h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How Guitar Pickups Work - A2792108
Author: Hell - U171578

Hello,

I had that on my desktop for a long while. I just gave it an overhaul and prepared some graphics (linked). You tell me how you like it, or how it could be improved.

HELL

Hi HELL, it's been a while. Seems last I was reading this forum I was making "nice job" noises over yet another decent article you wrote.

Other than picking nits and typos ("suppressed" misspelled is one), I have a couple suggestions to make:

- Can the notes at the beginning perhaps be made into footnotes somewhere? I thought they kinda needlessly broke up an interesting article into something a bit ... well, it felt odd reading disclaimers right off the bat, I was expecting to get to something contoversial, if you follow. No biggie, just a suggestion.

- I know it should be obvious, but perhaps a statement describing that this is why nylon (or other non-metallic strings, say uhh ... catgut ) will not produce any sound-signal from an electric guitar - at least, not appreciably so. I know of a couple, uhm ... guitarists ... who've tried that. Might be worth noting explicitly for those that are *really* new to this stuff.

- This is also probably very obvious, but under "physics" discussion, could you explicitly explain how the note transmitted across the wire/guitar cord is related to the note(s) played on the strings themselves? You say, "When a piece of metal, such as the guitar string right above it, moves, it changes the magnetic flux of the magnet, and this induces a voltage in the coiled wire around the magnet." I think it would be helpful to note right after that that the way the magnetic flux changes, and thus the voltage changes in the coil and along the guitar cable, are in fact the same frequencies as the note(s) the strings are vibrating at. Hmmm, that makes me think of possibly a neat discussion on the reasons (and usefulness, as demonstrated by countless heavy metal bands) for guitar feedback ... okay, now I'm really making a mountain out of this.

- Would it really be prohibitive to research the other common pickup types (piezoelectric and resonance pickups) and include brief descriptions of the science/engineering behind them in this entry? It just seems like a terrible tease to leave us hanging like that - but that might just be 'cos I'm a guitarist/engineer and that handicap is getting the best of me. Maybe this can't be done with out getting too long, but my gut reaction is that it wouldn't be THAT long. Then again, I tend to the longer side of articles, so ... worth. Please take all of this with a grain of salt.



- JD

JD. Nice seein' you here How's life?

Thank you for your very useful comments.

The notes in the beginning are not meant to make it into the final version, actually. It is just that I have not figured out the best way to put that information in, so I decided to leave it as 'disclaimers'. I was hoping a subbie, in their infinite editing-wisdom, would find a better solution. But you're right... Starting an Entry with a disclaimer is a bummer. I'll FOOTNOTE it.

Nylon strings. Yep. I actually tried it myself (I was 17 and needed the money) - It didn't work - obviously.

Physics and vibration of string equal to oscillation of voltage. I'll take care of that However, I don't want get into the details of pickup positioning and the 'sound' you get out of a pickup (ie. near bridge = more overtones, near neck = more fundamental etc... I am planning another Entry on that). In this Entry I *just* wanted to explain the technical part.

About other pickup types. They make up, in an educated guess, maybe 5% or so of the total number of pickups. I thought it would go to far to explain those also. However... I think you're right, maybe I could add something brief to cover that too. (But that'll take a little longer.)

OK, that's it for now. How did you like the graphics BTW?

HELL

OK done it, and added a (really) small section on 'other types' of pickup.

Thanks

HELL

Excellent!

Would you like to explain why guitars have two or even three pickups?

Some spelling mistakes:

classig guitars --> classical guitars
computer mouses --> computer mice

Nice entry. You might like to mention that this is how metal detectors basically work, except that in the case of the former, the metal object (string) oscillates in the presence of the field and induces a current in the coil, whereas in the latter, an oscillating magnet field induces the current which then induces the current in the coil.

WOW, escellent from Gnomon ! Thanks... The reason why I will not explain why some guitars have two and others have three pickups is the following: I am currently writing another Entry that concentrates on the sonic possibilities, and the fine tuning of guitar pickups (e.g. why the humbuckers are often at the bridge etc...). This one here is just to explain how, or why, a guitar does what it does. (Actually, what I really wanted to write is the next Entry, but I thought I need this one first...)

FM! Thanks. Nice seein' you here I was thinking about adding a short note on just that (i.e. the pickup being some kind of metal detector). I think I have included the *term* 'metal detector' and figured that the more geekish guitarists would know this anyways. But I think you're right, at least a footnote would be in order, I think.

Thanks for your comments,

HELL

OK. Typos gone, and footnote added.

HELL

PS: No comments on the schematic graphics?

Oh! Sorry, I didn't notice that you'd asked until just now. Not very observant of me. Anyhow, I quite liked the drawings. Any way to put them in H2G2 proper without the link? They do add quite a bit to the explanation of it all.

- JD

It's not up to me, y'know. But I have seen it happen before, that *they* take the pics and incorporate them into hootoo, provided the pics are not copyright protected and are the author's original material (which is the case here).

HELL

Hi, Hell.
Seems we are working along parallel lines at the moment.
I have an entry on the Fender Telecaster in PR at the moment.
Would you mind scooting over and taking a look at it?
I need a critical eye with some guitar savvy.

I would like to request that your footnotes regarding single coils and humbuckers be a bit more specific. The word "typically" doesn't really help and the footnotes suggest that all Gibsons have humbuckers and all Strats have single coils, which we both know they don't.

Will now go back and see if I can understand anything else in your entry.

Actually, having taken a second look at the entry, I suggest that you just leave the footnotes out entirely with regard to single coil and humbucker as they really don't add anything to the already formidable paragraph.

"disturbing fileds get captured by the pickup"

"The entire guitar pickup, that visible thing under the guitar strings, is actually, an array of guitar pickups, usually there is one pickup per string. Sometimes the individual pickups are visible as little circular bumps under each guitar string. These visible circles are, actually, the top pole of a cylindrical magnet which has the coil wrapped around it."

Not so's you'd really notice, unless you had a Ripley guitar. While some guitars have individual magnets for each string, some others have pole pieces that rest on a master magnet under the coil. In the case of pickups with adjustment screws that actually raise the individual string, um, pole (which is usually just the screw itself) nearer the string, the screw travels in a sleeve in the bobbin. Some highly regarded sorts of pickups, like the Lawrence brand and Lindy Fralin, have a fin or blade across the top of the pickup.
While each string might have an area of influence within the magnetic field of the pickup, there is nothing to keep one from slopping over into the field of the next string. And each pole does not have it's won coil wrapped around it, as the sentence suggests. The entire load of six (or in some cases, twelve) poles has one coil surrounding it.

"illustrate all the said"

A little bit of rummaging through Brosniac's "Guitar Electronics for Musicians" indicates that there have been some pickups make with an individual little coil around each pole piece. These were stereo or hexaphonic pickups and each little coil had it's own leads coming from it to the control circuitry.
So, regardless of how many magnets are having their little fields disturbed by the strings, it is the coil that makes the pickup. One coil, one pickup. Two coils, two pickups, or one humbucker.

http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/pickupin.htm

Here's a link you might be able to use.

OK, WOW!, great... now, there's a lot of useful notes for me - I'll be working on it ASAP. Thanks

Just a note concerning single coils and humbuckers: Gibsons, do have *typically* humbuckers, and strats do have *typically* singles. I am not sure if the wording could be improved, but I meant something like: 'The most famous Gibsons usually, but not necessarily always, come equipped with humbuckers, while Fender Stratocasters usually come equipped with single coils' - I have also mentioned that many guitarists use both types on their guitars. Hmm... The footnote to which you referred, also, while not adding much, would give the non-guitarist reader a hint on where to find such a pickup.

I'll do some polishing soon! Thanks for your valuable comments!

HELL

PS: I have already noticed your (great) Entry on the Telecaster, but had (yet) no time to give it a more thorough reading. Just wait!

Garcias.

Are you complete on this now, Hell?

I just need to change the graphics. This could happen this afternoon.

HELL

PS: Hi ZSF How are things? Anna's told me to say 'hi' when I bump into you again... She's touring Germany (visiting Grandmas) with the kids.

"The induced voltage will oscillate exactly in the same way as the string above it oscillates mechanically - for this reason the pickup translates the mechanical oscillation, the sound, into a voltage oscillation - which is easier to transmit through wires."

Just a nitpick. The pickup translates, or reproduces the vibration of the string into a sympathetic voltage oscillation.
It doesn't translate "the sound".
That is a whole 'nother can of worms which is related to the ongoing debate about the "tone" of an electric guitar.
The "sound" vibration can be transmitted using a taut string and two tin cans. That gets into physics... and an interesting subject for a patent application...