This article serves as an introduction to guitar pickups. The topic has been chosen because I believe that not only are guitar pickups misunderstood, but the industry does an excellent job of exploiting this confusion to sell us all kinds of products.
First and foremost, there are two ways of looking at guitar pickups. From one perspective, they are simple and crude devices—some might even say poorly engineered. From another perspective, guitar pickups are extremely complex and sophisticated, where every detail makes a difference. They represent one of the most crucial components in a guitar player's connection to the rest of their system, meaning even micro-changes in pickups can significantly affect how we feel about creating music.
What’s important to understand here is that, firstly, everything makes a difference, and secondly, some things make a bigger difference than others. In this article, we’ll discuss the aspects that make the biggest difference, so you can use this information to save time and money when selecting a pickup that suits your needs.
Now, I mentioned earlier that the industry uses a confusing approach to market their products. This is, first of all, good for business. Secondly, it creates intrigue around concepts that can actually be explained with little to no effort—again, good for business.
The guitar pickups we’re discussing here are magnetic guitar pickups. These function as part of a larger system comprising four crucial components:
When a string vibrates, it disturbs the magnetic field, causing its strength to fluctuate relative to the string's position. This fluctuation induces an oscillatory voltage in the pickup coils. Simply put, changes in the magnetic field translate to changes in voltage within the coils. This is how string vibrations are "picked up" and sent to the guitar amplifier.
Now that we understand the main components and how the system works, it’s important to mention that the magnetic field is quite "leaky." This means it isn’t solely focused on the strings but also picks up interference from the surrounding environment, which is why magnetic pickups are prone to noise and hum.
Magnetic fields are also sensitive to their surroundings. Adding any material near the magnetic field alters its shape. This is, for example, how the Telecaster bridge pickup base plate works or why screws made of specific materials can affect a pickup's sound.
Let’s say you’re shopping for a guitar pickup on a popular website. You’ll notice many options available, but how do you differentiate between them? Typically, these websites focus on just one measurement: the DC resistance of the pickup. They might also mention the magnet material, but that’s about it.
Not much is said about the magnets themselves beyond a few popular types and their general characteristics. This leads to the biggest misconception: that DC resistance equals the signal output of a pickup.
To address this, we’ll mention a few other important measurements that aren’t often listed in the specifications on these websites. We’ll explain how these measurements affect the final sound you hear, helping you make a more informed choice
Since we’ve been discussing permanent magnets and magnetic fields extensively, let’s deepen our understanding of permanent magnets a bit more. We all know that the most famous ones are AlNiCo magnets, which are an alloy of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. These magnets are categorized into different "strength" groups (to put it simply).
For example, there are AlNiCo II magnets and AlNiCo V magnets, with the latter commonly understood to have a "higher output" than the former. While the reality is a bit more nuanced, this generalization is somewhat accurate. AlNiCo V magnets are composed of a slightly different alloy compared to AlNiCo II magnets, resulting in a stronger magnetic field, slightly more string pull, and ultimately a higher output signal.
What’s interesting is that even within the same group, there can be variations between magnets. For instance, an AlNiCo V magnet in one pickup might differ from an AlNiCo V magnet in a different pickup made by another manufacturer. Sometimes, these differences are more significant than you might expect.
