Basic Humbucker pick up system
Basically making a Humbucker pick up(p/u) is when you place a single coil beside another one.
Visually you will notice that some Humbucker p/u’s may have a cover on them, thus you will not see the two coils side by side. I will try to explain that one in another post.
Both coils generate a signal that comes from the strings that are vibrating or making sound. If you pluck a string it will vibrate in a certain direction and height. During one complete cycle it will move closer and then farther away from the pick up itself. By placing two of them side by side obviously gives you more signal/sound output that comes out the the p/u and into the guitar amplifier. These coils are wired together in a configuration called series.
For people just trying to grasp at this idea, here goes nothing. Both of the coil’s wirings are opposite to each other. When you wrap the wire around the coil, it can be wound either by clock wise or counter clock wise direction. This is better known as polarity, or the direction of how the signal is sent to the amp. In guitar terms it is better recognized as reverse winding and reverse magnetic polarity called RWRP.
For guitarist in the know, the RP is how the pick ups are wired to each other.
With a single coil p/u, it generates a certain hum from it. For some, this drives them mad and others love the effect. I tend to fall in the middle of this one. Both sounds are very unique. So now having two coils in RWRP, the EMF effect, offsets the other one thus making a hum less p/u with more power. BTW, this is the reason why they called it the HUM-BUCKER pick up, get it? Also by adjusting the height of the p/u, you change the sound and output of it.
This link is to a How to make a Humbucking Pick Up thus giving you a complete visualization of the structure and a better idea of how it works. I tend to be a more visual person in how I learn, some people learn more by audio means.
I hope that I did not confuse anyone with this post. I just want to give the average person a better/basic working knowledge of how this system works!
Keep on Jammin’
