What’s new at Zystrix? Read on… November 25, 2024 Zystrix introduces… Guitar Pickups -- Part Two of Three. We covered the most popular humbucking guitar pickups in the last issue. This time it’s about what makes a good guitar pickup good. What to look for in quality and build when buying a guitar pickup. And as a special surprise the band Dangerous Neighbors has a new neo-classical piano tune called Pull Out the Rug. So sit back and relax. Welcome to Zystrix, the heartbeat of the universe. Where creativity and free- thinking have more value than conformity. Background Artwork The colorful artwork that surrounds the edges of this website is invisible to many cell phone users. It’s included here for your enjoyment. Multiple copies are tiled together for a cohesive and seamless background seen all around this page. Enjoy. Introduction To Guitar Pickups Part Two of Three As you may remember, we covered the most popular humbucking guitar pickups in the last issue. To see that issue simply click on the orange arrow above that’s pointing to the left. To come back here simply click on the yellow bullhorn. This time we’ll talk about what it is that makes a good guitar pickup good, the facts to know about guitar pickups to help make an informed buying decision, and others. So sit tight, make yourself a turkey sandwich (because it’s the Thanksgiving season here in the USA), and let’s dig deeper into understanding guitar pickups. CRASH COURSE - UNDERSTANDING PICKUPS A guitar pickup is a magnet surrounded by a coil of (usually) copper wire that’s extremely thin. When the vibrating carbon steel guitar string interacts with the magnetic field it produces a tiny electric current that can then be amplified. This is the point where the electronics of an active pickup take over, or not if the pickup is passive. The pickup output doesn’t tell you what the pickup will sound like, only the relative voltage level. More revolutions of thinner wire gives a louder signal, and less revolutions with the same thickness wire gives a weaker signal. Also, as the wire gets thicker the signal gets weaker. Many guitarists think that a louder pickup (higher resistance) means better, but as we’ll see, that’s not always the case. When it comes to magnets, a stronger magnet produces a stronger magnetic field which in turn produces a stronger signal, and a weaker magnet, well, you get the idea. And placing the pickup closer to the strings gives a louder signal. Adjusting the pole pieces beneath each string helps to even out the volume of each string. Also, if your clean sound seems too muddled or distorted simply lower the pickup to the correct height using your ear as a guide. It’s not an exact science. A pickup that’s a little farther away from the strings tends to give a more detailed and clear sound. It is the inductance of a pickup that gives it the personality to sound the way it does. Pickups wound by hand tend to sound better and have more personality than pickups wound by a machine because humans tend to be imperfect as they wind wire on the pickup bobbin. Although more wire wound on a bobbin does give more output, it also lowers the clarity of the pickup because the resonant peak tends to go lower and lower until the pickup sounds dull. It is better to wind less wire for a more balanced sound and then use active electronics to alter the EQ and/or volume. Over about 16K ohms inductance and the guitar pickup resonant peak will fall. Sorry, but your expensive super-tube amp can’t boost frequencies that aren’t there. It’s all about finding that sweet spot between frequency balance (higher resonance peak and less copper wire) and enough power output to slam the front end of a tube amp. And to me (so far anyway) that sounds like there’s a simple and inexpensive solution. There’s more on this phenomenon in issue three. And as if you needed even more to fret about… The resonant peak of a passive pickup can also be altered via a small capacitor to ground, and this may change the sonic personality of the pickup to your liking. The higher the capacitance the lower the resonant peak. So if your pickups seem too bright install a higher value capacitor. This method may be of some use to you, especially if you want to save money over purchasing new pickups. Using this method also takes some experimentation with capacitors and I won’t go into a lot here, but there are videos available explaining this in greater detail. There are 2 main types of guitar pickup magnets: alnico (iron alloy with aluminum, nickel, and cobalt) and ceramic with alnico the most popular. Stratocasters traditionally use alnico 2 with Les Pauls using alnico 5. Alnico 3 is the weakest with alnico 8 the strongest. Ceramic magnets are generally used in cheaper guitar pickups, they are harsher sounding, and can have a high magnetism. However, they can help an over-wound pickup from sounding too dark, but the trade-off is a sacrifice of sonic detail for more power output. And don’t forget, detail is important even at super high gain settings. The poles of a pickup underneath each string are the collectors of the string vibrations, and as they become larger they become less focused. The more the magnetic field can be focused on the string (like a hex-head pole piece) the more power and definition available. Rails have a more even volume but must be placed closer to the strings because the magnetic field isn’t as focused. Pickups with a base plate made of a material that’s non- magnetic (nickle-silver, copper, brass) tend to sound better because those metals don’t interact with the magnetic field. However, brass tends to be slightly influenced by the magnetic field, and it’s the most popular of the base plate materials because of the subtle and pleasant sounding magnetic field interactions it has. OK, so now you have a lot of guitar pickup detail to remember and help you make an informed buying decision. But now what? Let’s move on to some... Pickup Installation Common Questions What is the difference between active and passive pickups? Active pickups are more popular than traditional passive ones in playing metal guitar. That’s because active pickups have a higher output capacity. And tube (valve) amps is where the real difference is heard. Not digital amplifier emulations. That’s an important thing to remember, especially when buying guitar pickups. If you play through tube (valve) amps where the real sound difference is heard, then most likely you’ll want active pickups. With the increased brightness of an active pickup comes more articulation, so they work better for high-gain scenarios. Remember that active pickups require a power source, usually 9-volts, so you’ll need to plan ahead to make sure your guitar has enough extra room for the battery. Traditional passive pickups have a lower output but they don’t require any additional power source to work. They create their own power via the string vibrating in a magnetic field. They also sound more open and are more reactive to playing dynamics and expression. Guitarists usually say they love them for the way they react to the volume knob. Humbuckers (active or passive) are better for metal because of their intrinsically higher output which gives more sustain and a thicker sound. However, I have used both active (I built the circuit) and passive humbucker pickups, and I have to say passive is better because the power source can be at your feet (not inside your guitar) and it’s considerably easier to change the pickup output and sound. I’ll explain more on this later. Can I install new guitar pickups myself? Yes. Installing pickups yourself is easier than you’d think. With just a few tools and know-how you can change a set of pickups relatively quickly. There are many videos available on how to go about doing it. You’ll need a soldering iron, some screwdrivers specific to the screws on your guitar (go to Harbor Freight and save money on tools), wire cutters (Harbor Freight), and some cloth to clean up and protect the body of the guitar. How do I choose the right pickup(s) for my guitar? If you are swapping like for like (humbucker for humbucker) then the job is relatively easy. I would hope this is what you’re doing. But changing out a humbucking to something different might be reason to call a professional. And if you are changing a single coil to a humbucking then you might need some wood routing to make it fit. Once again, a professional is probably the way to go, unless you really don’t mind how it looks, or you are good at guitar lutherie. Always measure the pickups you have and the ones you are thinking about installing before making any decision to buy. Do the pole pieces match to the string separation? Do you have a bridge that’s wider? Consider these things before making a decision. Don’t touch that dial… Stay tuned next time… Whew, we covered a lot of ground here, but mostly in general terms. Hopefully this gave you some ideas for fodder. Next time in part three we’ll cover some excellent inexpensive new pickups and then some alternatives to buying new pickups. Also, the new piano tune, Pull Out the Rug, from Dangerous Neighbors can’t be downloaded because of a major catastophic computer crash. But a computer expert has been performing digital CPR to revive the hard drive. Hopefully there won’t be a funeral, so keep your fingers crossed. Maybe I’ll see you next time. I’m reading a great book about an immortal dog – I’m finding it impossible to put down. Knowledge, art, and music for all.
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