Can someone explain to me the different types of guitar pickups?

guitar pickups image

Conner

I am a bit confused on what sound each kind of guitar pickups are meant to produce, such as the single coil, humbucker, and double humbucker. And i know there's more types out there too, so could you please explain each type and what it does best? Thanks!
And also what the difference is between open and closed soil pickups sound wise.

Answer
Hi Conner,

Your single coil pickups give you a thinner sound which you could also call twangy or trebly. Your humbucker pickups which are double coil pickups give you a fuller sound with more sustain. If you want to really hear the difference between the two types of pickups go to a music store and play a Fender Stratocaster which has single coil pickups and a Gibson Les Paul which has humbuckers. Hope this helps!

Regards,
Steven Herron
Peabody Conservatory Trained Guitarist

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why do my guitar pickups sometimes cut out when i flick the pickup toggle ?

guitar pickups image

Corey Ash

why do my guitar pickups sometimes cut out when i flick the pickup toggle ? sometimes when i switch the pickup toggle from treble to rhythm on my epiphone les paul special it sometimes cuts out and goes to a very dull clean sound. if i flick the switch again it goes to its normal sound. could it be dust etc stuck in the pickups or is there a short somewhere ? and what can i do to fix this ? thanks in advance.

Answer
It sounds like wiring problem with the switch. One of my guitars has a similar problem. I would take it to a guitar shot and let the techs take a look at it, if you're not REALLY familiar with guitar wiring you could actually end up doing more harm then good by trying too fix it yourself. It will cost around $30 depending on where you go though. Hope i could help you out =]

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How do i check the DC resistance on a guitar pickup that i made?

guitar pickups image

Dill Billy

Okay, i'm doing a science fair project involving making 6 Guitar pickups, and i'm going to check different things on the variations i create whilst making them.this wont be dont until around november, so i have a short while, but i need to know what materials are needed to perform the experiment. one of these statistics is going to be DC resistance, and i need to know how to check it. what do i need to buy to check the DC resistance?

Answer
Any multimeter will measure resistance.


Here is one for $20

http://www.galco.com/scripts/cgiip.exe/wa/wcat/itemdtl.r?listtype=Catalog&pnum=MN35-EXTC

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Can someone explain to me the different types of guitar pickups?

guitar pickups image

Conner

I am a bit confused on what sound each kind of guitar pickups are meant to produce, such as the single coil, humbucker, and double humbucker. And i know there's more types out there too, so could you please explain each type and what it does best? Thanks!
And also what the difference is between open and closed soil pickups sound wise.

Answer
Hi Conner,

Your single coil pickups give you a thinner sound which you could also call twangy or trebly. Your humbucker pickups which are double coil pickups give you a fuller sound with more sustain. If you want to really hear the difference between the two types of pickups go to a music store and play a Fender Stratocaster which has single coil pickups and a Gibson Les Paul which has humbuckers. Hope this helps!

Regards,
Steven Herron
Peabody Conservatory Trained Guitarist

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What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed?

guitar pickups image

ConMan

What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed? Can this be done in retail stores such as Guitar Center?

Answer
anywhere between 30 -100 depending on the guitar and pickup. (assuming you already have the pickup)
And yes guitar center and most guitar shops can do this

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What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed?

guitar pickups image

ConMan

What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed? Can this be done in retail stores such as Guitar Center?

Answer
anywhere between 30 -100 depending on the guitar and pickup. (assuming you already have the pickup)
And yes guitar center and most guitar shops can do this

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how can I check/test electric guitar pickups without strings on the instrument?

What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed?

guitar pickups image

ConMan

What is the average price to have an electric guitar pickup installed? Can this be done in retail stores such as Guitar Center?

Answer
anywhere between 30 -100 depending on the guitar and pickup. (assuming you already have the pickup)
And yes guitar center and most guitar shops can do this

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how can I check/test electric guitar pickups without strings on the instrument?

guitar pickups image

HandsomeFr

How can I check/test electric guitar pickups without strings on the instrument? Is it possible to check the wiring is correctly giving power to the pickups without the strings?

Answer
Tapping a piece of metal on the pickups will show you if there is a connection being made. I somewhat agree about trying to leave the strings on, but when you are removing the pickup its really best to take the strings off (at least temporarily) to swap pickups in/out. Sometimes I take my iPod and put the headphones neck to the pickups. The pickups will pick up the signal going to the headphones and play it through the amp. Ill do the work with headphones under the pickup being worked on and you can hear the difference in volume as you wire the correct wires in in addition to knowing that there is a connection made.

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Can someone explain to me the different types of guitar pickups?

guitar pickups image

Conner

I am a bit confused on what sound each kind of guitar pickups are meant to produce, such as the single coil, humbucker, and double humbucker. And i know there's more types out there too, so could you please explain each type and what it does best? Thanks!
And also what the difference is between open and closed soil pickups sound wise.

Answer
Hi Conner,

Your single coil pickups give you a thinner sound which you could also call twangy or trebly. Your humbucker pickups which are double coil pickups give you a fuller sound with more sustain. If you want to really hear the difference between the two types of pickups go to a music store and play a Fender Stratocaster which has single coil pickups and a Gibson Les Paul which has humbuckers. Hope this helps!

Regards,
Steven Herron
Peabody Conservatory Trained Guitarist

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what does a bass sound like with guitar pickups?

guitar pickups image

atlasmack0

What would a Fender Precision Bass sound like with telecaster guitar pickups? Is that even possible? I'm trying to settle a bet, I don't see how it can be done.

Answer
Wouldn't sound good. A Tele pickup is designed for high end sounds, that's why people say the Tele has the twang. A bass pickup is designed to pick up lower frequencies. It would be a nightmare mounting a Tele pick up in a P Bass, it would also make it muddy or tinny, depending on where the tone is. I own a Tele and P Bass, been playing professionally since I was 12, I'm 27 now. If he's wanting to change the pick ups, look at other options, guitar pickups are designed for guitar, and bass is desigend for bass, I wouldn't interchange them. Talk to a guitar repair guy. Every guitar player should make a friend in a good one.

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What would happen if you wired a guitar pickup with gold or silver instead of copper?

guitar pickups image

Steadiman

Electric guitar pickups have many winds of thin copper wire to form an magnetic field in which the strings vibrate and produce electricity and eventually...sound. What would happen if you wound the pickups with silver or gold which, I think, have better conductivity than copper? Would it change the signal and/or tone? It would change the price of course to something prohibitively high and thus totally impractical. This is a "proof of concept" sort of theoretical question. You electrical engineers out there, what do you think?

Answer
resistivity Ag 15.9 (nΩ-m)
resistivity Cu 17.2 (nΩ-m)
resistivity Au 22.14 (nΩ-m)

gold has a poorer conductivity than copper. silver is the only metal better than copper. And that is only 7% better.

No, you would hear no difference. 7% change in resistance is a small amount. In terms of signal level, it is only 0.6 dB, and you can get that by adjusting the gain a small amount.

.

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what does a bass sound like with guitar pickups?

guitar pickups image

atlasmack0

What would a Fender Precision Bass sound like with telecaster guitar pickups? Is that even possible? I'm trying to settle a bet, I don't see how it can be done.

Answer
Wouldn't sound good. A Tele pickup is designed for high end sounds, that's why people say the Tele has the twang. A bass pickup is designed to pick up lower frequencies. It would be a nightmare mounting a Tele pick up in a P Bass, it would also make it muddy or tinny, depending on where the tone is. I own a Tele and P Bass, been playing professionally since I was 12, I'm 27 now. If he's wanting to change the pick ups, look at other options, guitar pickups are designed for guitar, and bass is desigend for bass, I wouldn't interchange them. Talk to a guitar repair guy. Every guitar player should make a friend in a good one.

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why do my guitar pickups sometimes cut out when i flick the pickup toggle ?

guitar pickups image

Corey Ash

why do my guitar pickups sometimes cut out when i flick the pickup toggle ? sometimes when i switch the pickup toggle from treble to rhythm on my epiphone les paul special it sometimes cuts out and goes to a very dull clean sound. if i flick the switch again it goes to its normal sound. could it be dust etc stuck in the pickups or is there a short somewhere ? and what can i do to fix this ? thanks in advance.

Answer
It sounds like wiring problem with the switch. One of my guitars has a similar problem. I would take it to a guitar shot and let the techs take a look at it, if you're not REALLY familiar with guitar wiring you could actually end up doing more harm then good by trying too fix it yourself. It will cost around $30 depending on where you go though. Hope i could help you out =]

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What would happen if you wired a guitar pickup with gold or silver instead of copper?

guitar pickups image

Steadiman

Electric guitar pickups have many winds of thin copper wire to form an magnetic field in which the strings vibrate and produce electricity and eventually...sound. What would happen if you wound the pickups with silver or gold which, I think, have better conductivity than copper? Would it change the signal and/or tone? It would change the price of course to something prohibitively high and thus totally impractical. This is a "proof of concept" sort of theoretical question. You electrical engineers out there, what do you think?

Answer
resistivity Ag 15.9 (nΩ-m)
resistivity Cu 17.2 (nΩ-m)
resistivity Au 22.14 (nΩ-m)

gold has a poorer conductivity than copper. silver is the only metal better than copper. And that is only 7% better.

No, you would hear no difference. 7% change in resistance is a small amount. In terms of signal level, it is only 0.6 dB, and you can get that by adjusting the gain a small amount.

.

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