pieces. Interestingly, the DynaSonic was the first pickup that featured this user-adjustable design.

Whether in the bridge position or the neck position, the sound of a DynaSonic pickup is big and glassy and completely their own sound. And it’s their classic bright tone that makes Gretsch guitars favorites for gorgeous cleans. But because they are vintage-style single coils, they can get noisy and unruly at higher gain levels. Then again, that’s also why many players think they’re such great pickups.

Seymour Duncan DynaSonic-style pickups

• Duncan Dyno
• Dyno bucker

Filter’Tron

As beloved as DynaSonic pickups are, they are noisy. So in the 1950s, Gretsch engineer Ray Butts set out to solve this. The fruit of his labor was the first humbucking pickup ever, the iconic Gretsch Filter’Tron. You read that right. The Filter’Tron actually preceded Gibson’s PAF. But Gibson beat Gretsch to the patent office, claiming their design to be first.

Filter’Trons were a success. Not only did they significantly reduce the DynaSonic-plaguing 60-cycle hum, but they featured added midrange heft and punch. Best of all, they still retained all of the top-end chime and detail that people expect from Gretsch-style pickups.

If you open Filter’Tron humbucker up, you’ll find they share a similar design concept to the Gibson-style design. There are two bobbins, each with its own coil of copper wire, screwed in pole pieces (though the Filter’Tron utilizes two rows of screws instead of screws and steel slugs), a bar magnet, and a metal housing. But the Filter’Tron’s compact dimensions, added screws, compression fit, and larger magnet give them more aggression, twang, and punch.

Their perfect mix of clarity and punch continues to make Filter’Tron humbucking pickups a go-to option for players worldwide. You’ll often see them used in genres as diverse as modern worship, rockabilly and surf, jazz, and even hard rock. But listen to Gretsch players like Brian Setzer dig into some lead guitar and you’ll immediately understand what the fuss is about.

Seymour Duncan Filter’Tron-style pickups

• Psyclone Vintage
• Psyclone Hot
• Psyclone Humbucker

P90

Like DynaSonics were to Filter’Tron pickups, the Gibson P-90 pickups were the precursor to Gibson’s famous humbucker. Being such an early design, they were, at one point, the only electric guitar pickup Gibson had. That’s why you’ll find them and everything from vintage jazz boxes like the ES-295 to rugged rock machines like Les Paul Special and SG Junior solid body guitar. Fitting the P90 to all of these different guitar bodies required multiple mounting methods, which is where their famed dog-ear and soapbar mount originated.

In terms of construction, you can think of Gibson P90s as surprisingly close to Gibson humbuckers. In fact, Gibson humbuckers are essentially P90s that have been split down the middle and rewound onto two coils. The original versions of both had the same amount of copper wire and the same magnets. P90s just had it all on one bobbin.

It surprises many people that Gibson’s P90 single-coils often have a higher output than genuine PAF humbuckers. It’s at the core of the P90’s aggressive midrange bark and responsive dynamics. It’s also the reason these pickups are often extremely noisy and a bit unruly.

So why do we consider P90s Gretsch-style pickups? It’s all in the way they twang.

For players looking for a little extra muscle with their single-coil tones, it usually comes down to DynaSonics vs. Filter’Tron pickups or Filter’Tron pickups vs. P90s. And though P90s were always a Gibson thing, they have just as much of the added midrange heft and stringy top end that Gretsch fans crave.

Tech Tips:

Today there are a lot of direct replacement P90 designs which offer various sizes and ways to combat the noise. One of our favorite of these pickup types is our PhatCat which places the P90 design into a humbucker-sized housing. It’s a great way to get P90 tone out of an otherwise humbucker-equipped guitar. There are also pickups like our P-Rails which deliver authentic P90, standard single-coil, and humbucking tones all from the same pickup.

Seymour Duncan P90-style Pickups

• Vintage P90
• Antiquity P90
• Hot P90
• Custom P90
• Stack P90

Nothing will ever replace standard humbucker and single-coil pickup designs. But there’s a world of other pickups that have carved out their own place in electric guitar history. The Filter’Tron, DynaSonic, and Gibson P90 are perfect examples. Hopefully, this article gave you a better understanding of what makes each of these pickups so popular, how they differ from each other, and which ones are the best fit for your guitar.

If you have any other questions about our Psyclones, Dynos, P90s, or another Gretsch-style pickup upgrade, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Also, don’t forget to dig into the rest of the Seymour Duncan blog. There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a whole lot more.

To understand Rickenbacker bass pickups, you have to travel back to the company’s genesis in the early 1930s. Believe it or not, it was the National resonator guitar company that spawned the whole thing. But when tensions in the company resulted in a split, the team of Adolph Rickenbacker and George D. Beauchamp (pronounced Beechum) wanted to continue their pursuit of amplified instrument technology. And in 1930, the company we now know as Rickenbacker was born.

Rickenbacker firsts

From the very beginning, the goal was to invent an electromagnetic pickup device. They knew it would open the floodgates of instrument design. They thought pickups could lead to smaller instruments, maybe even solid bodies. If so, they would all but eliminate the feedback-prone performances that plagued musicians.

The pickup was known as the Horseshoe, and it changed music as we know it. In fact, Rickenbacker’s “Frying Pan” lap steel featured the Horseshoe. And it was the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar ever!

Rickenbacker 4000-series basses

Things took off for the company. Soon, the Horseshoe single-coil pickup was in a wide variety of Rickenbacker instruments, from electric guitars to lap steels. But it was the iconic 4000-series Rickenbacker basses that rose to the top of their line.

The basses, the 4000, 4001, and 4003 models, became so popular that it wasn’t long before they outsold the company’s guitars. They are also among the most revered solid-body electric basses today, going shoulder to shoulder with Precisions, Jazz Basses, and the Music Man Stingray.

The 4000-series basses owe their fame to their unique tonality. Unlike the wooly lows of its contemporaries, RICs offered much more presence and cut. And while the Horseshoe started it all, it just one in a trio of game-changing Rickenbacker single-coils.

Tech Tips

Much like the Precision, Jazz Bass, and Stingray, Rickenbacker instruments share ties with Leo Fender. Early RIC amplifiers (which were also a first for the market) were designed with Doc Kauffman, the man responsible for many of Fender’s first designs.

The Horseshoe

It was the first Rickenbacker pickup – possibly the first pickup ever. One look at its massive, curved magnets, and you know how it got its name. Though initially designed for everything from hollowbody guitars to lap steels, this pickup is the definitive Rickenbacker bass pickup.

The Horseshoe features a typical single-coil-size bobbin, wrapped in coils of copper wire, with four adjustable pole pieces down the middle. But that bobbin resides in the middle of two massive, cobalt-infused steel magnets bent into a U shape. Not only do the magnets encompass the entire bobbin assembly, but the bass’s strings run through the middle of them as well. This completely surrounds the strings with a magnetic field.

Making its bass debut on the single-pickup Rickenbacker 4000, the punchy-sounding Horseshoe became the bedrock of the Rickenbacker bass sound.

High-Gain

For all the Horseshoe offered, it did have one drawback. Because of its location in the bridge position, it didn’t have as much low end as players needed. In response to their request for more bass, Rickenbacker whipped up another iconic single-coil, this time for the neck position. And between 1969 and 1971, they introduced the Rickenbacker High-Gain single-coil pickup.

The pickup was a massive upgrade to the 4000-series basses, offering the fat low-end players demanded while retaining the Horseshoe’s trademark cut and detail. But don’t let the name fool you. The High-Gain pickup was also a guitar pickup and is actually one of the lowest-output bass pickups Rickenbacker offers.

Construction-wise, the High-Gain model is very similar to the Horseshoe. The main difference is that the massive U magnets are gone, replaced with a still large bar magnet that sits under the bobbin. It’s incredibly similar to a P90 single-coil pickup in that way.

Besides the new magnet design, Rickenbacker High-gain pickups also featured a new, smaller housing that looks much more like other pickups on the market.

Though the High-Gain pickup wasn’t as powerful, its tone (in combination with its neck-position placement) perfectly complemented the Horseshoe. Now players (like Rush’s Geddy Lee) could dial in the perfect amount of warm, midrange-focused lows while still cutting right through the mix.

Toaster

Third on the list of iconic Rickenbacker bass pickups is the appropriately named Toaster. Getting its moniker from its toaster-looking pickup cover, this neck single-coil is definitely a departure from the High-Gain model.

If the High-Gain pickup is similar to a P90, then the Toaster is more like a Strat-style single-coil. Its plastic bobbin boasts a copper coil, just like the others. But instead of a bar magnet under the bobbin, the Toaster utilizes magnetic pole pieces down the middle of the coil, inserted under each string.

In keeping with the P90 vs. Strat-style comparison, the Toaster delivers much more detail and top-end than the midrange-focused, P90-like High-Gain pickups. Its bass frequencies are also more clear, removing some of the High-Gain’s “mud.”

Many find the Toasters to be the ultimate Rickenbacker neck pickup (for both guitar and bass). They’re the pickups that adorn both Chris Squire’s and Paul McCartney’s original and signature basses. They’re also in some of Lemmy Kilmister’s early, unmodified RICs. Though we’re pretty sure he was all about the bridge pickup grind anyway.

Want to hear the Rickenbacker Toaster and Horseshoe pickups in action? Take a listen to Squire’s immortal bass intro to Yes’s “Roundabout,” off 1972’s Fragile. It’s both a revolution in bass tone and the instrument itself.

Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker Bass pickups

There’s no question that the Rickenbacker 4000-series basses are legendary. And there’s even less question that the Horseshoe, High-Gain, and Toaster pickups are a big part of that. But the pickups are still an enigma. They’re the tools behind some of the most lauded bass tones, lines, and songs. And yet, many players still have a love/hate relationship with them.

Much of that is due to these pickups’ inherent “problems.” All three are true single-coil pickups and are plagued with nasty 60-cycle hum. They – especially vintage models – are also known to be microphonic. To some, this renders Rickenbacker pickups unusable.

So, with respect to the original designs, we set out to fix them.

The Seymour Duncan, Rickenbacker Bass neck, and bridge pickups pay homage to their ancestors’ punch, warmth, and clarity. But they are Rickenbacker humbucker pickups. They eliminate the extraneous noise, increase their output, and add mass to your bass tone. And thanks to modern materials and manufacturing, these pickups are also much more reliable.

And if you’re really ready to rock, the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop offers the Lemmy Kilmister Signature pickups. These are far from your run-of-the-mill RIC pickups. But Lemmy was far from your run-of-the-mill RIC player.

Tech Tips

Seymour Rickenbacker Bass pickups’ are larger than Rickenbacker’s stock pickups. That’s why we include custom mounting rings with each. Also, due to their design and output differences, we recommend replacing both of your bass’s pickups at the same time.

The Rickenbacker 4000-series basses belong in the pantheon of electric bass guitars. Cliff Burton and Lemmy, Geddy Lee, McCartney, and Squire all carved out their signature tones with them. And though the original pickups are still hotly debated, we love them! And we think you will too.

Let’s talk tone!

If you have any other questions about our Rickenbacker Bass humbucker pickups or Rickenbacker bass pickups in general, don’t hesitate to reach out! And don’t forget to dig into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

In Part 1 of our series on “What is drop tuning a guitar,” we investigated the how-tos. From truss rod maintenance to filing your guitar’s string nut, that article has all you need. But drop tunings also gave rise to a world of electric guitars that are custom-built for the job. And that’s what we’re going to dig into in Part 2.

First, let’s look back at Part 1 to answer the question, “What is down tuning a guitar?”

“Drop tuning is the practice of tuning the strings on a guitar to pitches that are lower on the scale than the traditional E Standard (E2, A2, D3, G3, B3, E4) guitar tuning. This term can refer to tuning all the strings of a guitar down the same amount and retaining the same modal shapes (at lower pitches) across the fretboard; tuning the 6th string down from E to D to open up new chord shapes and make power chords fret-able with one finger, or any number of other alternate tunings.”

Though down-tuning a guitar is common in every genre, it is pretty much the standard for modern metal. Compared to what we’ll call classic metal, it is heavier, more technical, and way more devastating than ever. Therefore, it requires instruments that can keep up with these demands.

Guitar builders large and small have answered the call. And they do it by employing some of the most significant technological advancements to the craft since we first dropped pickups in a plank of wood.

Three of these design tweaks stand out among the rest:

1. Extended Scale
2. Extended Range
3. Multi-Scale

Extended Scale

Extended-scaled electric guitars have been around for a long time. Even in the 1950s and ’60s, we had Fender’s Bass VI and the Danelectro Long Horn bass. Though called basses, both of these instruments featured 6-strings and tune up like a guitar. But thanks to their much longer scale length, they could handle tunings a full octave below a standard guitar. This gave guitarists a familiar platform to handle bass duties on the gig. It also gave rise to Tic-Tac bass, giving rise to the down-tuned voice.

A direct cousin to these bass/guitar hybrids is the baritone guitar. Usually tuned from B-B, they occupy a tonal range somewhere between a guitar and the Bass VI. But both instruments owe their sonic weight and power to their extended scale length.

Tech Tips:

Scale length is the length of the vibrating section of a guitar string, measured from the nut to the bridge saddle. The longer the scale, the more tension on the string.

Scale lengths differ from guitar to guitar. But baritones often employ a 27″ length, which is 1.5″ longer than most Fenders and a full 2.75″ longer than your standard Gibson. Because of this, extended scale guitars keep the string tension much tighter, resulting in better intonation and playability.

Ok, back to modern guitars.

Walk into any guitar store today, and you’re sure to see a handful of direct descendants of the early extended-scale guitars. Metal-minded brands like Ibanez, ESP, and Schecter all offer production 6-string models that employ the design. And you’ll find them factory-tuned in everything from Dropped-C to the baritone’s B-B. And with high-output pickups, thin neck profiles, and aggressive styling, there’s no questioning what these guitars are built to do.

“But aren’t there already 7- and 8-string down-tuned guitars?”

There sure are!

Extended Range (7-, 8-, & 9-strings)

Many people who ask how to tune down a guitar for maximum heaviness would do well to consider an extended range instrument. They are the most popular of all low-slung designs, after all. But it wasn’t Tony Iommi or even Dimebag Darrell that invented this pummeling twist on guitars. It was shred superhero Steve Vai and his 7-string Ibanez Universe (Tuned Low B, E, A, D, G, B, E).

Yet, even being prominently featured on the iconic Passion and Warfare, Vai still wasn’t responsible for the lasting legacy of the design. That award goes to the twisted tones and ground-shaking riffs of Korn.

By embracing these “unpopular” Universe 7-string guitars, Korn upped metal’s intensity and pushed heavy riffs to a level that, in many ways, remains the standard. And though the 7-string was the perfect marriage of 6-string familiarity and baritone punch, Korn took it a step further, turning their Ibanez Universe guitars down an additional whole step.

From the moment “Blind” hit the airwaves, it set off an arms race among guitar builders. Overnight, every company had new 7-strings on the rack. Most were definitely metal-looking. But even companies like Fender and Gibson joined in with some of their more traditional models.

The manufacturers weren’t the only ones in the fight. Bands also began pushing the instruments forward. Eventually, this never-ending quest for heavy led 8-string guitars and the meat-grinder rhythms of Meshuggah. Still among the world’s heaviest bands, their line between guitar and bass began to blur, turning the band into one gigantic, rhythmic machine.

Springboarding off of Meshuggah’s might, other 8-string devotees like Animals As Leaders mixed in next-level technique and musicality. This forward-thinking music blew open a new universe of musical possibilities for extended range guitars.

Again, players needed a new guitar to handle it.

Multi-Scale

As the tone and technique wars raged, players once again pushed the limits of their extended range and scale-length guitars. Players used to ask how to tune down a guitar. But now we asked how to keep these crazy-low down-tuned guitars to play in tune.

Sound familiar?

Making the scale length longer wasn’t going to cut it this time. Some guitars were already pushing bass length, and players didn’t want to compromise the 6-string feel of the higher strings.

The answer was multi-scale or fanned fret guitars. Angling the string nut to offer a longer scale on the low strings and a shorter scale for the high strings solved the string tension issue. But to resolve the tuning side of things, the guitar’s frets had to be slanted at different angles across the fretboard. The most aggressive angles are near the highest fret and the string nut, gradually straightening until meeting at the 12th fret. This look is how the design earned the nickname “fanned fret.”

Whether utilized on down-tuned 6-strings or extended range instruments, multi-scale construction solves the intonation and string tension problems, allowing players to continue their boundary-pushing quest. And believe it or not, it’s easy to adapt to when playing. Maybe that’s why you see multi-scale acoustics and classical guitars joining the party.

Let’s talk tone!

Want more info on how to drop tune a guitar? Check out Part 1 of this series. And don’t hesitate to reach out for more! And don’t forget to dig into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

A question we hear from many bassists who are just starting is “What’s the difference between the Jazz and Precision bass?” Then, as they get a little further in their musical journey, it becomes “P Bass vs. Jazz Bass. Which one’s best?” Well, there is no “best.” But we will investigate the differences between Jazz and Precision bass guitars. From their tones to their tummy contours, we’ll discuss it all.

A Bit of Background

While players will always engage in the P Bass vs. Jazz Bass debate, these two 4-string titans are more similar than you’d think. Maybe that’s why they are both among the most used and important electric basses ever designed.

Both use similar woods.

Both are 34″ scale length.

And both feature single-coil (ish) pickups.

The P-Bass pickup is technically hum-canceling. But we’ll dig into that in a minute.

But the Precision and Jazz Bass are born from very different philosophies and aimed at very different types of players. That led to some very different features that we’ll talk about here.

The Precision Bass

The Fender Precision Bass invented what we now call the electric bass guitar. Up until its release in the 1950s, bassists exclusively relied on stand-up, acoustic basses. These basses were bulky to travel with and too quiet for the era’s big bands and rock ‘n’ roll.

After seeing success with his solid-body electric guitars, Leo Fender knew he could build a more compact bass to amplify over a loud band. Taking it one step further, he installed metal fret wire across the length of the fingerboard. Now bassists – and guitarists sitting in on bass – could play in tune with perfect precision.

Guess how the bass got its name.

The earliest P Bass models were much like Fender’s T-style guitars. The bodies were slabs of wood with a couple of cutaways. The bass’s bolt-on, maple neck was bulky in hand, more similar to an orchestral bass than an electric guitar. And the electronics were just as crude.

The first Precision Bass pickups were basically a 4-pole-piece version of Fender’s guitar pickups. They had a single plastic bobbin, wound with copper wire, and featured the four magnetic pole pieces. While it gave bassists the amplified power they needed, this pickup design left a lot to be desired. The volume was inconsistent across the strings, and it hummed terribly.

The P Bass of the Future

The original slab-bodied Precision Basses are true legends of the industry. And many players, like Sting, still swear by them. But it wasn’t too long before Fender started making player-friendly improvements, creating the P Bass we all know today.

The first thing players noticed about the P’s new design was its rounded edges and comfortable contours. They make the newer design much more comfortable to play over long gigs. But the second and arguably more important update was the Precision’s new, split-coil pickup.

This split-coil P Bass pickup is the midrange-forward, full sound we all think of as the Precision tone. It’s full of the fundamental, has a massive bottom end, and the perfect amount of attack through the mids and highs. Best of all, the split-coil design solved the original P Bass pickup issues while defining the sound of electric bass to this present day.

Single-coil or Humbucker?

The Split-coil P Bass pickup is hum-canceling. Though it never adopted the name “humbucker,” it does the same job in much the same way. By splitting the pickup into two halves, then reverse winding them with reverse polarity, the two sides cancel each others’ noise. But thanks to their unique design, these pickups still boast a very single-coil-esque tonality.

The split-coil pickups also solved the inconsistent volume issue. By placing the two sides of the coil next to each other, the design dramatically increases the pickup’s magnetic field. Now the P Bass responds evenly across all of the stings as well as along the fingerboard.

Finally, the split-coil pickup’s placement is a huge deal. Located under a primary node of the string – where there is the most harmonic content and energy – the string supplies the pickup with plenty of signal to work with. Move that pickup to one side or the other, and you’ll find your P Bass tone takes on a less desirable character very quickly.

Today, we call this placement the “neck position.” But that’s only because the Jazz Bass came along.

Notable Precision Bass Players

• James Jamerson
• George Porter Jr
• Adam Neeley
• Steve Harris
• Mike Dirnt
• Pino Palladino
• Paz Lenchantin
• Este Haim
• Every rock record ever

The Jazz Bass

There’s no question that Fender’s Precision Bass was a revolution. But the company’s marketing team wanted to take full advantage of the craze. They wanted to release an up-scale alternative to the P’s working man appeal. Originally this bass was to be called the Deluxe Bass. But we know it as the Fender Jazz Bass.

In many ways, Fender’s new Jazz Bass was very similar to the Precision. After all, the P Bass was one of the only inspirations to draw from at the time. But Fender crafted the Jazz to be even more player-friendly and sonically versatile than its predecessor.

From day one, the Jazz has been defined by its beautiful, offset contours, inspired by the Fender Jazzmaster electric guitar. These contours were extremely comfortable and helped the bass balance, whether sitting or standing. Also, the Jazz’s nut width was almost a quarter of an inch narrower than that of the Precisions. It’s rumored Fender made the change so the bass would be more comfortable for guitarists transitioning to bass. But the neck’s smaller dimensions were a big hit with bass players who valued fleet-fingered dexterity.

Tonally Versatile

The feel of the bass changed from the more hand-filling Precision Bass. But, thanks to its dual-single-coil pickup design, the Jazz also had a new palette of tones to offer. It accomplished this with a move to two narrower single-coil pickups. One replaced the P-Bass’s split-coil. The other resided closer to the bridge, under a very different-sounding harmonic node.

All other things being equal, these new Jazz Bass pickups sang with a more present, scooped sound that still delivered plenty of lows. The neck position can sound similar to a split-coil when soloed. But it definitely still has its own thing. On the other hand, the bridge pickup creates a punch, honk, and detail brand new to the bass world. This tone is even more apparent when, in the 1970s, Fender moved the bridge pickup even closer to the bridge.

Still Bucks the Hum

Before you think the move to true single-coils is a step backward in the noise department, Jazz Bass pickups were always designed to work together. You see, the neck and bridge pickups are reverse-wound/reverse polarity. So when blended, they eliminate the hum. It’s a lot like how the split-coil pickup does it. But the Jazz Bass spreads it out over two individual pickups.

This noise-canceling circuit has another welcomed consequence as well, and it’s what gives the Jazz Bass its signature sound. With both pickups turned up, phase issues can cause specific frequencies to cancel out. You’re left with the mid-scooped, slap-ready, big-bottomed picking clarity that continues to inspire thousands upon thousands of bassists worldwide.

The Jaco Effect

“But what if I prefer to play each pickup on its own?”

Then you’re in good company. Though the Jazz Bass’s vol/vol/tone control layout lets you blend the pickups to taste, it also lets you solo either position up on the fly. And that’s precisely how Jaco Pastorious got his signature solo sound. By only utilizing the bridge pickup’s punch and clarity on his “Bass of Doom,” he wrote entire new chapters in the book of bass technique.

With its speedy playability, famous tones, and outstanding flexibility, the Fender Jazz Bass quickly rivaled the Precision in popularity and importance. And that hasn’t changed to this very day.

Notable Jazz Bass Players

• John Paul Jones
• Jaco Pastorius
• Larry Graham
• Tal Wikenfeld
• Marcus Miller
• Geddy Lee
• Bobby Vega

Fender’s Precision and Jazz basses carved out their place in bass history in very different ways. If the Precision’s voice can be used for any style of music, the Jazz Bass has every style of voice. But no matter what kind of music you’re playing, either of these legendary 4-strings is perfect for the job.

Let’s talk tone!

If you have any other questions about the P Bass vs. Jazz Bass debate, don’t hesitate to reach out! And don’t forget to dig into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

What are the best pickups for modern and prog metal guitar tone? That depends on how you define modern and prog metal guitar tone.

Here’s how we define it.

While classic humbucking pickups can get “high-gain,” modern metal players need something different. Their highly complex playing demands a precise, tight tone. One that remains aggressive while emphasizing punch and articulation.

To us, artists like Periphery’s Mark Holcomb and Wes Hauch are perfect examples. Their tones require humbucking pickups that push their rigs into the perfect grind and stay exceedingly clear in the low end.

So it’s no surprise that both of their signature pickups join our Sentient/Nazgûl set on our list: The Three Best Pickups for Metal: Modern and Prog Metal.

Top 3 pickups for modern/progressive metal

1. Sentient/Nazgûl Humbucker Set
2. Mark Holcomb Signature Alpha/Omega Humbucker Set
3. Wes Hauch Signature Jupiter 6 Humbucker Set

Sentient/Nazgûl Humbucker Set

The Seymour Duncan Nazgûl/Sentient set is the embodiment of modern and prog metal guitar tone. Designed to tackle the lowest of tunings and most aggressive playing styles, these humbuckers set the bar for modern metal tone in a passive design.

Nazgûl

The Nazgûl is an unashamed, modern-metal pickup. Its bold output is terrific for pushing amps, pedals, and digital amp modelers. But the focus here is on a searing top end with detailed articulation. And the Nazgûl’s impossibly tight low end makes fast rhythmic passages and chugs downright percussive.

Sentient

The Sentient neck humbucker is the perfect complement to the Nazgûl. Believe it or not, it boasts a vintage-style, low output. Its lower power gives the Sentient great clarity that resides somewhere between our 59 and Jazz models. A lot of players love this humbucker for its liquid lead tones and gorgeous cleans.

Mark Holcomb Signature Alpha/Omega Humbucker Set

When it comes to modern and progressive metal rhythms, Periphery’s trio of 6-stringers is at the top of the pantheon. Call it djent, call it prog metal, call it whatever you want. But playing this style demands time in the woodshed and the right tone. So when Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb hooked up with Seymour Duncan, we knew we had to deliver.

Alpha

The Mark Holcomb Alpha neck humbucker features a unique design. Eschewing typical neck humbucker inspiration, Holcomb wanted to combine the properties of a traditional bridge and neck pickups into one. The result is more mid-range punch and detail while still delivering full-sounding single-notes and cleans.

Omega

The Mark Holcomb Omega bridge pickup is also all about mid-range power. Like all of the pickups on our The Best Pickups for Metal: Modern and Prog Metal list, articulation is the name of the game. But with the Omega, it’s on the mid-range that Holcomb zeroed in. So if you want an aggressive bridge humbucker that still delivers a fat tone, you can’t go wrong with the Omega.

Wes Hauch Signature Jupiter 6 Humbucker Set

Wes Hauch is a guitarist’s guitarist. And he is widely considered one of the best players in modern and progressive metal. For proof, look at his work with bands like Alluvial, Devin Townsend, Thy Art Is Murder, and The Faceless.

Hauch is also a long-time Seymour Duncan user. So we had a good idea of what he was looking for when crafting his signature Jupiter 6 humbucker set.

The Jupiter 6 pickups differentiate themselves with bold-looking stainless steel rails, a custom winding, and mighty ceramic magnets. All together, they are high-output, take no prisoners pickups. And their string-to-string balance is unrivaled.

As we say on the pickups’ product page, the Jupiter 6 humbucker set “won’t make you play like Wes. But they will certainly help you cop his tone.”

Let’s talk tone!

If you have any other questions about finding the best pickups for metal, check out our Knowledge Base here. You can also email us here. And don’t forget to dig into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

The Vapor Trail Deluxe builds on the proud legacy of our original Vapor Trail analog delay pedal, who’s warm, Bucket Brigade repeats and 3-dimensional modulation continues to inspire guitarists around the world. However, with the Vapor Trail Deluxe, we’ve taken the pedal’s capabilities quite a bit further. The marriage between Vapor Trail Deluxe’s all analog signal path and its robust digital control is what provides a previously uncharted level of sonic expansion and delay tweak-ability. The addition of three storable presets allows players to recall their favorite unadulterated, all-analog tones on the fly, making the Vapor Trail Deluxe analog delay truly one of a kind. Four inspiring new specialty delay modes allow players to create groundbreaking new tones. And the onboard Tap Tempo and selectable rhythmic subdivisions allow players to dial in their echoes for any mix or scenario, making Vapor Trail Deluxe the perfect companion for any session or gig.

Vapor Trail Deluxe – Buy Now

100% Analog, Bucket Brigade Tone

The Vapor Trail Deluxe offers 100% analog warmth and character. And by utilizing four of the largest, most powerful Bucket Brigade chips in production, it delivers an enhanced tonality with amazing depth, and that perfect balance of clarity and natural degradation that you’d expect from a studio-grade analog delay unit. These high-quality chips also allow for increased delay times of up to 1.2 seconds, and define the character of the pedal’s modulation, which ranges from a subtle shimmer to rotary speaker-like warble with ease.

Total Control

We worked tirelessly to provide an inspiring, all-analog tonality in the Vapor Trail Deluxe. But that was just our baseline. From there, we outfitted the pedal with tap tempo and subdivisions, expression pedal control, and delay trails on/off options, which allow you to decide whether or not you’d like the repeats to carry over when disengaging the pedal. And once you’ve dialed in your perfect delay tone with just the right mix and number of repeats, you can store it for on-the-fly recall in one of three preset locations.

Limitless Ambient Inspiration

The Vapor Trail Deluxe is also the perfect platform for ambient sonic exploration. First, we carried over the original’s Wet Insert, which allows you to add your own outboard effects to just the repeated signal. Go ahead, throw a phaser or flanger on your echos and take your tone beyond the unknown. Then, we added four new specialty modes that truly push the boundaries of traditional analog delay and bring the Vapor Trail Deluxe into a category of its own:

Micro Delay

Extremely fast repeats that are great for replicating double-track, slapback, and Leslie speaker-like effects.

Pitch Sequence

Introduces upper and lower octaves to the wet signal in eight customizable, rhythmic sequences.

Pitch Bender

Puts unique dive-bomb and glissando controls at the tap of your toe.

Runaway

Allows access to the endless repeats and building energy of self-oscillating “runaway” delay with effortless control.

Vapor Trail Deluxe – Buy Now

Let’s Talk Tone!

For more info on the Vapor Trail Deluxe, head to the Vapor Trail Deluxe product page here. If you have any questions about other Seymour Duncan products, check out our Knowledge Base here. And don’t forget to dig deeper into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth info, how-to’s, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

Push-pull pot wiring is the perfect way to add more tonal options to your Les Paul or LP-style guitar. Coil-tapping, split-coil, in and out of phase, or parallel-series options become available with the flick of your wrist. The mods are easy to do. It’s extremely affordable. And it doesn’t require any permanent changes to your guitar.

These mods are so easy to do; we’re going to walk through the 4-step process right now.

Tech Tips: In most cases, push-pull wiring only works with 4-conductor (4c) humbucking pickups. Most modern humbuckers already offer this option. But vintage pickups and today’s vintage designs usually feature 1c construction. So before going any further, ensure you have the right pickups for the modification.

If you have 1c pickups that you love but want to add push-pull wiring, there’s sure to be a Seymour Duncan 4c replacement humbucker with the perfect tone profile.

The 4 Steps

• Ensure you have the correct push-pull potentiometers (pots)
• Document everything
• Uninstall the old pots
• Install the new pots

Ensure you have the correct push-pull pots

Push-pull pots come in different configurations. The two main specifications to consider are the pots’ size/design and the pots’ rating.

Size/design

Because all electric guitars have different electronics-cavity depths, there are different push-pull pot styles for each. Les Pauls work best with a taller design and longer shaft. This helps ensure the shaft makes it all the way through your guitar’s maple cap. Make sure you get the right ones.

Rating

250k and 500k are the two most commonly used pot ratings. As a general rule, you want 500k pots for humbucking pickups. But, don’t be afraid to experiment!

Document everything

When adding push-pull pot wiring, first take pictures of the original wiring inside your guitar. Any smartphone or camera will work fine. You also want to document the different steps throughout the entire modification process. Documenting will help you install your new pots correctly and get back to stock wiring if you ever choose.

Uninstall the old pots

Time to remove the old parts and components. Grab your soldering iron and unsolder all the connections connected to the pots you will be replacing. Make sure to leave the connections that will remain. These include the other pots, your grounding wires, your jack, and your toggle switch.

You remembered to document it first, right?

Carefully remove the knobs on top of the old pots being careful not to damage your guitar’s finish. Unscrew the nuts that secure the pots to your guitar, then set them and the washers to the side. Finally, remove the old pots from the guitar and set them aside.

Install the new pots

Installation of the new push-pull pots is essentially the last step but in reverse. Place the new pots into the correct routes in your Les Paul’s top. Then secure them in the correct position—identical to the old pot configuration—with the corresponding washers and nuts.

You can now install the knobs on the potentiometer shafts. But that can also wait until the end of the installation.

Tech Tips: Some potentiometers have a metal tab that will rest against your pickguard or the underside of your guitar’s top. These tabs can obstruct it from fitting securely in place. It’s perfectly okay to file that tab off of the potentiometer. Just be careful not to damage the pot’s electrical components.

Seymour Duncan push-pull wiring diagrams

Head to the Seymour Duncan wiring diagram library and locate the diagram of your choice. These diagrams are free and extremely easy to use. So don’t be afraid to try a few different options.

Following your chosen diagram, resolder the connections to the push-pull pots as directed. Your guitar should have plenty of original wire available to complete the installation.

Reinstall your guitar’s back plate or pickguard, restring your guitar, and you’re ready to go!

Congratulations! You now have a Les Paul with push-pull pot wiring.

All that’s left is to plug your guitar in, crank your amp, and make sure everything works. Depending on the wiring modification, you’ll have any number of brand-new tones. And they’re available from the controls you’re already comfortable with.

If your new tones aren’t what you wanted, find a different wiring diagram, change a few connections, and try something else. All of these modifications are easy to do and fully reversible.

Let’s talk tone!

Want to know more about push-pull pot wiring and other guitar upgrades? Check out the SEYMOUR DUNCAN ONLINE PICKUP CLASSES. Our expert technicians will walk you through every step of the process and teach you all you need to know to create the guitar of your dreams.

If you have any other questions about push-pull pots, check out our Knowledge Base here. You can also email us here. And don’t forget to dig deeper into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

We all remember when we got our first guitar. But the thrill quickly dissipated the minute we broke our first guitar string. In that split second, we recognized the importance of knowing how to restring a guitar. So we learned. And we’re probably still restringing our guitars the same way today. But did you know there are other ways to do it? Let’s look at some and show you how to do them.

The 5 Ways

While there is a “standard” way to restring an electric guitar, there are other restringing methods worth investigating. We’ll cover five of our favorites, including standard, top wrapping, and more. And we’ll explain the benefits of each. Who knows, we may even teach you, guitar vets, something new.

• The Standard Method
• Top Wrapping
• String-Through-Body
• The Locking Method
• Stringing a Floyd Rose Backwards

The Standard Method

Restringing a guitar with standard stringing is the method most people use. We’ve been restringing electric guitars this way since their invention. It works great, and it’s easy to do with a little practice.

1. Push the string through your bridge and pull until there is no slack.
2. Pull the string tightly across the string nut and push it tough the post of your tuning machine.
3. Add approximately 1.5″-2″ of slack to the string.
4. Tighten the tuning machine, ensuring the string wraps in a uniform coil moving down the string post.

Tech Tips: You’ll want about three winds around the post for the best tuning stability. If you’re left with fewer than 3: Loosen the string, add more slack, and re-tune. If you’re left with more than 3: Loosen the string, remove some slack, and re-tune.

Top Wrapping

Many players who prefer Tune-o-Matic bridges and stop bar tailpieces rely on a method called top wrapping. Instead of pushing the strings through the tailpiece from back to front, you push them through the other direction. You then wrap them back over the top of the tailpiece, over the bridge saddles and string nut, then string them through the tuners as you usually would.

When you restring a guitar with top wrapping, it lets you lower your tailpiece until it touches the top of your guitar. This offers two main benefits: It lowers the break angle of the string over your bridge saddles for a slinkier feel. And it offers better energy transfer from the tailpiece to the top of your guitar. Many players swear by the added warmth and sustain they notice in their tone.

Learn more about top wrapping here.

String-Through-Body

String-through-body stringing is less of a technique and more of a design choice. Most famously used on the Fender Telecaster, string-through-body restringing requires you to put your strings through holes in the back of your guitar. You pull the strings through the top of the guitar, across your bridge saddles, and string them through your tuners in the usual manner.

Some Telecasters even offer both string-through-body and through-the-bridge options. So why choose string-through-body? It’s a widely held belief that, by anchoring the strings inside the wood of your guitar, you increase resonance, attack, and add sustain. Because of this, Teles aren’t the only string-through-body guitars. Many manufacturers offer an assortment of different electric guitar designs with this feature.

The Locking Method

The standard stringing method serves many people just fine. But there’s nothing other than the winds around the post holding your string in place. This can lead to string slip and tuning stability issues. To combat that, many guitarists utilize the locking method.

There are many different locking methods, but they’re all some form of wrapping the string around its loose end and securing it tightly to the post. By “locking” the string against the post, this method can significantly reduce string slip and keep your guitar in tune, longer.

Here’s one of our favorite, easy-to-do locking methods. You’ll find that as your string tightens around the post, it will grab on to itself and “lock” firmly into place.

1. Push the string through your bridge and pull until there is no slack.
2. Pull the string tightly across the string nut and push it tough the post of your tuning machine.
3. Add approximately 1.5″-2″ of slack to the string.
4. When you tighten your tuning machine, ensure one wind of the string is above the excess string you pulled through the post.
5. Wrap the rest underneath in a uniform coil moving down the string post
6. Tighten the tuning machine until the string is in tune.

Stringing a Floyd Rose Backward

“How do you restring a Floyd Rose?” It’s one of the most asked string questions out there. That’s because, when it comes to restringing a guitar, Floyds are a whole different world. They involve multiple locking mechanisms, balancing a floating tremolo, and even fine tuners located at the bridge. And even with Floyds, there are different ways to restring them.

The usual way involves cutting the ball end off of the string, locking the cut end into the bridge, a bit of standard stringing, and then locking the string nut. This unlocks Floyds’ rock-solid tuning stability. But the process requires experience and precision.

That’s why many Floyd devotees prefer stringing a Floyd Rose backward. To do so, you stick the ball end of the string through the tuner post and run it back toward the bridge. That might sound counterintuitive, but there are a few benefits.

• You don’t have to cut the ball end off your string, giving you some room for error.
• If your string breaks near the bridge, you can unwind some from the tuner and restring it with ease.
• It’s an incredibly secure connection at the headstock. Add in the locking nut, and those strings aren’t going anywhere.

Let’s talk tone!

If you have any other questions about guitar stringing, maintenance, or modification, check out our Knowledge Base here. You can also email us here. And don’t forget to dig deeper into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth info, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.

What’s with mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body? Can’t I just mount it to the pickguard? Ok, then how do you mount a telecaster neck pickup to the body?

Inquisitive guitarists ask us these questions every day. And we don’t blame them. Not only do different T-style guitars use different pickup mounting methods from the factory, but so do replacement pickups. Seymour Duncan Telecaster pickups, for instance, include screws for direct-mounting a Tele neck pickup. While others assume you will be installing it in the pickguard.

This brings us back to our three questions. So let’s dig in.

What’s with mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body?

The idea of mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body of the guitar is as old as the Tele itself. When the first Telecasters rolled off the line in around ’52, the idea of a neck pickup was new. The Esquire, a precursor to the Tele, featured a sole bridge single-coil pickup. So when they added the neck pickup, Fender simply cut a route, screwed the pickup into place, then dropped a pickguard on top.

Today, the tradition of mounting Telecaster neck pickups to the body continues. And it does so for two main reasons.

Because players love old Teles

If you ever see a vintage Telecaster, it usually sports a direct-mounted neck pickup. So when players go looking for a vintage reissue, they expect to find the same. It’s also a great way to give a modern Tele a bit of old-school vibe.

Because it sounds better (allegedly)

There are Tele devotees across the world that swear a direct-mounted Tele neck pickup sounds better. And they’re not alone. Many humbucker fans—including Eddie Van Halen—feel the same way about their pickups and only use a straight-in approach.

You see, hanging a pickup from a pickguard leaves the pickup with a lot of movement. The added rigidity of direct mount eliminates tonal losses of that movement. While your experience may vary, you don’t hear players espousing the tonal virtues of pickguard mounting. That tells you something.

Tech Tips

If mounting a Telecaster’s neck pickup to the body has one drawback, it’s lack of convenience. To make any adjustments to the pickup height, you must remove the pickguard. Or you can drill unsightly “access holes” through your pickguard.

So if you choose direct mount, be sure and get the pickup where you want it. Then put on your pickguard.

Can’t I just mount it to the pickguard?

A modern way of mounting a Telecaster neck pickup is to suspend it from the pickguard. It’s similar to a Stratocaster. You hang the pickup from two screws attached to the pickguard. Usually, you’ll use springs or rubber tubing between the pickguard and the pickup for stability.

That height adjustment is the main reason for this style of mounting. The adjustment screw heads remain above the pickguard. This lets you perfect your pickup height without removing the pickguard or any hardware, making adjustments easy.

Tonally, players have been using pickguard-mounted Telecaster neck pickups for years without issue. But, again, you’ll never hear a player discuss how it sounds better than direct-mounting. Only the other way around. We’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions there.

Ok, then how do you mount a Telecaster neck pickup to the body?

Are you sold on mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body of your guitar? We’ll teach you how. And Seymour Duncan Telecaster pickups come with the mounting screws and rubber tubing you need. So it’s easy to do.

1. Remove the strings and pickguard.
2. Measure from the bottom of the pickup route to the top of the pickup you’re removing. Write that down.
3. Remove the old pickup from your guitar
4. Install the mounting screws through the top of the pickup’s mounting screw holes.
5. Slide the provided rubber tubing over each screw.
6. Secure each screw into the screw holes in the pickup route.
7. Adjust the pickup height to match the height of the old pickup or to taste.
8. Make the necessary wiring connections.
9. Reinstall your pickguard and guitar strings.

 

Tech Tips

1. For installation on a Telecaster without previous body-mount screw holes, you’ll need to drill them yourself.

2. Center your new pickup in the pickup route.

3. Using the pickup’s mounting screw holes, mark where you will drill your screw holes.

4. With the correct drill bit size, drill pilot holes for your mounting screws.

Let’s talk tone!

If you have any other questions about pickups or installation, check out our Knowledge Base here. You can also email us here. And don’t forget to dig deeper into the Seymour Duncan blog! There’s a ton of in-depth info, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a lot more.