初學電吉他的您必須認清甚麼是Humbucker與Single coil
電吉他的拾音器(Pick up)對音色影響十分大。對吉他初學者而言，它像一個迷。Pick up到底是其麼？讓我們探討它們是甚麼，它們有甚麼功用並如何運作。
Pick up到底是其麼
簡單來說，Pick Up 就像一支電吉他的咪高峰，是負責收音的器材。它位於琴身之上，吉他弦之下，一般以金屬或塑膠製成。它們的運作原理是，由磁石與銅線圈組成的Pick Up產生磁場，當弦震動時，磁場就會改變，流通銅線圈的電流亦隨之改變，經過擴音器推動喇叭並輸出最終的聲音。
Pick up的種類
Pick up大致分為兩大類，單線圈拾音器（Single Coil Pickups）和雙線圈拾音器（Humbucker Pickups/Double coil Pickups）。
Single Coil Pickups
(Source: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/thehub/humbucker-pickups-vs-single-coil-pickups-key-differences-explained)
Humbucker Pickup
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker)
Humbucker Pickup with cover
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker)
單線圈拾音器(Single Coil Pickups)的構造
以一條磁鐵為中心並纏繞著銅線圈，組合成電磁感應器。Fender的 Stratocasters和Telecasters都使用Single Coil Pickups。
Fender Player Series Stratocaster
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Fender Player Series Telecaster
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Single Coil的特色
十分清晰的清聲，明顯又細緻的吉他聲音。清脆及明亮的聲音，適合彈奏各式和樣的音樂風格。
Single Coil的缺點
- 未必適合metal或hard rock的樂手，欠缺強而有力音色; 它輸出的音色相對比Humbucker較薄弱
- 較易受到外部磁場的干擾而產生雜音，靜止不彈奏時會有一些電流聲
Single Coil 適合誰?
基本上只要你主要不是彈奏metal，single coil 的吉他都切合到你的需要。不論pop rock、funk、neo-soul 都很適合。
雙線圈拾音器(Humbucker Pickups)
其實是將兩個單線圈拾音器包裝成一組來使用。雙線圈特別之處將兩者反向連接時，一般在Single Coil Pickup裡的電流聲（Hum）就會被消除，所以就因此得來其英文名稱為Humbucker。
常使用雙線圈拾音器的吉他包括Gibson Les Pauls。
Epiphone DC Pro
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Humbucker的特色
由於觸及吉他弦的範圍較廣，因此它收音的範圍也會較廣，音色變得更響亮 、飽滿、實淨。
消除Hum聲的同時，一部份的高頻的聲亦被消除，因此，它較傾向於帶出厚實的中頻及低頻聲音，聲音飽和溫暖，適合彈奏富有破音特色的曲目，如metal和hard rock等的歌曲。
Humbucker的短處
- 沒有明顯缺點，只是不能夠造出single coil獨有的清晰，有如風鈴般清脆的聲音。
混合Pickup
除了single coil/humbucker吉他之外，市面上還有很多混合這兩種pickup的電吉他，例如Suhr, Tom Anderson等。可以讓吉他手們得到single coil清晰的音色之餘，同時亦可以擁有humbucker圓潤又有力的聲音。
Ibanez
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
以下有兩段影片，
第一條單純比較Singer Coil與 Humbucker，第二條是Blind Tests 大家可以通透過聽覺估那一個是Singer Coil或Humbucker
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If you are new to electric guitar, you must recognize what is humbucker and single coil
The pickup of an electric guitar has a great influence on the sound. For guitar beginners, it is like a mystery. What is Pick up? Let us explore what they are, what they do and how they work.
What is Pickup?
Simply put, PickUp is like the microphone of an electric guitar, it is the equipment responsible for capturing sound. It is located above the body of guitar and below the guitar strings, and is generally made of metal or plastic. Their operating principle is that the PickUp composed of magnets and copper coils generates a magnetic field. When the string vibrates, the magnetic field will change, and the current flowing through the copper coil will also change. The amplifier pushes the speaker and outputs the final sound.
Types of pick up
Pick up is roughly divided into two categories, single coil pickups (Single Coil Pickups) and double coil pickups (Humbucker Pickups/Double coil Pickups).
Single Coil Pickups
(Source: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/thehub/humbucker-pickups-vs-single-coil-pickups-key-differences-explained)
Humbucker Pickup
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker)
Humbucker Pickup with cover
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker)
Structure of Single Coil Pickups
Take a magnet as the center and wind a copper coil to form an electromagnetic inductor. Fender's Stratocasters and Telecasters both use Single Coil Pickups.
Fender Player Series Stratocaster
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Fender Player Series Telecaster
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Features of Single Coil
Very clear, obvious and detailed guitar sound. The crisp and bright sound is suitable for playing all kinds of music styles.
Disadvantages of Single Coil
It may not be suitable for metal or hard rock musicians. It lacks strong and powerful sound; the sound it outputs is relatively weaker than Humbucker
It is more susceptible to interference from external magnetic fields to produce noise, and there will be some current noise when it is not playing.
Who is Single Coil suitable for?
Basically, as long as you are not mainly playing metal, single coil guitars are suitable for your needs. No matter pop rock, funk, neo-soul are all suitable.
Humbucker Pickups
In fact, two single-coil pickups are packaged into a set for use. The special feature of the double coil is that when the two coils are connected in reverse, the current sound (Hum) in the Single Coil Pickup will generally be eliminated, so the name is Humbucker.
Guitars that often use dual coil pickups include Gibson Les Pauls.
Epiphone DC Pro
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
Features of Humbucker
Due to the wider range of the guitar strings, the range of its sound will be wider, and the tone becomes louder, fuller, and purer.
While eliminating the Hum sound, part of the high-frequency sound is also eliminated. Therefore, it tends to bring out a thick mid-range and low-frequency sound with a saturated and warm sound, which is suitable for playing music with broken sound characteristics, such as metal. And hard rock and other songs.
Disadvantages of Humbucker
There are no obvious disadvantages, but it can't create the clear, crisp sound like a wind chime that is unique to a single coil.
Hybrid Pickup
In addition to single coil/humbucker guitars, there are many electric guitars that mix these two pickups, such as Suhr, Tom Anderson, etc. It allows guitarists to get the clear sound of the single coil, while also having the humbucker mellow and powerful sound.
Ibanez
(Source: https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/humbuckers-vs-single-coil-pickups-beginners-guide)
There are two videos below,
The first one simply compares Singer Coil and Humbucker, and the second one is Blind Tests. You can estimate by hearing which one is Singer Coil or Humbucker
