Overwound pickups have more wire, leading to higher output, thicker mids, a darker, "beefier" tone, and easier overdrive; underwound pickups have less wire, resulting in lower output, brighter, clearer sound, more articulate highs, and greater string clarity
, with underwound pickups often emphasizing top-end frequencies. The choice depends on desired gain, clarity, and tonal characteristics for your playing style.
Overwound Pickups
- Wire: More turns of wire.
- Output: Higher, "hotter" signal.
- Tone: Fatter, thicker mids, darker, more compression, great for pushing amps into distortion.
- Best For: Hard rock, metal, thick lead tones, driving pedals harder
Underwound Pickups
- Wire: Fewer turns of wire.
- Output: Lower, weaker signal.
- Tone: Brighter, clearer, more articulate, greater note separation, less bass, emphasized highs.
- Best For: Blues, jazz, funk, clean tones, capturing subtle finger nuances, brighter bridge positions.
Key Trade-Offs
- Gain vs. Clarity: Overwound gives natural amp breakup; underwound provides pristine clean tones that benefit more from pedals.
- Midrange: Overwound = pronounced mids; Underwound = scooped or clearer mids.
- Brightness: Underwound = brighter; Overwound = darker