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For those like me who didn't know: a pickup is a thingy that generates a tiny electrical field around a string. This allows electronics to translate string vibr

by Beldin 5y ago

For those like me who didn't know: a pickup is a thingy that generates a tiny electrical field around a string. This allows electronics to translate string vibrations to an audio signal. One thing missing (for me) from the article is a rough idea of what the effect could be. Why would you care about easy swapping at all? Why not find the right one(s) and stick with that/those? Why does changing speed matter - would you change them between songs? (Yes, I didn't know about pickups before this article)

hctaw 5y ago
It's a laborious process that has a significant impact on tone. You usually have to restring the guitar when you change them out. The biggest change would be between dual coils ("humbuckers") and true single coils. Most modern humbuckers have four leads (you only need two to make a sound, you get two leads per coil) which allow you to wire a switch on the guitar called a "coil tap" which allows you to disengage the secondary coil. This allows you to have a dual coil that functions sonically as either, and it is very desirable for musicians that need a diverse range of tones for their set list (good example is if you ever play a wedding and take requests). You're also never happy with it. I've changed all the pups on my three guitars multiple times.
- TylerE 5y ago
  Coil splits are very useful, but they never REALLY quite get there. Even when the secondary coil is off, there's still additional magnetic drag/pull on the string. A good true single coil has this chime to it that I never get from a split (or tapped) 'bucker.
analog31 5y ago
Perhaps for a bit of additional explanation, a guitar pickup is a variable reluctance sensor. It's a coil wrapped around a magnet. The magnet sympathetically magnetizes the string, and then the vibrating magnetized string induces a voltage on the coil. The strings have to be made of a magnetic material such as steel, nickel, or one of the magnetic stainless alloys. Beyond what was mentioned about single and dual coil, each pickup has a unique resistance and inductance, which at first glance might affect the frequency response of the typically crude circuit in the guitar. And the magnetic field may also produce some damping of the string motion. Those are some things that might affect tone quality.
TrackerFF 5y ago
Because we guitarists enjoy the wild goose chase that is the never-ending quest for ultimate tone, and thus need to try as many pickups as possible. But on a more serious note - it's because woods sound very different, and pickups will sound very different depending on what guitar they're in. It's a pain to take the strings off, de-solder a pickup, solder in a new pickup, and put on the strings - only to discover that the pickup doesn't sound any good. Being able to swap them out in mater of seconds is an all-around improvement.
lazyant 5y ago
Faraday’s law of induction: when a magnetic field (generated by the guitar's pickups)is changed (by the metallic strings) a current is induced (this current is the signal that is created in the pickup and goes to the amp).

by Beldin 5y ago

hctaw 5y ago

It's a laborious process that has a significant impact on tone. You usually have to restring the guitar when you change them out. The biggest change would be between dual coils ("humbuckers") and true single coils. Most modern humbuckers have four leads (you only need two to make a sound, you get two leads per coil) which allow you to wire a switch on the guitar called a "coil tap" which allows you to disengage the secondary coil. This allows you to have a dual coil that functions sonically as either, and it is very desirable for musicians that need a diverse range of tones for their set list (good example is if you ever play a wedding and take requests). You're also never happy with it. I've changed all the pups on my three guitars multiple times.

TylerE 5y ago
Coil splits are very useful, but they never REALLY quite get there. Even when the secondary coil is off, there's still additional magnetic drag/pull on the string. A good true single coil has this chime to it that I never get from a split (or tapped) 'bucker.

analog31 5y ago

Perhaps for a bit of additional explanation, a guitar pickup is a variable reluctance sensor. It's a coil wrapped around a magnet. The magnet sympathetically magnetizes the string, and then the vibrating magnetized string induces a voltage on the coil. The strings have to be made of a magnetic material such as steel, nickel, or one of the magnetic stainless alloys. Beyond what was mentioned about single and dual coil, each pickup has a unique resistance and inductance, which at first glance might affect the frequency response of the typically crude circuit in the guitar. And the magnetic field may also produce some damping of the string motion. Those are some things that might affect tone quality.

TrackerFF 5y ago

Because we guitarists enjoy the wild goose chase that is the never-ending quest for ultimate tone, and thus need to try as many pickups as possible. But on a more serious note - it's because woods sound very different, and pickups will sound very different depending on what guitar they're in. It's a pain to take the strings off, de-solder a pickup, solder in a new pickup, and put on the strings - only to discover that the pickup doesn't sound any good. Being able to swap them out in mater of seconds is an all-around improvement.

lazyant 5y ago

Faraday’s law of induction: when a magnetic field (generated by the guitar's pickups)is changed (by the metallic strings) a current is induced (this current is the signal that is created in the pickup and goes to the amp).