Guitar buying guide The Sound of a Guitar Part 1: Coils

Once you've decieded you want to play guitar you also need ask yourself what kind of music you want to play.

The reason is that each guitar produces a different sound and each genre or type of music has a specific guitar that produces that sound.

What determines the sound of an electric guitar?

Well, different things but the two main things that define the sound are:

- The elements (also known as the coils) of the guitar
- The amplifier (more on that later)

The coils in a guitar are one of the most important features in a guitar and for the biggest part determine the sound of the electric guitar.

Single Coils vs. Humbuckers

The coils are the rectangular things on the main board of your guitar underneath the strings. These can be:

- two single coils, one single element at the bridge (i.e. where the strings start) and one single element where the neck starts;
- Two double coils. Double coils are two single coils put right next to each other as if it's one very thick coil. Double coils are also known as 'humbuckers' because of the humming sounds they make in comparison to a single coil. So, when you have two humbuckers on a guitar it actually means there are four single coils in total on the guitar.

Guitars with humbuckers in general are used for the heaver kinds of music (e.g. heavy metal) because they can produce a heavier sound. The single coil guitars in general are less heavy.

This is not to say that humbucker guitars can't be used for anything other than metal or rock, or that single coils can't be used for rock music. They both can be used for various types of music but they both produce different sounds.

There are also variations on this standard set up. Some guitars for example have three humbuckers, some have two humbuckers and a single coil etc. But most either have two single coils or two humbuckers.

Humbuckers

Within the humbuckers category there are also two different types of humbuckers, namely:

- Active humbuckers
- Passive humbuckers

Active humbuckers usually have a bit more 'bite' to their sound and also are operated by a battery. Passive humbuckers don't need a battery.

Whether you have passive or active humbuckers, the sound will still be heavier than a single coil guitar.

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