Best Zebra Humbucker pickup?
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Set
Keep in mind, the "zebra" descriptor only refers to poll piece colors. But the best option that provides that color (we would argue) is the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates set. They're a versatile humbucker pair at a decent price. The Fishman Fluence sets are also excellent.
This is a simple roundup of zebra humbucker pickups, sporting white and black pole pieces, where the white one is typically more of an off-white cream color. All of them are uncovered, exposing the colors of each pole piece (bobbin).
For starters. we've focused on larger more reputable brands, but we'd welcome boutique pickup additions as well.
If you know of a zebra humbucker pickup that we could add to this list, drop a line in the comments section below. This helps keep these pages updated and more comprehensive over time. Enjoy.
Read more: Best guitar pickups
Closeup of a zebra humbucker pickup with black and cream colored pole pieces. Image via Arcane Inc
Full List of Zebra Humbucker Pickups
Remember, this is not a ranking or recommendation, necessarily. However, all these pickups are from high-quality, reputable companies. Again, feel free to get in touch via the comments section below if you have something to add.
- Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates
- Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB
- Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0
- EMG Jim Root Daemonum
- Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special
- EMG Fat 55
- Seymour Duncan SH-PG1b Pearly Gates (bridge)
- Fishman Fluence Classic
- Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 (neck)
- Gibson Accessories Custombucker Underwound Humbucker
- Gibson Accessories Custombucker neck/bridge
- Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB (bridge)
- Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz (neck)
- Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz (bridge)
- Seymour Duncan SH-1b '59 (bridge 4-conductor)
- Seymour Duncan Zephyr Silver
- Seymour Duncan SH-PG1b Pearly Gates (bridge)
- Fender Shawbucker 1 (bridge)
- Fender ShawBucker 2 (bridge)
- EVH Wolfgang (neck)
- Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 (neck 4-conductor)
- Friedman Classic Plus (bridge)
- DiMarzio DP101 Dual Sound
- Fishman Fluence Classic Open Core
- Friedman Classic (neck)
- DiMarzio DP228FBC Crunch Lab (bridge)
- Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special (neck)
- Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special (bridge)
- Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 (bridge 4-conductor)
- Fishman Fluence Classic (neck)
- Fishman Fluence Classic Humbucker Open Core Set
- Friedman Classic Plus (bridge)
- Seymour Duncan Duality
- Seymour Duncan TB-6 Distortion Trembucker (bridge)
- Lindy Fralin Wide Range
- Lindy Fralin Pure PAF
- Lindy Fralin Sunbucker Blues
Note that a few of these links lead to pickups that are displayed with a different default color or even a covering. But, for all of them, there's a zebra version available, which you can select on each product page.
The look of the two colors is very distinct, and can work well with any type of guitar.
Best Zebra Humbucker Pickups
As we listed in that top summary box, the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates would be our top pick from this list. Just keep in mind, the zebra descriptor only speaks to pole piece color and is an issue of style, not quality.
So the answer here is whatever humbucker you're interested in and what suits your style.
We're also huge fans of the Fishman Fluence series, if you're looking for an active pickup instead of passive.
The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates set is a great fit for a lot of situation, and high value. Image via Solid Fun Music
Reverse Zebra Pickups
When I saw this term, my initial thought was that it had something to do with the pickup's winding or polarity (idiot), but it's actually a lot simpler than that.
On a typical zebra pickup set, the cream pole pieces are facing outward, meaning the black pieces are facing each other, like this:
The conventional zebra humbucker design has the black bobbins facing each other, pointing to the middle. Image via Giggear
Reverse zebra humbuckers are simply the opposite, with the white/cream pole pieces facing each other.
Reverse zebra humbuckers are, well...reversed.
Best Reverse Zebra
Sometimes guitar players will simply turn their zebra pickups around, which is technically not the "correct" way to do it, but convention doesn't always need to be adhered to. You might like the sound or not even notice the difference.
But there are zebra pickups that are actually designed to be reversed, with the flat pole pieces (like you see in the above graphic) facing each other.
You can tell which color should be pointed to the middle by looking at which side has those flattened pole pieces. Raised poles should be pointing out.
In terms of the best reverse zebra humbucker, I'd probably go with the Seymour Duncan SH-4 or the Seymour Duncan APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash humbucker. But again, the issue here is aesthetic, so the best option should be based on other factors.
Zebra Humbucker Pickups Price
We have a tool that pulls the live pricing from retailer databases, so I've included some pricing for a handful of zebra-style humbuckers here. Typically there won't be a difference in price between zebra and non-zebra pickups.
Prices updated Fri, August 21st, 2026
Sweetwater Price Guide
Amazon Pricing
Zebra Pickups Orientation
The paragraph above about reverse zebra pickups covers this, but I'll summarize for those skipping to this section:
- Flat pole bobbin should face inward (usually black)
- Raised pole bobbin should face outward (usually cream)
Any questions or additions?
Do you have any zebra humbucker pickups you'd recommend for this page? If so, we definitely want to hear your suggestions.
Drop them in the comments section below. We'll check add it to the page if it's a good fit, then cite you in an update at the top of this article.
Thanks for trusting our content.
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Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pickups & Roundups
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pickups & Roundups
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