GuitarHeads Active Single Coil Bridge Model

Single Coil sized Active Pickup. As of this writing, it's the only one they make. I asked the people at Guitarheads and they assured me that the only difference between the neck and bridge models is that the bridge version is slightly wider. I've never measured the impedance and it's not on their site. I don't think it means much in a lot of cases and it's totally irrelevant when it comes to active pickups.

This pickup was installed into the middle of my "test driving" guitar, an Aria Pro II Fullerton with a scalloped neck. I was using the theory that you should put something "wacky" in the middle position of Strat styled guitars... It's just a theory. And it doesn't work here.

This pickup replaced the middle position of a set of GFS 60's-70's Greybottom Overwounds.

This pickup went along with a series of upgrades I performed on this guitar all at once, including installing a recessed Floyd Rose and an Artec VTB Onboard overdrive circuit. I have no excuse for doing these things except that I apparently like to waste money on guitars.

The output on this pickup is very, very high. It's an active and I guess that's the point. I think it's important to say that to my ears, this pickup is a bit better than it's EMG counterpart. I'm not a fan of EMG's and while the Guitarheads Active Humbucker is quite similar to an 81, the Guitarheads single coil lacks most of the sterility of EMG's.

I used this guitar exclusivly with a Roland Cube 30 for practice and a Behringer V-Amp for recording.

The tone is remarkably full. Very booming but stupid tight, yo. It was wired outside the switching system to it's own volume pot and it completely killed my rather high output single coils. This pickup cannot reasonably mix with passive pickups. Only by adjusting the pickup height can you keep it from distorting a clean channel. Judging by the raw volume, I'm confused as to why it doesn't sound buzzy or compressed.

A full set of these pickups would be outstanding for anything you would use a Strat for. It's harmonic ability, sustain, lack of noise and general tightness make it a prime suspect for metal and guitar heavy avant-garde jazz.

Because it's an active, it is more sterile than any decent set of strat styled pickups, but the trade-off is ungodly power and clarity. Keep in mind that this was installed along side an Artec onboard overdrive circuit and I've never heard it without it. The Artec sucked the tone out of the passive pickups but I won't know for a while how much damage it did to the sound of this active. For what I paid for the Artec, I should have just bought a full set of these pickups and left it alone.

I would recommend this pickup for all positions and for anyone not afraid of having the scariest Strat around. Only a total tradeoff would be acceptable. Do not install this alongside a passive anything and expect everything to be allright.

These beasts are completely unsuitable for anything demanding a tradional guitar sound. They are on their own planet, where vintage blues and surf music is not welcome and the women look and move like Fairuza Balk on PCP. If yer' into that sort of thing.

If this pickup died on me or was lost, I wouldn't immediately buy it again. I would keep it in mind for the next time I find myself smack dab in the middle of a power metal band. Then I would go shopping for a $200 Strat copy with a thick neck, install a full set of these and play some tasty riffs for Satan.

I have been playing for almost 13 years. My gear is in a state of transition at the moment because I'm getting rid of most of it. That's why I keep talking about it and the guitar it was in in the past tense. I'm not getting rid of the pickup, but I am putting it on the shelf until I need that kind of firepower. It can do too many things that regular pickups can't and I suspect that it would spoil me.

I love the power. Who doesn't love power? As I turned the volume up on this pickup, even remembering it I feel like I'm turning into freakin' He-Man. And he's got a fistfull of Vicodin.

I hate that I don't have a guitar to install a full set of these in right now. When money comes my way again, I might get another pickguard and load it up, just to have it around.

I choose it because I rather like the Guitarheads Active Humbucker and Guitarheads 7-string pickups. They were both excellent for the price. This thing being $20 I didn't expect it to be so exceptional.

This pickup can do a lot. Probably too much.

I would like to share that I think Guitarheads should aspire to design an active 7-string humbucker that fits in a standard slot. There's a market for it. I just realized that I'm not keeping my 7-string. Bummer.


I will give these pickups a high rating because there just isn't a lot running around in an active single coil and it is actually better, or at least, not nearly as boring as the EMG-S it's based on.

I can't give it a 10 because it doesn't fit in with all the regular kids. They can't decide if he's a geek or if he's Magento. Don't get me wrong. I think he's awesome, but he may not be on my side.

If you've read any of my reviews on this site and you've noticed that I seem to have only good things to say about everything, sorry. I'm not generally motivated to write reviews for stuff I don't care about.