Previously, we discussed impedance in the quest to gain a basic working understanding of the physical properties of pickups, all to debunk the ‘DC Resistance – output congruency’ myth. To recap, the DC Resistance is a resistance measurement of the coils, in what I called a Direct Current environment, but pickups produce an alternating current (AC), and an AC environment works differently than a DC environment. This is not the only thing that goes on in pickups. The physical properties of the coils themselves (and generally speaking, the pickups) have such a specific set of parameters that makes using DC Resistance as a measure of output somewhat incorrect. Let’s investigate further!

Continue reading “Inductance: What It Is And Why It Matters”

I remember the day I got my first electric guitar – a cheap Status brand Stratocaster copy. It wasn’t exactly the greatest axe in the world, but I loved that damn thing. Put thousands of hours of fingergrease into it. And it only took a few weeks of being an electric guitarist to realise – the strat middle pickup was where a lot of my favourite sounds were.
Continue reading “The Poor Overlooked Middle Pickup”

“Wait, is that an altered tuning?”

In the days before tablature transcriptions and YouTube video tutorials, guitarists had only their wits, ears, piano charts (!) and each other to count on to accurately learn their favorite tunes or material for paying gigs. Unless you were a sight-reading madman – I know a few, but never have been one – you were kinda on your own as a guitarist. There were a few audio tape lesson series available, and slowly instructional videos entered the market, though it was slim pickings early on. Continue reading “Freestyle Ear Training”

Each year the world’s makers of musical instruments and accessories gather in Anaheim, California for the NAMM Show. This year at the Seymour Duncan booth we will be having live demos from some incredible artists. If you plan on attending, we are located in Hall B at booth 5561.

To see what it’s like to be at the Seymour Duncan booth at NAMM, check out this article.

Fresh off a recent tour with Jeff Loomis and currently in the studio working on a new release for his band Shaded Enmity, Joe Nurre joins us to write about picking out the right string gauge for metal. When I first started using a 7 string and guitars in alternate tunings, I found myself constantly frustrated by the flop, or lack of tension in the strings. I remember tuning my Ibanez RG 550 to C using a 10-46 set of strings and the results were terrible. In recent years I have focused a lot more on the strings I am using, as well as the scale of a guitar neck. Continue reading “Finding The Right String Gauge For Metal Players”

One thing I’ve been really wanting for a while now is a Strat. I’ve been playing Ibanez guitars equipped with Floyd Rose type bridges pretty much exclusively since I was 16. Now the thing is, I wanted a Strat, but not many actual Fenders or Squiers (or other guitar companies building Strat-style guitars) offered what I was after at a good (read: cheap) price. Most of the Fenders and Squiers I looked at have 9.5″ radius fretboards, which would bug me after a while. I wanted black hardware too, and Fender doesn’t seem to have many models like that anyway. Continue reading “Building A Great Strat On A Budget”

Earlier, in parts 1 and 2 I showed how I took to turn a bunch of parts into a guitar. I drilled the holes in the neck so the neck and body can be attached. I also installed the tuners. Just a recap: this Tele has a medium weight hard ash body and a thick single piece maple neck with 21 frets. Continue reading “Telecaster Build Blog Part 3. From Parts To Guitar”

Courtesy the good folks at http://www.guitarspecialist.com/

It’s a little known secret that mere mortals can repair and maintain their instruments using only hand tools (sssh, this is just between us!). Heck, using prefab or custom-ordered necks and bodies, you can build them too. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t always need a ton of unwieldy and expensive tools to work on, if not fully build your own guitars at home. And let’s face it, your apartment manager might not be down with you installing a drill-press in your living room. Mine said no way, at least. For some reason they tend to frown on that. Not sure why. Continue reading “The Mad (Guitar) Scientist’s Lab Equipment List”

The field of development concerning electric guitars is still in motion. Some innovations that were once hailed as the be-all-end-all of electric guitars were replaced by newer technologies whilst others are still being used extensively to this day. This timeline doesn’t claim to be complete by any means. There are many more companies that have made a huge impact and are regarded very highly by many players. Instead, its purpose is to give a general view of how the electric guitar and the market for the guitar developed.

What guitars and companies would you add to the timeline?

The four conductor lead found on most humbuckers is a very handy thing.  It enables us to get many tones from a single pickup (series, parallel, split, and more). If you want to make a wiring change, just cut the lead down a bit and wire up that pickup once more. But what do you do if, like me, you cut that lead back one too many times, or if you’d bought a used pickup that came pre-snipped? What if that lead won’t reach the controls any more?  Basically, you have two options:

1. Extend each of the four conductors and the shield with five separate wires
2. Replace the four conductor lead Continue reading “How To Replace a Pickup’s Four-Conductor Lead”