call me JIM. A humbucker is a pick up its connected to the inside of the guitar. A pick up is used for getting tone out of the guitar. A humbucker has more of a chunkyer sound and single coils have more of a sharp sound. If you want to know more about what pick-ups are right for you go to my "METAL ZONE MADDNESS " thread and tell me what kind of sound you want and anything about tone and gear