Single PickUp Guitars – Everything You Need to Know (2024)

Single-pickup guitars have always had a magical attraction among guitarists with their simplicity, practicality, and, surprisingly, unique tone. Although it is highly debatable, some guitarists believe single-pickup guitars provide a brighter tone, making these guitars stand out from the rest.

As the name suggests, the single-pickup guitars are electric guitars that feature only one pickup in their configuration, often located in the bridge position. These guitars are less commonly found on the market as they are less versatile compared to other guitars and less preferred by guitarists.

Single Pickup Guitars At a Glance

• Single-pickup guitars are known for their simplicity, practicality, and unique tone.
• They are less versatile than guitars with multiple pickups and are less commonly found on the market.
• The main advantage is their simplicity; you can plug them in and start playing without complex configurations.
• Single-pickup guitars often have only volume and tone knobs, making them easy to prepare for playing.
• They are more affordable due to their simpler electronics and manufacturing processes.
• These guitars offer better freedom of movement for the playing hand, improving the playing experience.
• Some argue that single-pickup guitars provide a brighter and better tone, although this is subjective and debated.

Why would you choose a single pickup guitar?

The main reason to choose a single-pickup guitar is its simplicity and practicality. You can simply plug it into an amplifier and start playing without the need to configure or adjust anything else, as these guitars do not have the versatility of the other ones with different pickups, switches, and knobs.

Mainly single pickup guitars only have volume and tone adjustment knobs, making the preparation process much easier and quicker. Yes, they may be less versatile in terms of sonic possibilities, but many genres, such as the 80s heavy metal, glam rock, hard rock, punk rock, and many more, only use the bridge pickup anyway.

Another advantage is that single-pickup guitars are more affordable compared to guitars with multiple pickups. As the wiring, electronics placement, and manufacturing processes are much simpler with these guitars, the production costs decrease significantly, making the price tags slightly more budget-friendly.

Furthermore, by giving more free space for the playing hand to move, these guitars provide a better playing experience. Multiple pickups on a guitar limit the playing hand movements, with the pick sometimes getting too close to the middle or neck pickups.

The lack of a pickup switch and tonal adjustment knobs forces players to create new techniques to play around with dynamics, attacks, and different playing methods to achieve tonal versatility and textures. Without the ability to control the tone easily with a knob, guitarists may be able to develop new ways of touching the strings with the nuances of the timbre.

Another technical factor is the simplicity of the circuit, which gives less chance of noise and unwanted interference. As the wires and connections are fewer in these guitars, they rarely suffer from these kinds of issues.

Here are some good single-pickup guitars we recommend:

1. Gibson SG Junior

Pro Pick - The Iconic Gibson SG Junior With Single Pickup Design.

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2. Epiphone Les Paul Junior Electric Guitar

Budget Pick - Affordable Single-Pickup Guitar Inspired By Vintage 1957 Les Paul Junior.

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Do single-pickup guitars sound better or worse?

Well, this question is pretty hard to answer. Some guitarists like Phill-X of Bon Jovi strongly believe that single-pickup guitars sound better than guitars with two pickups. He explains that he recorded the same riff with the same gear, once with a single-pickup guitar and once with a two-pickup guitar. He concludes that without the neck pickup, the guitar had more harmonics and more tone overall. You can check out his explanation here.

The argument here is that guitars with a neck pickup, even when the neck pickup is not engaged, do not allow the strings to vibrate freely as the magnetic field of the neck pickup constantly pulls the strings. Without the neck pickup, there is a weaker magnetic force on the strings, allowing them to vibrate more for better harmonics, more sustain, and richer tone.

You can try this by yourself with a single-pickup guitar or simply by removing the neck and middle pickup of your own guitar. 

But, of course, guitars with multiple pickups have much more tonal versatility. Even though some single-pickup purists think they lose the natural sound of the guitar with more magnetic fields in play, this is not objectively proven. If you do not have a highly trained or sensitive ear, the difference will be too subtle to perceive.

Do more pickups mean a better guitar?

It is not about being better or worse, but it is more about answering the needs of the guitarists. If you are playing only one genre and/or have a guitar tone that you are keen on, you can harness that with a single-pickup guitar and have better sustain harmonics and richness in your tone.

But, if you want more tonal versatility and sonic possibilities, and if you like to create contrast easily while you play, a multiple-pickup configuration is better for you.

So, the question here is versatility against tonal richness. Single-pickup guitars have slightly better harmonics and richer tones, while guitars with more pickups are much more versatile.

Famous Single Pickup Guitar Players

There are many guitar players from the earlier times of rock and blues music as well as modern times, who prefer single pickup guitars. Some of them are Billy Gibbons, Keith Richards, Malcolm Young, Marty Friedman, George Lynch, Phill-X, Eddie Van Halen, Joan Jett, Benji Madden, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Jared James Nichols, to name a few.

Which are the best single-pickup guitars?

There are several iconic single-pickup guitars. To start with, there are Fender Telecaster variations; Fender Brad Paisley Signature, Fender Noventa Telecaster, and Fender Esquire are the first ones that come to mind. All of these guitars have only one pickup in the bridge position.

Gibson also has some iconic single-pickup guitars: Gibson SG Junior and Gibson Les Paul Junior with the powerful P-90 pickups in the bridge position.

ESP LTD also offers great single-pickup guitars in the Arctic Metal Series and Black Metal series.

Gretsch guitars also have some top-quality single-pickup vintage guitars such as the Gretsch 6119 Single Pickup 1959 and many more.

Recommended Single Pickup Guitars

1. Gibson SG Junior

Pro Pick

The Iconic Gibson SG Junior With Single Pickup Design.

View Price at Amazon

One of the first guitars that come to mind when discussing single-pickup guitars is Gibson SG. The iconic 1963 model was played by many famous guitarists like Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, and Frank Zappa.

This modern and more affordable version respects the iconic guitar greatly with its vintage look and feel, top-quality components, highly comfortable unique neck, and the star single P-90 pickup.

The simplicity and the comfort of this guitar are great with a chunky neck, killer tones, and lightweight to play for extended hours. Overall, it is one of the best single-coil guitars around today.

2. Epiphone Les Paul Junior Electric Guitar

Budget Pick

Affordable Single-Pickup Guitar Inspired By Vintage 1957 Les Paul Junior.

View Price at Amazon

Suppose you are looking for a more affordable single-pickup guitar. In that case, Epiphone Les Paul Junior is a great choice, as it is equipped with the iconic P-90 Pro pickup, good-quality components, and the comfort and tone close to an original Les Paul. Plus, it comes in many different color finish options for different tastes.

This is a straightforward rock guitar with the Les Paul heritage for an affordable price. Of course, as with all of the side branches of big brands, the quality control is not the best, so you may have some minor defects on your instruments. But, still, the value-for-price ratio is great with this one, and I highly recommend it for guitarists looking for a budget-friendly single-pickup guitar.

Summary

Single-pickup guitars made their marks in music history with their simplicity, practicality, and unique tones. They are great guitars with vintage characteristics and their own appeal and magic. As you have learned everything you need to know about them after this article, you may think about getting one for a better tone or just go on with multiple-pickup guitars for more sonic versatility.

If you decide to buy one, there are many great single-pickup guitars, such as the Gibson SG Junior, Les Paul Junior, or Fender Esquire Telecaster.

My personal top pick here is the Gibson SG, but these are all great guitars for different needs. But, if you want to experiment with a more budget-friendly single-pickup guitar, you can check Les Paul Junior or Coronet from the Epiphone collection, as they feature great quality for their price.