Passive Pickups
This is the original design of the pickup. Its magnets pick up the string vibrations and sends them to your amp. They are more commonly fitted on most guitars and they are fairly cheap to produce.
The main benefit of this type of pickup is that it is expressive – you can get a great dynamic range just by how hard you pluck. This sensitivity means you can adjust the sound of the pickup just by moving it slightly with the adjustment screws.
For jazz, blues, indie, country – generally lower gain settings, most players use passive pickups.
But the downside is that they have a limited output – the signal they produce is quite weak. They are also prone to feedback and easily affected by the tonewood and quality of the guitar.