Are you looking for the best single coil pickups for blues or rock? We will help you to make an informed decision.
You don’t have to buy a new guitar to get a unique sound out of it. In other to help you cut costs, we have selected the very best single coil pickups for you.
For electric guitar and electric bass, single-coil pickup is preferred over a humbucking or dual-coil pickup.
We now review some admirable single-coil pickups you can buy and why they are the perfect pick for you.
Top 4 Best Single Coil Pickups:
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
 | Fender Tex-Mex Strat Pickups (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Seymour Duncan 11205-02 SHR-1b | Check Price |
| DiMarzio ISCV2 | Check Price |
 | Lace Alumitone Deathbar | Check Price |
Fender Tex-Mex Strat Pickups (Editor’s Choice)
Fender Tex-Mex Strat single-coil pickups offer increased output and sparkling highs. It has a catchy, warm tone that holds all the characteristics of a vintage-style Stratocaster. From Texas grit to soaring clean tone, they’re the pickups of choice for versatile players.
The Fender® Tex-Mex™ possesses the following features:
- Formvar magnet wire for bright and glassy tone.
- Staggered hand-beveled polepieces for balanced output.
- Alnico 5 magnets for more focus and dynamics.
- Cloth wiring and fiber bobbin.
This pickup promises to give an excellent sound. This strat sounds excellent for rock, especially if you use a decent overdrive pedal. However, on a low gain, Tex-Mex strat sounds bluesy.
This noiseless vintage pickup should be able to turn an alright guitar into an amazing one. It has a lot of warmer sound than the original strat that comes with the guitar.
Regardless of the guitar manufacturer, the Tex-Mex™ strat can produce five different high, mid & low tones. This single coil pickup cancels humming and makes a re-creation of sound easy with dynamic sound.
Pros
- The more balanced and powerful output than an average single coil.
- It uses 5 Alnico magnets to gain focus and play blues, rock, and metal smoothly.
- Very affordable.
Cons
- You need an overdrive pedal or a high-gain amp to be able to play rock or metal.
The Fender® Tex-Mex™ is a fantastic, noiseless piece. It is from the leading single-coil pickup manufacturer. Over the years, Fender has been remarkable in the guitar market. In my opinion, these are the best Strat pickups for blues and rock.
Seymour Duncan 11205-02 SHR-1b
Seymour Duncan® is a versatile pickup that operates both as a Single-Coil and a humbucker or Dual-Coil pickup.
This dual ability was done by combining the accuracy, brightness, and expressiveness of single-coils on one side with the richness and fullness of humbuckers on the other.
Features of Seymour Duncan’s:
- The two thin blades with powerful coil windings give you the incredible sustain and a fat.
- Produces full sound needed for playing heavier rock music. This pickup responds to the subtlest finger movement.
- This pickup uses a pair of blades coupled with a bulletproof ceramic magnet and intense coil windings to produce a rich ton of sustain.
- Best of all, these humbuckers and all their beefy tone fit inside a single-coil-sized pickup.
Pros
- It is a perfect hum-canceling single coil.
- It is very sensitive to volume and tone control changes.
- It is perfect for classic rock and gives an exciting tone, such as for garage rock or metal.
- Highly responsive when switching between plays.
Cons
- The corners of the pickup are slightly wider than a strat single coil.
- It is not advisable for bass as you might not get the desired tone you want.
Seymour Duncan’s is an excellent pickup as it adds girth to your sound. Relatively noiseless as it seems, it sure picks a seat among the best, delivering commendable pickups for guitar lovers.
DiMarzio ISCV2
DiMarzio ISCV2 Evolution Single-Coil pickup is specially designed with neck and bridge models in a wiring configuration. This pickup provides a small amount of distorted or muffled sound. With no noise at all, this device is meant to produce great sound.
The Dimarzio® functions as a 5-way switch:
- When the switch is in line 1 or 5, you will be able to hear the neck or bridge humbucker.
- When in line 2 or 4, the middle single-coil combines in parallel with one coil of either humbucker. This then results in producing a good tone and canceling any hum.
- When in line 3, this pickup gives an authentic single coil sound.
Pros
- It is quite affordable
- The pickup delivers a commendable groove that covers all sonic frequencies.
- It can play any mix and adapt well.
- It can play almost all genres of music.
Cons
- When playing in the middle range, it does not cancel hummings.
- You need to use it along with an evolution neck and bridge pickups.
Although the Dimarzio pickup might sound fantastic, it is not convincing enough to satisfy a wide range of guitarists. As a guitarist. You might want to switch between genres easily and swiftly without any hum. I don’t think Dimarzio would be the best for that.
Though, some users find this pickup to be great, producing the desired sound. However, you need a great single-coil pickup with fantastic versatility for practice and stage performance.
Lace Alumitone Deathbar
Honestly, this is a sexy pickup in style and look. The Alumitone Deathbar™ is voiced in an aggressive mid-range and a higher output than some other pickups. This pickup is designed for extended-range guitars.
The Aluma-Deathbar pickup features:
- Is Chrome plated
- Has extended 4.5 inches for 9 or 10 strings guitar
- Has a broad and sensitive tone which defines a tone and makes the player feel warm.
- Has a tight and non-bassy low end which keeps your tone out of the mud.
- It is a passive High Definition pickup.
Pros
- It is admirable for a distinctive high-gain, distorted, palm-muted, low-pitch guitar sound.
- As a single coil pickup, there is no volume drop when in split mode.
- When playing rhythm and lead, it gives a smooth sound.
- It can play Jazz, metal perfectly with great sound.
- It’s one of the best pickups for Djent on the market
- The liquid crystal tone shines through for large chords even when distorted.
Cons
- It is mainly for high output guitar playing meaning it cannot play blues or other low-level music.
- It is not cheap
The Alumitone Deathbar is a unique current-driven single coil pickup for Jazz and metal. Nonetheless, it is for extended-range guitars, which means it won’t fit easily on your body.
This pickup should be able to give a fantastic sound for an enormous stage performance. It is very sure to wow guitarists and lovers of high output music. It doesn’t come cheap, but sure to deliver.
I wouldn’t want to say, but it seems to be one of the best single-coil pickups for extended guitar.
Things to Know When Choosing the Best Single Coil Pickup for Guitar
There is no wrong or right choice in choosing a guitar to buy. Given that, we have narrowed down the necessary things to look out for when buying a single-coil pickup.
- The size of Pickup – The first thing to do is look for the pickup that fits your guitar.
- The kind of music you play should be an essential consideration as well. Are you a player that plays with distortion or the type that plays clean? High output pickups generate distorted tones more readily.
If you play loud and aggressive music, the high output pickup will be the right choice for you.
Moderate output pickups are great for clean sounds, but you can use amps or distortion pedals to dirty your sound.
- An alder body or a maple fingerboard guitar produces a bright sound. The Alnico magnet of a pickup determines the quality of the sound you will get.
Alnico 2 magnet pickup will give a moderate quality of an alder body or a maple fingerboard. Alnico 5 magnet pickup will produce higher quality.
A mahogany body and a rosewood fingerboard guitar produce a darker sound. However, an Alnico 5 magnet pickup with a higher punch is preferable for a metal guitarist.
You can get a cheap and durable single-coil pickup, which will serve you effectively. The sound you get from a pickup should be unique.
More so, if a pickup gives the same quality as the original pickup of your guitar, what do you do?
There is no point in buying a less quality pickup than the original one. That is the main reason we reviewed the best single-coil pickups for you to choose from:
- Fender Tex-Mex Strat single-coil pickup sounds bluesy on a low gain, but it is solid for rock with an overdrive. It definitely to be a decent buy for quality sound and noiselessness.
- Seymour Duncan, which serves both as a Single-Coil and a humbucker or Dual-Coil pickup, proves to be excellent. It is solid for rock and metal play.
- The DiMarzio ISCV2 is a comfortable pickup piece with an excellent sound and good enough for most music genres.
- Lace Alumitone Deathbar is a reliable High definition pickup for extended guitars. It is sure to sound great for stage performance and certainly for Jazz, Rock, and Metal.
The prices of these pickups are very affordable, and the features they possess are sure to serve you. In the cause of this review, we hope you can choose the best single-coil pickup that suits your need.