How can you tell if a pickup is hand or machine wound? Ed durham, dallas, texas

A hand wound pickup means the magnet wire is guided on by hand which I call scatter winding and the magnet wire is layered back and forth as the bobbin turns. The machine wound or automatic traverse guides the wire back and forth at a pre-determined pitch. The pitch determines the turns per layer on…

Why when I measure the dc resistance of my pickup when it is cool and later when it is hotter does the resistance get higher? Ted paxton-tuson, arizona

Magnet wire is insulated copper wire and the ohms per thousand feet is normally measured at 20? C or 68? Fahrenheit. 42 gauge magnet wire has 1,659 ohms per 1,000 feet of magnet wire at 20? or 68? F. Note: 1,659 ohms is the same as 1.659 K ohms 1,000 feet of 42 AWG magnet…

How close does a split coil humbucker sound to a good single coil tone?

Standard humbuckers have two coils that normally pick up two areas of the string. When you split a pickup you cut out one coil and eliminate the current generated from that area of the string. The split pickup now uses one coil and 1/2 of the total turns when combined with the other coil in…

I’’m a new electric guitarist and can you explain what pickups are? Donny preston-fort thomas, kentucky

An electric guitar or bass pickup is an electromechanical device for tracking the vibration of a moving string made of ferrous material. The string attracts the magnetic field from within the pickup and when plucked the movement of the magnetic field through the coil(s) causes an electrical current to be generated. The signal is connected…

What is a passive and active pickup? Randy collins-buffalo, new york

Passive pickups used for guitar and bass are in general a musical instrument pickup consisting of a permanent magnet material such as Alnico, Ceramic or other specified material such as Rare Earth. A coil form or bobbin of a certain length, width and height needed to hold the wound coil. Magnet wire can be wound…

Can you make a tapped pickup stereo? Jason banks-los angeles, california

You can make your pickup have two different outputs with different frequencies. A tapped pickup can’t give you each string to different channels or amplifier. You would need to have six individual coils for left-right-left etc. A tapped pickup is wound to a desired number of turns or to a desired frequency. The frequency will…

What are the patent numbers for popular guitar pickups?

A Patent is a government grant that allows the inventor to make, use and sell for a certain amount of time. It gives the inventor exclusive right to an invention or discovery. To be eligible for a patent, an invention must be new, useful or improvement of an existing patent. All patents other than design…

What gives a pickup a jazz sound? Tom bolton-akron, ohio

Jazz players that I’ve talked to usually use heavier gauge strings and often roll off the high end using their tone control. Jazz players often use the neck pickup alone and play through a cleaner sounding amplification. Using heavier strings will make the pickup sound fatter with more output. As the string diameter increases, an…

What is a “electromechanical transducer?”

It is another term used for a “pickup.” It converts the mechanical vibration of a string when plucked through a magnetic field within a pickup. As the moving magnetic field moves back and forth through the coil, an alternating current or signal is produced. As the signal travels through a volume and tone control or…

What makes electric guitar pickups different?

a. Magnet type, b. Magnet wire gauge, c. Bobbin shape, d. Number of turns, e. Polepiece type The type of magnet that is used. Ceramic magnets are used for their magnetic strength and generally cost less than cast alnico magnets and ceramics are more fragile and can chip and break easily. Cast Alnico rod and…

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