- YouTube
Gear Roundups
Single Coils Explained | Pickups Demystified EP2
By Tom ButwinJun 30, 2026
Tom Butwin
Tom Butwin is a freelance contributor to Premier Guitar and also a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and YouTube personality. He studied at Oakland University, and he's released three original records, as well as two musical theater cover albums. (Yes, musical theater. You read that correctly.) You can connect with him at https://www.TomButwin.com.
Before the humbucker, before active electronics, before any of the boutique winding methods players argue about online, there was a coil of wire wrapped around a magnet. That simple design is still one of the most widely used pickup formats in the world. In this episode of Pickups Demystified, PG contributor āŖ@TomButwin⬠traces single coils to their origins in the early 1930s and works through four formats that define the category today.











![Rig Rundown: The Black Crowesā Rich Robinson [2026]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/youtube.jpg?id=66952027&width=1245&height=700&quality=70&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
![Jared James Nichols [2026]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=66892615&width=1245&height=700&quality=70&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)









