Traditional Strat guitar pickups have their uses. Nothing beats a vintage Strat single coil for its distinctive, glassy, bell-like ring. But there are moments when we want more from our Strat, more power, more production, more authority, and more aggression. This is frequently where traditional, classic Strat guitar pickups fall short.
Enter the Single Coil-Sized Humbuckers, which provide all of the massive, warm, harmonically rich power of a full-sized humbucker in a single coil size for Strat. With your traditional SSS Strat configuration, you can now get historical P.A.F. tones, bombastic high output shred tones, and anything in between.
We included the 5 best single coil sized humbuckers for you in this review. If you are interested in these models, keep reading our 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker review for more information below.
Our Top Pick: Seymour Duncan SHR-1b
Description: Seymour Duncan’s Hot Rails pickup is one of the highest output and most popular pickups he manufactures.
Features: The Hot Rails use a pair of blades, a strong ceramic magnet, and powerful coil windings to produce a pickup that’s deep and fat with a ton of sustain – ideal for classic rock but also well suited to more aggressive tones like garage rock or metal.
The best part is that these humbuckers, with all of their meaty tone, fit within a single-coil-sized pickup. The Hot Rails will add girth to your tone! If you are looking for the 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker you can find.
One of Seymour Duncan’s highest output and most popular pickups, the two thin blades, strong ceramic magnet, and robust coil windings provide the amazing sustain and thick, full sound required for performing heavy rock songs.
This pickup responds to even the smallest finger movements and has a four-conductor connection wire for versatile switching options like coil tapping.
Hot Rails are offered in bridge and neck/middle locations. Use a SHR-1b in the bridge position, an SVR-1n Vintage Rails in the middle, and an SCR-1n Cool Rails in the neck for an immensely adaptable instrument. You won’t believe the sound your Strat produces! Hot Rail pickups work nicely with maple and rosewood fingerboards.
Pros
- High output
- Complete setup
Cons
- None
Runner Up: DiMarzio DP189
Description: Once fitted and connected to an amp, there’s a brief period when you worry about… well… the Tone Zone’s tone, but it gets better after.
Features: A sizable portion of the guitar-playing population considers the Tone Zone to be a tad heavy in the caboose. When looking at things on paper, it’s difficult to tell. Not all pickup manufacturers employ the same scale.
What seems to be something on one company’s website may sound very different when applied to another company’s reference point.
We’re off to a good start with a nasty amp tone. And the Tone Zone S is truly transporting mail. The pickup has a free-flowing personality. Plenty of lush mids and a somewhat firm high-end.
If you are looking for the 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker you can find.
The lows have some chunk going on, but it’s in control enough that it doesn’t feel floppy or loose.
The Tone Zone S has a reasonable hi-fi sound with some added harmonic richness. For that, we are looking at what DiMarzio refers to as “dual resonance.” What exactly is it? Tuning the coils of a humbucker to certain frequencies is another term for it.
It’s basically a case of misaligned coils. Although perfectly matched coils are easier to produce, there are times when they can choke off specific frequencies. Allowing for a little imbalance will allow things to open up and breathe a little more. In this situation, our readings show a 7.8 percent difference between coils.
Pros
- Sound
- Easy to use
Cons
- Not for all kinds of music
Best for Budget: Seymour Duncan SHR-1n
Description: The Seymour Duncan Hot Rail is a single coil humbucker with neighboring coils that produce higher output than most of its contemporaries.
Features: If you want a loud sound, it’s the best pick because of its fat tone and abundance of sustain. Use the Strat bridge position if possible, but other sounds can also be brought to roar.
If you are looking for the 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker you can find.
Consider the SCR-1 Cool Rails to be the Hot Rails’ cleaner, brighter sibling. The SCR-1 Cool Rails are wrapped to provide a more dynamic sound, making them ideal for guitarists that want a louder, punchier, single-coil tone with plenty of fatness.
Because it uses the same twin-coil architecture as the Hot Rails, this single-coil-sized gem is a real humbucker. Guitarists of all genres have used the SCR-1 Cool Rails to dial in their tone!
The SCR-1 Cool Rails is a smooth and bluesy single-coil-sized “rails” humbucker that is best suited for blues, classic rock, jazz-rock fusion, heavy rock, and forceful instrumental rock.
Cool Rails feature the same dual coil architecture as Hot Rails, but are coiled differently to provide a cleaner, brighter, and more dynamic sound. Cool Rails pickups are hotter and louder than both the Vintage Staggered (SSL-1) and Hot Stack (STK-S2) pickups, and are designed for players who want a louder, punchier, and richer single-coil sound.
The SCR-1 Cool Rails have a four-conductor connection cable.
Pros
- Huge thick sound, warm but with superb clarity.
- Output is somewhat hot.
- Tone that is quite adaptable.
Cons
- You can’t switch the covers since the pickup is sealed.
Seymour Duncan SJBJ-1b JB Jr. Humbucker Strat Pickup
Description: Seymour Duncan’s JB Jr. SJBJ-1 single-coil pickup incorporates the tone of Duncan’s immensely successful JB humbucker.
Features: The polepieces are adjustable, allowing it to mimic the magnetic field of a full-size humbucker while also managing string-to-string balance. While not as hot as Duncan’s Hot Rails, the high-end response on the JB Jr. SJBJ-1 has been improved.
The JB Jr. SJBJ-1 allows Strat users to enjoy the benefits of a high-output humbucker without modifying their instrument. If you are looking for the 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker you can find.
The JB Jr. SJBJ-1 single-coil-size “rails” humbucker has a high output and is ideal for everything from heavy blues to heavy metal. The twin-coil design replicates the flavor of our famous JB model humbucker in a single-coil package.
Its movable pole pieces mimic the magnetic field of a full-size humbucker and allow you to fine-tune the balance of your strings.
Great harmonies and a beautiful high-end may be expected. When compared to Hot Rails, the output is lower and the treble response is higher, and the JB Jr. SJBJ-1 includes a four-conductor connection wire to permit sophisticated switching choices. Patent No. 355,207 issued in the United States.
The JB Jr. SJBJ-1, which is available for both bridge and neck/middle positions, is ideal for all well-balanced guitars. Its tonal nature complements both maple and rosewood fingerboards.
Pros
- The amount of “bite” the little bucker has is something else
Cons
- Not extreme on the bridge
Seymour Duncan SSCR
Description: Consider the SCR-1 Cool Rails to be the Hot Rails’ cleaner, brighter sibling.
Features: The SCR-1 Cool Rails are wrapped to provide a more dynamic sound, making them ideal for guitarists that want a louder, punchier, single-coil tone with plenty of fatness.
Because it uses the same twin-coil architecture as the Hot Rails, this single-coil-sized gem is a real humbucker. Guitarists of all genres have used the SCR-1 Cool Rails to dial in their tone!
If you are looking for the 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker you can find.
The SCR-1 Cool Rails is a smooth and bluesy single-coil-sized “rails” humbucker that is best suited for blues, classic rock, jazz-rock fusion, heavy rock, and forceful instrumental rock.
Cool Rails feature the same dual coil architecture as Hot Rails but are coiled differently to provide a cleaner, brighter, and more dynamic sound.
Cool Rails pickups are hotter and louder than both the Vintage Staggered (SSL-1) and Hot Stack (STK-S2) pickups and are designed for players who want a louder, punchier, and richer single-coil sound. The SCR-1 Cool Rails have a four-conductor connection cable.
SCR-1 Cool Rails are offered in bridge and neck/middle locations. Use an SCR-1n in the neck position, an SHR-1b Hot Rails in the bridge, and an SVR-1n Vintage Rails in the middle for an immensely flexible guitar.
The SCR-1 Cool Rails performs admirably in all well-balanced instruments, and it responds equally effectively to maple and rosewood fingerboards.
Pros
- For all kinds of music
- Easy installation
- Good sound
Cons
- Does not provide the tone most are looking for
Buyer’s Guide for 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker
As guitarists, we are constantly on the lookout for improved tone. We experiment with different strings, amps, pedals, and so forth… However, one thing that most of us do not dare to meddle with is pickups. Because, to be honest, they’re scary. And the prospect of ripping out the innards of your prized electric guitar might be nauseating…
Even for the “more seasoned.” You have a tremendous advantage if you are one of the daring few who dare to study this feature of the instrument. Because at the beginning of the signal chain, pickups create the “tonal foundation” upon which everything else is built.
So for today’s post, we’ve produced a full introduction to the world of guitar pickups to assist you in getting started on this in-depth topic.
Coils (single vs humbucker)
Guitar pickups are classified into two types: Humbuckers with a single coil (double coil), originally, all guitar pickups were single coils, but in 1955, everything changed. Seth Lover at Gibson found that by connecting two single-coils wired with opposing polarity. The noise was wiped out, but the relevant signal was not, originally referred to as PAF (Patent Applied For) pickups.
This unique dual-coil arrangement was subsequently dubbed “humbuckers.” For many decades, the Gibson Les Paul has been the guitar type most closely identified with humbuckers, and Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters are well-known for their single-coil pickups.
Humbuckers have the following characteristics in terms of performance: more long-term, improved output, and less clamor.
What exactly is a single coil pickup?
Single coils (such as those found on a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster) produce a crisp, twangy tone that works well with a clean, un-distorted amp setting. Wrapping wire around six’slug’ pole pieces creates this style of single coil pickup (which is held in place by flatwork to create a bobbin).
To protect the wire, a cover is frequently placed over the pickup. However, single coils have a disadvantage: you may feel some background hum, which is normal for the single coil experience. Some musicians swear by the extra noise because it gives them a vintage tone.
Others like to get rid of it and enjoy the clear single coil sound without the hum. Companies including as Fender, DiMarzio, and Seymour Duncan provide a variety of noiseless single coils. Single coils work well in country, blues, indie, and alternative music.
What exactly is a Humbucker?
Humbuckers are designed with two distinct pickup coils coiled in opposite directions over a central magnet. The two distinct coil orientations cancel out the hum (thus the term “hum-bucker”), and the overall tone is thicker, louder, warmer, and fuller than single coils.
Humbuckers work well in heavier styles like as classic rock, hard rock, and metal, and they may also bring toughness and raunch to blues.
Humbuckers’ softer, smoother tone makes them ideal for jazz, especially when used in the neck position on a large hollow-body guitar.
Gibson guitars are closely connected with humbuckers since they are used in several of their renowned models, including the Les Paul, SG, and ES-335. Humbuckers from Bare Knuckle, Fishman, EMG, Seymour Duncan, and others range from vintage-style to high-gain metal monsters.
In certain circumstances, single coils and humbuckers can be found in the same instrument.
A humbucker in the bridge position with single coils in the middle and neck positions, humbuckers in the bridge and neck with a single in the middle, or a single coil in the bridge position of a Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck region are all popular setups.
Passive vs. Active
The most common type is a passive pickup (to the point that people seldom use the word ‘passive pickup’ until comparing it to an active pickup: they just say ‘pickup’). An active pickup’s winding is often considerably weaker than that of a passive pickup, but its signal is amplified from within the pickup itself, frequently by an inbuilt 9V battery.
There are various advantages, including the fact that the output is generally more powerful, with longer sustain, tonal consistency, and signal intensity independent of cable/chain length. Active pickups come in a humbucker and single coil configurations, and they’re both incredibly quiet.
Companies such as EMG and Seymour Duncan provide a plethora of active humbucker alternatives that are ideal for heavier styles of music and are famously used by some of the greatest names in current rock and metal.
Because it’s quite difficult to put active and passive pickups in the same instrument, you’ll usually find one or the other, not both.
Pickup Magnet Types
The size, type, and setup of magnet/s used in your pickup, as well as the type of wire: how deep it is, how it’s shielded, how it’s wound all around the spool, and how many turns of cord, all have a big influence on the audio that the pickup produces, whether you select single coil or humbucker, active or passive.
All of these elements impact the sound of a pickup, but the magnet type is the easiest to quantify. There are a few magnets that are commonly used in pickups, and understanding a little bit about them can help you figure out which one will work best for the sound you’re after.
Conclusion: 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker [2022 Review]
We tried to explain pickups, humbuckers, and all else and included the 5 best single coil size humbuckers for the ones who need them. We hope you liked our 5 Best Single Coil Sized Humbucker review and it was helpful.