Can’t find the best pickup for slide guitar? We carefully chose the top four pickups you can use for slide playing right now.
We all know that pickups are as important for slide guitars as a brain in humans. If you are serious about playing slides, you have to raise your guitar’s action to ensure its strings don’t hit the frets. However, it doesn’t mean you require a very high action to get the perfect sound.
A pickup plays a crucial role here as it converts the string vibrations into electricity. The device is embedded in your guitar’s body just beneath the strings. There are multiple options to select when it comes to the best pickups for slide guitar.
We have reviewed some of the most popular and value-for-money products below.
Best Pickups for Slide Guitar (Comparison Table)
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Set (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Seymour Duncan Seth Lover Set (Close Runner-Up) | Check Price |
 | Fender Custom Shop Strat Texas Special Pickup Set | Check Price |
 | Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Pickup | Check Price |
1. Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Set (Editor’s Choice)
Seymour Duncan Phat Cat set easily drops into humbucker-equipped guitars. It gives all the bounce at neck position and sparkle, similar to a vintage Gibson P90 soap bar. Solos have single-coil springiness, and chords have rich harmonics.
For a softer and sustain attack, it uses two Alnico 2 bar magnets. The standard soap bar covers provide noise reduction and shielding. When used together, the neck model is reverse wind reverse polarity from the bridge pickup to operate noise-free.
The professional and experienced team of Seymour Duncan takes pride in crafting unique products that have been offering fantastic sound for more than 21 years. The Phat Cats offer you all the growl and grit expected from P90 Soapbar in the bridge position.
Chords have ringing bright harmonic overtones, and solos have cut and the edge of P90. It features a Nickel-silver bottom plate, vacuum wax potting, and single conductor braided hookup wire. The pickup offers noiseless operation.
The traditional P-90 has a powerful sound compared to a single-coil, but it is more clear and clean than a humbucker. P-90’s shape is made in a way that it easily fits in most guitars. The Phat Cat puts traditional P90 under a humbucker cover so people can access the single-coil sound.
This set has RW/RP bridge pickup, so it diminishes hum when pickups are used together. The tone is fat and big with a softer attack. More shielding is offered by a metal cover and comes with a single conductor hookup cable.
Pros
- True P-90 growl and bite in humbucker-equipped guitar
- Unique and mid-bite attack
- Solos and bright harmonics as a bridge is wound
- Clean tone
- Loud
- No more muddy tones
Cons
- None
2. Seymour Duncan Seth Lover Set (Close Runner-Up)
The Seth Lover Set is a good choice for guitarists who want to change a semi-hollow or solid body into a classic rock singing machine. The Seth lover neck model offers you a smooth yet articulate tone by perfectly striking the full low end, warm, and nice sweet treble.
The Alnico 2 bar magnet assists in smoothing out the high-end response, and the output vintage coils give rich harmonic content. Single notes have ideal singing quality, and nickel silver un-potted cover gives a piano-like tone.
This pickup fits the bill of every guitarist and sounds incredible. It has some different sounding to modern humbuckers but with lots of character. It is famous for its clarity and is capable of being clean, bold, and crisp.
The versatile output level makes it a popular choice among guitar players. In addition, it has accuracy in the high frequency, which makes it adequate for slide guitar.
The Seth Lover bridge model offers that airy, warm, and open tone by correctly striking the right balance of low-end warmth with an articulate top smooth end. The chords will have an open and full sound, and single notes have an articulate soft feel.
Seymour Duncan Seth Lover is relied on by many guitarists as it delivers the best. So place this set in your gig and get ready to rock the world with confidence.
Pros
- Sweet and smooth tone
- Faithful PAF humbucker
- Adequate for Blues, Jazz, and Classic rock style
- Great sound
- Versatile
- Dynamic
Cons
- None
3. Fender Custom Shop Strat Texas Special Pickup Set (Best 3-Piece Pickup Set for a Slide Guitar)
Fender Custom Shop Strat Texas Special Pickup Set is characterized by its crystal clear highs, tight bass, and midrange chirp. It has an over-wound single coil construction and offers re-explored the Texas blues sound. Enamel-coated magnet wire and Alnico 5 magnets create the increased output.
Fender offers a wide range of pickups, and they are used in several Fender Strats. The pickup offered by the company has a loud vintage sound with good bass and mids and good treble to produce a clean sound. So it is an ideal pickup for people who want fatter and slightly more powerful vintage strat sound.
The Custom Shop Texas Special can be a wise choice when you want an affordable and high-quality pickup. It is among the best pickups that can stick in your guitar (perfect for Strats, in my opinion). Once you install a set of these cost-effective pickups, you can experience next-level slide tone. This pickup will not disappoint you for sure.
The Texas Special pickup set was designed in the early 90s and implemented in 91-92 in the SRV signature Stratocaster. The pickups are based on pickup sets 57-62 but with additional output in the bridge position. The classic scooped mid-range is less than is associated with the Fender sound commonly.
We can say that these pickups are not really for every guitarist and every guitar because everyone cannot handle it. The warm vintage tone is offered by enamel-coated magnet wire. The Staggered pole pieces offer balanced output. Middle pickup is a reverse-wound that eliminates hum.
Pros
- Magnet wire with enamel coating
- Alnico 5 magnet
- Staggering pole pieces
- Over-wound calibrated pickups
- Reverse-wound middle pickup
- Warm vintage tone
- Balanced output
- Enhanced dynamics
- No hum
- Scorching output
Cons
- None
4. Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Pickup
Seymour Duncan Antiquity humbuckers sound and look like an original 50s humbucker designed by Seth E. Lover. These are made to meet traditional standards, and each has its own DC resistance and character like the originals.
The poles and nickel silver cover are made such that players enjoy the most. The front tapered mounting ring and the screws in the neck position model go perfectly with it. The bridge position humbucker is a perfect replica of the amazing-sounding humbuckers that Seth E.Lover designed in 1955.
The bridge pickup is wound a little better and hotter balanced for its position. For the increased pickup height, the mounting ring is slightly high. These are not wax potted so to retain the look and original sound.
The hookup wire includes the push-back cloth braid wire. The bottom plate and the magnet are signed for their originality. You will capture this pickup if you appreciate the craftsmanship and commitment of Seymour Duncan.
Pros
- Authentic appearance and vintage sound
- Pickup is not wax potted to retain original appearance and sound
- Push backcloth braid wire
- Higher mounting ring to accommodate increased pickup height
- Looks authentic
- Sounds great
- Good quality
Cons
- None
Humbucker vs. Single Coil Pickup for Slide Guitar
Pickup types significantly impact guitar tone, and choosing the pickup depends on the tone you want from a guitar. For example, if you want a rock kind of tone, then you must go for humbuckers or a P90.
Single coil pickups offer more attack and bite as compared to humbuckers. These pickups can sound gritty when overdriving small tube amps. Single coils can also produce the chiming, glassy tones depending on the amp, playing technique, and effects. Humbuckers have a thicker sound that is warm and round. It also emphasizes sustain that is produced by the tonewoods.
Humbuckers are commonly used with heavy rock, metal, jazz players, whereas single-coils are used for maximum twang. They emphasize in the midrange and are famous with blues players who want overdriven tube sounds.
Which one is the best for playing slides? Well, humbuckers are a gold standard for slide guitar, IMHO. Of course, you can use single-coil pickups (we even mentioned one good option above), but it is somewhat harder to get the right slide tone in this case.
It’s more about sustain and kind of slide tone you need from your guitar than anything else. You can easily replicate slide tones of famous musicians by adjusting the pickup settings. Anyway, many people play slides on Les Paul or Tele guitars with single coils, and they work just fine for them.
A pickup senses vibration of the strings and changes them into an electrical signal for amplification. The magnet is made of ferrite or alnico and wrapped with copper wire coils. Its sound changes as the core material or number of coil changes.
The humbucker has two coils, and magnets of both are in different directions, so when they are connected, the single-coil hum cancels out. Humbucker sound full, hot, thick, smooth, and loud.
Single coil sounds detailed and clear, twangy, snappy, jangly, and bell-like.
Conclusion: The Best Pickup for Playing Slide Is…
The quest to find the best tone is never-ending for guitarists. We hope that the detailed discussion above has helped you get the excellent pickup for slide guitar. The pickups we have highlighted here are the ones that increase the quality, power, and tone of your guitar.
So, what is the best humbucker pickup for playing slide guitar?
Now you are in an excellent position to select the pickups for your gig. Our choice from the list is the Seymour Duncan Phat Cat set, as it comes with a lot of exciting features and a big fat tone with a softer attack.