Best Guitar Pickups (our top pick)
Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers
Fishman is reinventing guitar pickup design with the Fluence series. The stacked coil technology gives you the benefits of both passive and active pickups in one of the best-sounding sets we've ever heard.

In an electric guitar there’s no single part that has more say in the quality and type of tone you produce, than pickups. Aside from strings, pickups are also one of the most replaceable parts of your guitar. While the process usually requires some basic soldering, pickups can be swapped out for upgrading your sound, or simply pivoting to a different type of tone without a ton of technical effort.
You might want something heavier, more bluesy, or better for clean tones. Or maybe you’re just replacing really cheap stock pickups. The Jackson Dinky is a popular guitar for pickup swaps.
Whatever the case, guitar pickups are a major consideration when it comes to your electric guitar, especially when you start to develop your own playing style. In this article, I’m going to talk about exactly how you can choose the best guitar pickups for your situation and what factors you’ll need to consider.
Best Guitar Pickups (top 7 picks)
Pickups | Name | Rate | Buy |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers Ceramic magnet, stacked coil technology, unrivaled clean tone, low noise even with heavy distortion | n/a | |
![]() | Seymour Duncan Invader Pickups | n/a | |
![]() | Seymour Duncan California '50s (SSL-1) Stratocaster Pickups Crisp, vintage Strat sound, great price point | n/a | |
![]() | Seymour Duncan Antiquity (Strat or Tele pickups) Vintage, bluesy tone with soft output, great Telecaster or Stratocaster upgrade, aesthetics are fantastic | n/a | |
![]() | EMG 57 and 66 Active Pickups Ceramic and alnico magnet combo, smooth tone that's also great for lead, popular upgrade for Les Pauls and SGs | n/a | |
![]() | DiMarzio Twang King Telecaster Pickup Set Brings out the twanginess of Telecaster electrics, popular upgrade for both Squier and Fender Teles | n/a | |
![]() | Fishman Fluence Classic Humbuckers Ceramic magnet, stacked coil technology, unrivaled clean tone, low noise, even with heavy distortion | n/a |
1. Fishman Fluence Modern
Best active humbuckers


The technology Fishman uses in their pickups is fairly new, as they've abandoned the traditional copper wire winding in favor of stacked coils. This has resulted in an extremely clear-sounding pickup that produces some of the best tones we've ever heard. Fishman is truly in a class by themselves with this technology and easily our favorite recommendation.

The Fishman Fluence Modern humbuckers installed. Image via Carl Eone
Read the full review: Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers
IDEAL FOR: Metal and modern styles
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Ceramic magnet
- Stacked coil technology
- Unrivaled clean tone
- Low noise (great for distortion)
- Expensive
2. Seymour Duncan Invaders
Best value passive humbucker


Seymour Duncan's Invader pickups are an aggressively-voiced, high-output humbucker that produces a really smooth distorted tone. This is one of our favorite pickups for Les Paul electrics and modern playing styles, especially for those who run a lot of heavy distortion through their signal. Here's a clip of Bobby playing them on his PRS:

A nice close up of a Seymour Duncan Invader humbucker. Image via Karl Sanders
IDEAL FOR: Budgets, metal, and modern rock
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- High output design
- Ceramic magnets
- Sound great through a heavily distorted signal
- Perfect for modern rock and metal
- None for the price
3. Seymour Duncan California '50s
Best modern style Strat pickups

This is one of our favorite pickup sets for Stratocasters, especially if you're looking for a more subtle and mellow Strat but with some glassy upside. The California set by Seymour Duncan handles the nuance of your picking and playing style really well and does it all without noise issues in the Strats we've tested. While the tone is similar to the Fender Noiseless sets, we just find the California '50s to have a little more character and definition, making them one of our favorite recommendtions for Strat upgrades.
IDEAL FOR: Upgrading a Fender or Squier Stratocaster
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Alnico 5 magnets bring out the subtlety of your playing style
- Lots of glassy and bell-like tones on the higher register
- Mixes well with reverb and small amounts of gain
- Minimizes noise like the Fender Noiseless set
- None for the price
4. Seymour Duncan Antiquity
Best vintage Strat pickup set


For fans of vintage tones and more subtle, bluesy clean sounds, Seymour Duncan's Antiquity pickup series has become a go-to in recent years. They've even got the worn vintage look down to a science, which works particularly well with their Stratocaster and Telecaster single coil sets. Most run an Alnico 2 magnet with a lower DCR (output).
Read more: Best Seymour Duncan pickups
IDEAL FOR: Upgrading a Fender or Squier Stratocaster
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Subtle, bluesy and vintage tone
- Perfect for Strat and Tele upgrades
- Perfect for classic rock or blues
- None for the price
5. EMG 57 and 66
Runner up active humbucker


One of EMG's most popular active pickup sets is the 57 and 66 humbucker pair which combines an Alnico and Ceramic magnet for a smooth tone that also sounds really good in a lead guitar context. They're popular with heavy rock and metal players like Zakk Wydle and the guys from Metallica, all of whom have their own EMG signature humbuckers. They make a great Les Paul pickup upgrade, and also ship with EMG's solderless installation system.

EMG active pickups on a couple Schecter guitars. Image via Mateusz
IDEAL FOR: Modern tones and/or upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul or SG
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Ceramic and Alnico magnet combo
- Great upgrade for Les Pauls or SGs
- Smooth tone that's also great for lead
- Melds well with modern rock styles
- Expensive
- Requires a 9V battery
6. DiMarzio Twang King
Best Telecaster pickup set


As the name would indicate, DiMarzio's twang king Telecaster pickup is a high-output, twangy pair that really brings out the character and right-hand technique of Telecaster electrics. Blues and country playing styles are the best fits for this type of single coil, which we'd recommend for upgrading any stock Squier or even some of the Fender branded pickup models.
Read more: Best DiMarzio pickups

The DiMarzio Twang King pickups on a Telecaster. Image via Guitarchitech
IDEAL FOR: Telecaster twang, country, blues, and all cheap Tele upgrades
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Brings out the twanginess of Telecaster electrics
- Popular upgrade for both Squier and Fender Telecasters
- Bluesy, vintage tone
- Not great for heavier gain levels
7. Fishman Fluence Classic
Best vintage style active humbuckers


Like the Modern versions of the Fluence, the Fishman Fluence Classic set uses the same stacked coil technology, though are voiced with a slightly softer output. Again, the clean tones with these pickups are so good that you'd be hard pressed to find a style where it doesn't fit. The Fluence series is always going to be a significant upgrade over just about any guitar with an HH pickup configuration.
IDEAL FOR: Epiphone Les Paul and SG mods, classic rock, and '80s metal
TONE
n/a
NOISE CONTROL
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- Ceramic magnet
- Stacked coil technology
- Amazingly good clean tone
- Low noise (great for distortion)
- Expensive
Something to Add? Questions?
Have an electric guitar pickup in mind that you think should be included? Maybe a lesser-known or boutique brand that we haven’t heard about? Leave it in the comments and we'll consider adding it to our best guitar pickups list.
We’re always interested in hearing about unique and interesting pickups and parts. You can also use the comments section below for recommendations or questions about the pickups we've already listed.
Related Articles
Written by Bobby on Guitars and Roundups
Written by Bobby on Pickups and Info

the newsletter
Gear and guitar lesson reviews by real guitar players
We buy, use, test, research, and rate the guitar programs and gear we recommend. Sign up for our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date.
By clicking the "sign up" button, you are consenting to receiving updates about Guitar Chalk and recaps of what we publish. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Comment Policy: You're down to leave a comment? That's awesome. Keep in mind that comments are moderated and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please avoid any spammy keywords or a domain as your name, otherwise your comment will be deleted. Let's stay on topic, keep questions relevant and have a meaningful conversation. All the best.