Nollykin Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 How do pickups actually work? I mean - I understand what they do - they pick up the sound on the strings - obviously the vibration or something - but Isorta need to know this if I want to get heavily into this. I mean, what is the difference between a humbuckler, and a single, why are some singles places slightly diagonally? Etc, etc.... Would be interesting to know. Doesnt have to be too in depth... but just a brief outline? Ta Nolly "Money, Bitchez and Cheese!" http://www.playspoon.com/nollykin/files/voxline.gif "I never thought about it, and I never stopped to feel - But I didn't want you telling me just what to think was real. And as simple as it comes, I only wanted to express- ...But with expression comes regret - and I don't want you hating me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Originally posted by Nollykin: How do pickups actually work? I mean - I understand what they do - they pick up the sound on the strings - obviously the vibration or something - but Isorta need to know this if I want to get heavily into this. I mean, what is the difference between a humbuckler, and a single, why are some singles places slightly diagonally? Etc, etc.... Would be interesting to know. Doesnt have to be too in depth... but just a brief outline? Ta NollyG'day Nolly, Well, a single coil has one bobbin and they wrap about a mile of magnetic wire around it and put a magnet under it. This amplifies the signal or sound of the strings enough so a guitar amp can handle it. A humbuck has two bobbins and one is a dummy bobbin which just cancels noise. Humbucks sound thicker or more bassy and tend to be more powerful in output. Also quieter due to the humbuck effect. The last bit I'm not sure what you're getting at. Are you refering to pole pieces? They create a magnetic field around the strings and also have a bit to do with how loud each individual string sounds. -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylver Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Originally posted by Nollykin: How do pickups actually work? I mean - I understand what they do - they pick up the sound on the strings - obviously the vibration or something - but Isorta need to know this if I want to get heavily into this. I mean, what is the difference between a humbuckler, and a single, why are some singles places slightly diagonally? Etc, etc.... Would be interesting to know. Doesnt have to be too in depth... but just a brief outline? Ta NollyAll pickups work on the principle of eletro-magnatism. The pole pieces in a pickup are magnetic, creating magnetic "lines of force", invisible bands of magnatism that reach up to the string. The wire string vibrates across these lines of force, interrupting them and causing a small electrical charge to be induced in the coil of wire that is wraped around the magnetic pole pieces. See, magnatism and electricity are directly related. An electrical charge through a conductor, will generate magnatism. Remember the old battery and nail science experiment? This is a type of transducer, which is a device that converts electrical energy to physical energy, and vise versa. Other examples of transducers are electric moters, speakers, microphones and the like. As the above poster said, humbuckers are double coils, out of phase. The noise element is pretty much the same when reversed so the two signals cancel each other out, but the musical signals between the two coils are different enough that they add together instead of canceling each other out, giving a larger net voltage at the output. (This is a very simplified explaination of phase cancelling. The full explaination is hard to describe without showing the waveform graphs.) I'm not positive about the slanted single coil bridge pickup on Strats and Teles, but I think that the reason they are slanted is so that the lower strings are more bassy and full and the upper strings are brighter when using that pickup, making the full range of the guitar more well rounded. See, the closer the pickups get to the bridge, the more brassy and metallic they sound. The nearer the neck, the more bassy. I guess the middle and neck p'ups have already lost so much high end by thier position on the strings, it doesn't matter if they are slanted. Again, this is all speculation on my part, as I have never talked or read about that topic. Hope this helps. (I hope I got everything right too! The last time I answered an electronics question, I lost my mind and screwed up ohms law! ) Jack I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baronedo Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 The above respondents have provided some really good stuff. I suggest you also check out the Bill Lawrenece website (http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/Contents.htm ) Bill has a good technical section under pickupology which explains in more detail how a pu works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Well, you see this little cutie sitting down at the end of the bar, and you sorta move a little closer and say "Excuse me Miss, but you're drinking my favorite drink. Can I buy you one?" Oh...GUITAR pickups. Never mind. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 "Inductance". I love the subject of magnetism. I always find it funny when the word "force" is used in science; because that's really just another word for "thing", but it sounds cooler. So, anyone here care to explain how that "force" works across a vacuum? Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollykin Posted March 11, 2002 Author Share Posted March 11, 2002 Ta guys thanks a lot really helpful, all of you. (well most ) "Money, Bitchez and Cheese!" http://www.playspoon.com/nollykin/files/voxline.gif "I never thought about it, and I never stopped to feel - But I didn't want you telling me just what to think was real. And as simple as it comes, I only wanted to express- ...But with expression comes regret - and I don't want you hating me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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