Humbucker

A conventional humbucker (or Humbucking pickup) is a type of electric guitar pickup that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have high output since both coils are in series and because the magnetic circuit is low loss. Since the two coils are of reversed polarity and reverse-wound and connected in series, noise and interference is significantly reduced via common-mode rejection. They get their name because they cancel out a large proportion of the interference (they "buck the hum") induced by alternating current sources normally experienced with single coil pickups.