DrChrisMD Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Being an acoustic junkie...I've not a clue as to how pickups work, which ones are used for what, and what's more suitable for rock/metal...can anybody give me a short run on all that stuff? I've heard the terms single-coil, double, humbuckers...yeesh, it's all over my head, haha. I can't find a whole lot to give me my fix on this stuff... -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpaw rocker Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 I'll try to give you a short rundown (anyone feel free to correct me if I err.) a pickup is basically a coil of wire wound around or over a magnet. the magnet set up an magnetic field through which the strings vibrate. The pickup translates the vibrations into electric signals and sends them to the amplifier (usually with a volume and tone and crap between to tweak the signal.) single coil refers to one coil of wire. double coil (usually refered to as a humbucker) is two coil wired in series but with different polarities to eliminate hum (well, in theory.) I don't exactly how they tweak pickup to make them suitable for different styles but I know of two things they often change. The magnet is usually Alnico (aluminium, nickel, cobalt) or ceramic. Ceramic magnets generally give a brighter sound with more pronounced treble used for rock among other things. Alnico magnets give more a warmer sound because it has more bass and midrange and are closely associated with that 'classic sound'.there are also 'rare earth' magnets (commonly made of Samarium) but I dont know much about those. The magnet in the pickup usually comes in two forms: slugs and bar. Slugs are individual polepieces for each string. Bar magnets span across the pickup. the disadvantage of slugs to bar magnets is that when you bend, slugs won't pick up the signal and you get volume drop off or break up. hope that's not too much (and i hope it's all accurate.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truerussian558 Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 well technically it senses the fluctations in the magnetci field of the magnet but this is caused by the vibrations of the strings. the cool thing about this is that these pickups dont need any electricity to work since the fluctuations in the magnetic field actually produce a weak current, so everything in a standard electric guitar uses no electricty from the outside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefm Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Well... Another way to have the magnets...rather than having 6 individual ones as southpaw rocker seems to suggest....it's also common to see a bar magnet underneath slugs that shape the magnetic field... The bending...I've never bent far enough for that to become a concern...it doesn't really have to be right over the pole peices...just within the magnetic field that floats around it And humbuckers are sometimes wired in alternative ways....(why I love them so much) Some other things that have an effect on the sound are the gauge of wire...usually AWG42 or 43 and the number of turns....whether it's scatter wound or wound evenly....the shape of the coil (ie the P90 being short and fat...the Strat being Tall and lean) It's complicated and a lot of it is voodoo...only your ears can tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truerussian558 Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 It's complicated and a lot of it is voodoo...only your ears can tell no it's physics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 It's complicated and a lot of it is voodoo...only your ears can tell no it's physics Well, the physics makes 'em work, but the voodoo makes 'em expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truerussian558 Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 and good marketing wait nevermind that wasnt funny wow these things are turning in rythm to comftorably numb AND higway to hell, i think we have a conspiracy here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 wow these things are turning in rythm to comftorably numb AND higway to hell, i think we have a conspiracy here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpaw rocker Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 i wouldn't call it physics because I'm not smart enough to get physics. i like to call it electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 I've not gat all my links on this computer but I think you can find some very good information from "The house of jim" I think theres a link from www.diystompboxes.com or you could just google it. Hope this helps PS Physics is easy, it's electronics thats the dodgy bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Eeep! Physcis exam on Friday! Oh, and P90's while being single coils, are "fatter" sounding than strat type pickups. They retain the clarity of single coils, and have the guts of humbuckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Any kind of pickup can be used for any kind of music, really, but there tend to be some trends-- *PAF-style (low-mid output) humbuckers are used for classic rock, blues, and jazz *High-output humbuckers are favoured for hard rock and metal *P90 single-coils are prominent in dirty rock and blues; rarely used for metal or hard rock. Some Jazz boxes use P90s, too. (incidentally, they're my favourites) *Strat-style single coils are used for all kinds of rock, blues, R&B, or what-not. Not used too much these day in metal, though metal-players have certainly used them. Strats and teles (which also use single-coils) figure prominently in country music, too. *Lipstick-tube single-coils are very low-output, making them quite suitable to clean applications like surf guitar or jangly pop *Filtertron humbuckers are used a lot for rockabilly and country, though that seems to be more of an image thing than an actual sound-related thing since they are a Gretch pickup *Mini-humbuckers are considered good pickups for blues and jazz That list is by no means extensive, and it's a personal observation rather than a 'community-standard' factoid, though I'm sure many would agree with that assessment. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Eeep! Physcis exam on Friday! Oh, and P90's while being single coils, are "fatter" sounding than strat type pickups. They retain the clarity of single coils, and have the guts of humbuckers. For the "P-90 sound", listen to the song, "Bad to the Bone"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 by who? is it george thorogood by any chance? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 by who? is it george thorogood by any chance? thanks. yep, thorogood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpaw rocker Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 p-90s. huh, never tried them. good for grunge? who makes 'em beside Gibson? Seymour duncan? i know EMG has a p-90 housing but that's still basically the humbucking version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 I would imagine that most manufacturers make a variation on the P-90. You probably never noticed them because you weren't looking for them, but they're considered pretty standard fare. Dimarzio makes a 'virtual' P-90 that's hum-cancelling but allegedly retains 99% of the P90 character. Kent Armstrong and SD both make them in humbucker-sized versions as well, for direct replacement or if you just like that size and look better than the soapbar look. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 for my two cents you need to decide what you want to play for technical progressive music with a lot of sustaining pieces like metal but doing more style and tempo changes than you can shake a stick at. i would want somethign that doesn't drop out when i bend the note. some of us can bend from one side of the fret board and go on around the neck. but don't try that on anything less than 11's or they go snap.. anyway i havesome of my old guitars now that i am refitting pickups into for various things. my ibanez i like a high gain passive pickup and my custom wired emg81. put them real close. and use the passive in theneck and add coil tapping into it.. for a good rock sound i want to get my lespaul back the kind of i don't caqre if i overbend straight up whiskey rock and roll and for a change i have one guitar to do my haunting spooky strat voodoo type soudn and also have it configured to be scalloped and ready to shred. anyway the ibanez does anything from hard metal to bluesy stuff, [thats the emg trick and teh coil cutting stuff too.] to jazzy tones. and well anything inbetween adn if i add the piezo in it it willbe well rounded again. the paul is just rockin stuff. the strat does shred and spooky. my suggestion is to really figure out what you want to capture sound wise and start from there. hope i helped somewhat.. since you asked about metal i woudl say these. Bill lawrence pjmarx i fyou can find them my favorites emg's and carvins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 For metal, I would also suggest you look at the Warpig humbucker by Bare Knuckle Pickups www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk Gibson also make a Humbucking P90. Rio Grande make a P90 i think, or maybe it's a humbucker sized P90. Bare Knuckle Pickups make P90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themikestro Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 The Gibson humbucking version of the P90 is called the P100 and has vertical stacked coils to kill the hum! I love P90's and the Kent Armstrong ones are very good and pretty cheap too. I should maybe work as the the Armstrong marketing guy, i'm always going on about 'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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