Hello guys pickup guide (copy paste)
Basically, a pickup is a magnet with lots of copper wire tightly wrapped around it. When the string is hit and vibrates in front of magnet, it disturbs the magnetic field of the magnet, which causes an alternating voltage in the copper wire. That voltage is sent out as a signal to your amp. Each pickup has certain properties that make up it's sound, some of those being:
-Tone
-Output
-Construction
Tone- Basically how much high, mid, and low the pickup sends out in it's signal. The pickup will sense a certain amount of each in every note you play, and pump them out at certain levels. Pickups that have lots of highs and less bass are considered "bright". If placed in the right guitar, it can create screaming sound on high notes and pinch harmonics, a glassy sound in the neck, and snappy twang without distortion. Pickups that are mid-heavy or bassy will usually have more punch, grind and growl. Mid-heavy pickups can also have more cut and presence than others, and higher notes sound "fatter". Bassy pickups can sound huge and punch hard with excellent response to palm mutes and low notes. Pickups that have scooped mids (more treble and bass and less mids) can have powerful low notes and excellent clean highs for soloing, but may not cut through the rest of the band on solos. They can also have great sustain and excellent harmonics.
Output- This describes the strength of the signal leaving the guitar, and is best measured in millivolts (mV). DiMarzio classifies output in three categories; Vintage (<270mV), Medium (270 to 324mv), and High (325mV+). Vintage/low output pickups are usually extremely clear even under high gain, and will often have open, singing highs. Medium power pickups will still have cleaner single notes, but may have added power for strong rhythm and a beefier bass response. High output pickups can drive amps (especially tube amps) into overdrive/distortion and can be super sensitive to harmonics (including pinch harmonics). However, the clarity of signal notes can suffer, especially with super fast solos and high gain as notes can blend into each other.
Manufacturers can determine the amount of output a pickup has by altering two basic things:
1) The strength of the magnet. A stronger magnets creates a stronger magnetic field, and when that field is disrupted by the vibrating guitar string, a greater amount of flux is produced, generating a stronger signal. An unfortunate side effect of the stronger magnetic field is string pull. Extremely strong magnets can actually attract the strings and kill their vibrations, killing the sustain of the pickup.
2) The amount of turns of copper wire or the type of wire. Increasing the amount of copper or increasing its size will increase the resistance (impedance) and the inductance of the pickup, resulting in a higher output . A result of increasing impedance is the attenuation (loss) of highs in the signal. "Overwound" pickups are usually very bass and mid heavy and lack highs.
Pickup makers will experiment with these two factors (along with others) to change and create the sound of a pickup. For example, manufacturers will often use higher output ceramic magnets to retain some of the highs of their higher output pickups since the increased magnet strength will allow them to use less copper wiring, attenuating less of the highs.
One common misconception about pickups is that magnet have a direct effect on your tone. This is not true!!! The "Alnico magnets are warm, Ceramic magnets are harsh" theory is madness!! The role a magnet plays in the pickup is to create the magnetic field. The strength of the magnetic field determines the pickups OUTPUT, and different magnets can have different strengths. Tone is determined by the diameter and amount of copper wire, which creates the amount of inductance on the pickup. Remember, the higher the inductance and impedance, the less highs are put out. Magnets can have a small impact on some of the characteristics of the notes you play. For example, ceramic magnets have a higher output, which will generally create more punch and a sharper attack. Alnico magnets (depending on the type, there are
are usually weaker and have a softer, smoother attack, and may have a "spongy" feel. However, this has no effect on the amount of lows, mids, and highs sent out by the pickup, which is defined as tone. There are warm ceramic pickups and harsh alnico pickups out there.
Construction- Over the years, the fundamental design of pickups have been modified significantly, and there are many different types of pickups to choose from today.
Single Coil- The first pickup ever created (in the mid-20's!) A single coil pickup consists of just one magnet wrapped with copper wire and is easily identified on Fender Stratocasters and very old Gibsons as the P-90 pickup (or the 1935 bar pickup). Vintage style, Fender-type single coils are usually very clear and tend to lean towards the brighter side of the tone spectrum. P-90's can have a darker, mid-range sound. Unfortunately, single coils can also pick up 50 and 60 Hz fields given off by AC electromagnetic fields of other equipment and electronics. This causes an extremely annoying, fly-like buzz or hum that can get particularly nasty at high volumes. But modern day innovations have done well to overcome this.
Humbucker- As an initial attempt to combat the horrid 60-cycle hum of single coils, the humbucker was created (buck the hum! get it?!). It basically consists of two single coils placed next side by side with opposing coils and polarity and wired in series. When the magnetic field of the magnetic fields of each coil are disrupted, the signal is induced in opposite directions since the coils have opposing polarity and coils. When the two coils' signal is combined, the noise cancels itself out while the actual signal is doubled. In reality, there will also be a small amount of hum since no two coils are constructed exactly the same. Since there are double the coils in this pickup, the amount of impudence and output can be doubled as well, creating high-ouput, bass and mid-heavy pickups. However, manufacturers can change tone by using different magnets and wire.
Rail Humbucker- Created to fit in a single coil route, the rail humbucker has copper wound around two thin blades, creating a a mini humbucker.
Coil-tap Humbucker- For flexibility in sound, many humbuckers have a coiling tapping actually that serves to recreate the sound of a single coil. The option doesn't actually cut off one coil, but reduces the output as to simulate it. This feature is usually controlled by either a push/pull pot or a small switch
Active Pickups- An active pickup is basically an extremely low impedence pickup boosted by an active preamp, EQ, or filter. All of this circuity requires a power source (9 volt battery), specialized hardware (low impedance potentiometers, switches) and results in higher costs. EMG uses a preamp to boost certain frequencies in their pickups (the 81 has boosted highs, the 85 has boosted bass and mids). Jackson experimented significantly during the mid and late 80's with active electronics. The JE series electronics include the JE-1200 which features an active mid boost, the JE-1500 with a parametric variable frequency mid boost, and the JE-1000, which could boost any of three preset frequencies with the flip of three dip switches with the boost controlled by a trim pot. The benefits of active pickups are large output for driving amps and long cable leads, a greatly defined tone, and a huge reduction in buzz and noise thanks to the preamp. The highs are usually extremely clear, and the attack is very strong. Unfortunately, all of the sound-shaping effects can leave the sound a little "sterile". Seymour Duncan has released their own line of active pickups called the "Livewire Series", the most popular being the Blackout set for neck and bridge. Seymour Duncan claims to have produced a more natural sound while reducing even more noise by using "balanced inputs" rather than "unbalanced inputs in a differential preamp" like other manufacturers.
Standard and F-Spacing: Aftermarket humbuckers are sold in two sizes, Standard and F-Spaced (or Trembucker by Seymour Duncan). Fenders have a wider string spacing than Gibsons, so when luthiers started putting Gibson built humbuckers in Strat-style guitars, they noticed that the wider spaced strings were not lining up with narrowly placed pole pieces of the pickups. As a result, the pole pieces would have difficulty sensing some strings, which could create an imbalance of output among the strings. As a result, pickup manufacturers started making humbuckers for Fender and Floyd Rose spacing (both are the same), and called them "F-Spaced" pickups. The Gibson spacing became "Standard" spacing. For 43 mm nut widths and wider, an F-spaced humbucker is also recommended in the neck. Most guitars with Floyd-type trems have a 43 mm nut width.
In the image above, you can see how the spacing on a Fender style bridge (same spacing as a Floyd Rose) does not line up directly with the Standard spaced humbucker. It is a good idea to get F-spaced pickups for your F-spaced guitar, but not having them won't completely ruin you sound. Many guitarists who first put Gibson humbuckers in their custom Super-Strats, like Eddie Van Halen, got great results. Only in extreme cases, such as your E strings resting completely outside of the pole pieces, will your string balance suffer noticeably. Pickups that have blade/bar type magnets (such as Rail humbuckers and many high output humbucker models) do not have poles which need to be aligned, therefore string spacing is a non-issue.
Originally Posted by clado
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