Which pickups to use

And one reason why this alloy so popular is its ability to maintain its magnetic properties over time. Potting is one of those rarely discussed topics…. And prevent any movement or vibration between parts…the entire pickup is dipped in wax. In terms of sound, the potting process has the effect of preventing any sort of unwanted feedback when standing in front your amp.

The problem though…is that not all feedback is unwanted. Many vintage guitars with UN-potted pickups will catch random sounds in the air…which sounds bad in theory, but actually has a unique vintage charm that some players absolutely love.

Humbucker pickups can be wired using either of the following 2 techniques:. In almost all cases, parallel wiring is the standard method used with modern day pickups. And series wiring is considered as more of a custom modification. Depending on the exact position of the pickup in relation to the strings…. Some players take advantage of this by using the exact same pickup in each location, and switching from one to another depending on the tone they want.

Other players do the exact opposite , by choosing a different pickup for each position, either to accent or offset the natural tonal variations. So that wraps up all the first half of this post. So pick and choose your features based mainly on the sounds you use most often. We all know that you guitar tone is based on numerous factors besides just the pickups, right? Pedals and amps being the two most obvious examples. However there are also some subtle factors on the guitar itself which you may not have considered.

And so…based on the existing tones of your current guitar…it makes sense to adjust your pickup selections accordingly. On occasion, you can even find pickups that combine rail and stack designs to essentially cram 4 single-coils into one extremely high output humbucker. With coil-splitting and coil-tapping, you have the option of BOTH single-coil and humbucker tones with the flip of a switch.

Mahogany being warm and ash having higher treble content for example. Pickups will be designed and calibrated to match the tonal design of the instrument. If the calibration of each pickup was identical, as was the case in the very first Stratocasters, then there would be a clear difference in volume as you moved from one pickup to the next. With the bridge pickup being especially quiet. The highest note in a guitar is the high E on the thinnest string at the 24th fret if you have one!

Pickups are made to be most sensitive about 4 to 8 times higher than this, this is primarily to capture the strong harmonic content which is fundamental to the guitar sound we all know and love. Using a high output ceramic pickup in the bridge and an alnico in neck pickups can give you a guitar that can have a great distorted tone when you use the bridge pickup and a clear clean tone in the neck pickup, but an instrument that can have issues with volume differences.

Why would you use the bridge pickup? If you want that extra bite and twang, then a Telecaster bridge pickup is key. Playing on the bridge pickup on any electric guitar will give you a brighter, snappier sound than the neck position, which is typically characterized by higher bass content and warmth.

If you want crunchy clarity for your high gain riffs then the scooped active tone of an EMG 81 is your answer. Many rock and metal players would play their riffs at the bridge for the added clarity and then use the EQ on the amplifier side.

If you want a classic jazz tone then a using the neck pickup on a Gibson ES style hollow body is a great start for a classic warm and musical sound. The neck pickup on a Fender Stratocaster is one of the most essential guitar sounds you could own. Many players use the neck pickup for playing solos as the tone can be less shrill than the bridge pickup when playing past the 12th fret.

Changing pickups during your playing can add extra dynamics and musicality to your performance. Using both pickups together can have functional uses as well as musical ones. This is your precious instrument - the last thing you want to do is fiddle with it and cause problems! Installing pickups is, on paper at least, relatively straightforward.

It usually involves careful removal of strings and pickguard if you have one , un-mounting and disconnecting your current pickups, a little bit of soldering - and then going back the way you came! All of this having been said, I still find the prospect slightly daunting myself at times.

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Single Coils There are two main types of pickups: single coils and humbuckers. Single Coils How they work: Insulated wire is wrapped around six individual magnets. How they sound: Clear and detailed: snappy, twangy, bell-like, jangly.

What is a Single Coil Pickup? What is a Humbucker? Active vs. Let's take a look: Alnico III - The 'weakest' of the magnets used in pickups because it has no cobalt. The tone is relatively soft and clear, often described as sweet, with a slight rounding off of the more brittle treble frequencies. Alnico VIII - Possibly the least common magnet type, but many players consider it to be an undiscovered gem.

It gives you the power of a ceramic magnet but with the warmth and harmonics of an Alnico V, and is a great way of preserving some of the woodiness of your guitar tone while still hitting your amp with plenty of output. You can usually bet that a ceramic-loaded guitar will sound pretty powerful, maybe with a little more bold midrange, especially in the upper mids. Some early ceramic pickups sounded rather flat and pinched, but as pickup companies further explored the capabilities of the magnets they discovered how to really get the most out of the tone.

Acoustic Guitar Pickups Amplifying an acoustic guitar can be tricky. Rails Set Black. Fishman Fluence loaded pickguard white - 3 single width pickups for strat.