Electric Guitar Pickups

Electric guitar pickups are an essential part of the instrument. Without them, you would barely be able to hear the sound of the strings as they are played. This article will take a brief look at the basics of electric guitar pickups – what they are, what they do, and the main types:

Electric Guitar Pickups..a review

Electric guitar pickups, or any other pickup (for instance one designed for acoustic guitars), is simply a device that amplifies the sound of the strings. As the strings on a guitar vibrate, they create pressure waves in the surrounding air at specific frequencies. These are heard and interpreted as the sound of a specific note. Since on its own the sound of this vibration is relatively quiet it needs to be amplified – made louder – in some way.

On an acoustic guitar, this amplification is accomplished by the hollow sound box. However, on an electric guitar, this sound box is either absent or only partially amplifies the waves. This is intentional – all early guitars were acoustic but there were issues with getting them to sound loud enough in relation to other instruments such as, say, horns in a large ensemble. To remedy this, electric guitar pickups were invented. However when electric guitar pickups were invented, the hollow sound chambers of acoustic guitars interfered somewhat with the amplification process, so they were eliminated. It is much easier to get a clean sound by amplifying a string by itself than one that is also being amplified acoustically by the sound box.

How Electric Guitar Pickups Work

Electric guitar pickups essentially work by translating the guitar string’s oscillations into an electrical vibration. This can be done in one of two main ways – magnetically and piezoelectrically – and these correspond to the main pickup types. These are discussed below:

Magnetic Pickups

Magnetic pickups consist of magnets surrounded by coils of wire. When the vibrating string creates disturbances in the magnetic field set up by the magnet, this in turn creates corresponding electrical fluctuations that are transmitted by the surrounding coils of wire. Magnetic pickups can be divided into two categories – single coil pickups and double coil “humbucker” pickups.

Single Coil Pickups

Single coil pickups have a single coil of wire surrounding, or placed in proximity to the magnet. These pickups are known for having a crisp and clean sound. The problem is that they also tend to respond to and amplify all kinds of other electromagnetic interference such as the buzz coming from fluorescent lights or other electrical appliances.

Dual Coil Pickups

Dual coil pickups, also known as humbucker pickups, use two coils of wire associated with the magnet which are set up out of phase with each other. This helps to cancel out electromagnetic interference. Thus these pickups often tend to have a warm, relaxed sort of tone.

In both these cases the resulting electrical charge fluctuations produced in the wire are sent through the guitar chord and amplified by the amplifier, finally being output as the electric guitar sound that listeners hear.

Piezoelectric Pickups

Piezoelectric pickups work not by way of the oscillating fluctuation of a magnetic field per se, but rather from changes in crystalline pressure. A piezoelectric crystal is a special type of crystal that produces electrical charge when pressure is applied to it. When vibrations in the body of a guitar, where the piezo pickup is mounted, affect the crystal, charge fluctuations are created which are then amplified.
Piezo pickups have traditionally been used mainly in acoustic guitars, but recently their subtlety of tone and sensitivity are being recognized as useful for electric guitar amplification as well. They tend to increase the frequency range that can be amplified and this can make for wonderful electric guitar pickup fidelity.

Electric guitar pickups vary widely in tone, construction, and price by manufacturer. It helps to know both the basics of pickups and the differences between the sound of pickups made by various manufacturers when selecting an electric guitar or buying a replacement pickup. They are not alike, so the better educated you are about them, the more of an advantage you will have when it comes time to purchase one.

More electric guitar pickups.

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