Left handed guitar pickups

Is there such a thing? Do you have to think about this when buying or upgrading a lefty guitar?

Electric guitars have two types of pickups: humbuckers or single coils.

Single coil pickups have traditionally been a Fender thing. Humbuckers have traditionally been a Gibson thing.

Guitar pickups have pole pieces. They are magnetic. Single coils make a lot of terrible noise and hum on overdrive and high volume. Humbuckers don't have the awful noise because they use two reverse-wound coils wired in opposite polarity which cancels out the unwanted noise. You can get this same hum-cancelling effect in a Stratocaster by selecting positions 4 and 2 with which does the same thing.

Single coil pickups

Single coil picks with typical staggered pole heights

With single coil pickups the heights of each of the poles across the pickup may be different heights. This is collectively called the stagger. A staggered arrangement is designed to balance the output of each string, especially on vintage-style guitars where string thickness and magnet strength can cause some strings to sound louder or quieter than others. By adjusting the height of each pole piece, the pickup can produce a more even volume and tone across all the strings.

Some single pickups have no stagger, and they are therefore fine for either a left or right hand guitar.

As to be expected, most staggered single coil pickups you buy have a right hand stagger. Single pickups that have a right hand stagger when put in a left handed guitar don't sound right, unless you are purposefully going for the Jimi Hendrix, upside-down-right-hand-guitar sound. (He mostly played upside down righties and so too were the pickups in them.)

As lefties, we have all very likely played guitars with (for us) upside down pickups. You can tell because often the G string is too loud, or the high strings are all a bit too loud compared to the low strings. Or your A string is too soft. Single coils fit in the guitar rout only one way. They can't be flipped. No simple solution there.

If you are a lefty guitarist and like a guitar with single coil pickups you need a guitar that that has flat-staggered pickups or if possible, pickups with a lefty stagger. A lot of modern guitars don't have staggered pickups, they are often just flat.

There are some brands that make left handed single coil pickups. Choose from ToneRider from the U.K or Seymour Duncan USA. My personal preference is ToneRider, not only because of their sound but by the fact they offer a wider range than Seymour Duncan. I believe Fender produce one or two single pickup sets with a lefty stagger.

Humbucking pickups

Humbucking pickups

Humbucker pickups are generally flat, rather than staggered. EMG pickups are a good example of this. Because they are flat, it doesn't matter whether a guitar with humbuckers is lefty or righty. There is no need for, and therefore no such thing, as "left handed humbucking pickups."

Some humbuckers use a single magnetic bar that runs the length of the pickup. They make for very consistent tone even when bending strings. These "rail" type pickups can even be made in the size of a single coil pickup to fit in a single coil rout. DiMarzio is famous for this. You can use any type of humbucker or non-staggered single coil pickups in a left handed guitar.

"Rail" type humbucking pickup. Same size and direct replacement for single coil pickups

NOTE. As you would expect, all Gaskell guitars with single pickups are always fitted with either flat-stagger pickups or proper left hand staggered pickups - standard.