Only ferrous materials will work for electric guitar strings. That means nylon, copper and gold will not work. Larger diameter strings will require more tension to achieve the same pitch as smaller diameter strings. Larger diameter string will generate a larger output from pickup. String tension is directly proportional to pitch. More tension = more acceleration= higher pitch. Great video. Love the way you are prompting interaction with your viewers.
SUPER LOVED THIS VIDEO! Highly, highly, HIGHLY informative! I've been researching how I can make guitars for a while and pick ups have been kind of a roadblock for me and this really helped me out! I really love how you went super in depth with how pick ups and signals work! I love how your teaching style is exciting and engaging as well! Hope you make more videos like this! My only complaint is that I feel like you waste a lot of paper hahahah but yeah thank you !!
Awesome!!!! I was looking this information for a proyect in my University, but I did not find the information in spanish, this will help me a lot. Thank so much!!!! Greetings from an ecuadorian student.
I'm an eee major watching this for fun. Very fun! Right now I'm studying how op amps change the signal before it reaches the amplifier... BUT even without my training your video is fun. Cheers
Yep, people are stupid that way. Having a person do it just means making things more random. Which means you don't know what quality you'll get. If a more random winding leads by accident to a better sound, it would make more sense to let a machine copy that exact winding job, then letting a person wind another one which would again be different. And just looking at the physics behind it, I don't believe the sound will change all that much from having the wire on the bobbin wound slightly worse than perfect. It's just in people's head that effort and high price creates higher quality. Which makes no sense.
I think it stims from how many people play electric guitar and how badly we want to sound different. The hardest part about paying guitar is being original. The gear choices are outrageous.
The current in the amp is powering the amplification circuit, but one could argue that the input circuit is not complete until the guitar is connected. Connecting the guitar when the strings are not moving can induce a little hum because monitors might cause vibration in the strings that is then output again in the monitors. The 60 or 50 Hz hum from the AC line also leaks over in real amplifiers.
Could you please do a video on tube amps, the physics behind it? I really want to understand which components in the tube amps make them sound different to Solid State ones.
Sup, Kevin. The only way the string vibration can cause electromagnetic induction in the coil (correct, btw) is if the strings have a net magnetic field. They are a soft ferromagnetic material, and are therefore only magnetized in the presence of an external field. You can check my claim by wondering why there are magnets in every pickup you've ever held.
100-300 millivolts output of pickup. You can get high tension going slow in an absolute zero degrees environment. Thank you I like the white board look and objects on set
If anyone is interested this is rather elementary compared to the way in which the auditory apparatus is organized and functions relative to acoustic input. That’s when it really gets interesting and complex because it’s the brain with which we actually hear. Then consider auditory memory and emotions and recall. Nonetheless this was interesting. Consider that the way this all works can not be separated from the human body. A guitar pick up is like the human inner ear. All related models of human design. I’m not a musician and I know little of music theory, but I can’t get enough of electric guitar design.
it would be so useful to understand how a mic or a pickup can be better than others and why; i mean if you buy a cheap guitar it uses a cheap pickups but if you buy an expensive guitar it has a different pickups so how that affect the signal of voltage variation.
This is a beautiful idea! Do you want to go into business together making high-tensile gold-string guitars? In fact, you wouldn't even want magnets in your pickup. I'm serious. I would love to see how this sounds. We should start with copper. Possible problem - current might change when you touch the strings...
Nice vid, very informative, im a wee bit perplexed as i read that cibalt strings, probably an alloy variation with cobalt to add mire density and magnetic attraction to the string for the magnets and coil that will behave together in a different way than standard nickle strings in relation to i mean magnetically, so im thinking less sustain, or if you lower the pickups away from the strings as many peopledo to get a specifictype of tone on the bass end of the thicker strings- so more volume or idk a ckearer signal without losing the sustain., so when you saud low mass - big acceleration, then wouldn't string mass be more relative to the materials of the strings used in regards of how magnetically atttractive the strings are? Btw- cobalt strings feel so weird to plays and they dont last long, i tried a set and they were a touch louder and i suspect youd only realy notice a considerable difference at high amplified levels over 80db to110db gigging levels. Were every little touch of the string is heard, very unforgiving. The way the cibalt strings felt to play was sticky, difficult to move say bar chords up and down the neck, very unpleasant but i had to try, i try out a new set of strings i dint know anything about about every month or 3 months but i stick to the elixir coated strings they last a fair bit and sound great. Feel great.
So, I'd assume after watching this video that you'd agree an electric guitar's (not acoustic guitar) "tone wood" has no affect on the sound/tone. Only the pickups matter? i.e. a guitar made of particle board or mahogany or basswood using an identical pickup and played exactly the same would sound identical? That's what it seems like to me.
The sound would absolutely change. The way a string vibrates when plucked (and therefore the way the voltage changes) depends on the rest of the body. For example, some materials will allow the string to vibrate for longer and some wont (Imagine a very stiff body vs one less stiff).
Hey. Would you like to explain how the sound is modeled within a guitar amplifier?. Pre amp? Amp? Eq?. What is the roll of valves? How they matter? etc? Thank you!! Love your explanation
Carlos Mora Oh yes. I really do want to create some videos on tubes/valves and on transistors. I am nervous because they are VERY important. My explanation has to be really good!
Doc Schuster I wanted to thank you so much for this vid, I'm currently developing an argumentation about physics and guitars for my graduation exams in high school (I'm from Italy and we have to discuss some topics we choose with our teachers) and your explaination was really helpful. could I ask you one more question? given the flux 0B= B x S x sin@, what is exactly changing when the chord is moving? is that B or the surface S interested in the magnetic field? I figured out that could be B, since the string becomes a magnet and kinda "intercepts" some lines coming out from the magnet which don't go back to its own south pole but to the string's, is that so? last question : is the induced potential a form of AC? so that graphic you drew about it responds to V=Vmax(sin(wt)) law for ACs? thank you for your help :)
It was amazing, Thank you for sharing, But the question is, how it is working separately for each string with a same coil? How it determine which string is vibrating?
+Reza Amya Signals will summarise. For determination which string is vibrating -- you mast do it by your fingers or plectra. ))) It called -- guitar playing. )))) If you are not a player -- just enjoy the music. ))))
@@iridios6127 If you summaries the signals, it will not be able to detect which string is vibrating! There should be some other mechanism, something like separator! or collector! I don't know!
Good lecture Doc. You might know. I remember many years ago seeing a picture of an early sort of loudspeaker that was basically a thin metal funnel, sort of corrugated like a parasol. I think it was purely mechanical (no electric) Do you know what they are called, I cant find any reference to them on the internet. I might want to try building one. I reckon something like the thin metal horns on those stroh type violins...?
Goldsmithexile1960 My understanding of those cones (like used in Victrolas) is that they simply channel the sound into your ear rather than just letting it spread isotropically. It is remarkable how loud my Victrola is. I think it comes from the tremendous needle pressure (very different from modern 33's). This means the vibrations are more dramatic, just like a violinist pressing harder upon the bow.
Doc Schuster I'm going to have a guess and say that the horn on an old style record player is a waveguide. I believe there are some pretty complex things happen when a gas (air) couples with a solid moving surface (speaker or diaphragm). The way the horn flares out is less to do with making the sound directional, more to do with making the air couple to the surface efficiently.
But the induced voltage in the coil will produce a magnetic field that create a force on the string, thus changing its frequency, right? And the string’s altered frequency is still in turn influencing the induced voltage.... I’m a bit confused how the finalized sound would be. (Guess I need to review my physics)
Copper, nylon or gold can't be used in electric guitars because they're not ferromagnetic materials. Ferromagnetic materials can interact with magnetic fields such as Nickel, Cobalt, Iron..
I think this explanation makes the phenomena too simplified. Basically, the string with ferro materials can be magnetized when it approaches the permanent magnet. But the strength of the induced magnet is not constant but depends on the position. You have better explain using the concept of magnetic circuits. The magnetomotive force (mmf) can be regarded as a constant value because the permanent magnet and the magnetic resistance (reluctance) will be changed depending on the position of the string made by ferromagnetic materials, which results in time-varying the magnetic flux passing through the coil.
Im just curious. I put my phone speaker in front of my guitar pickup and i could hear the music from the phone on my amplifier. I want to ask why does the guitar pick this sound up? And can it damage something if you put another magnet near a guitar pickup. I would be glad for any answer. :)
I would say the sound of your phone speaker moves the air, which consequently moves the strings. Then the process will be the same, as in the video. So, if you hold your strings or take them out, I guess there will be no sound, but I haven't tried.
So on my Less Paul one pick can play my phone speaker and one can't. I have seen a few Bands use this Smashing Pumpkins James Iha used a toy ray gun and I am pretty sure other musicians have. I will leave a link to what I did. Ok so why only one pickup. Also there something called an atomatone. It's a toy that is a synth strip and at the base as speaker that is housed in a little ball que opening and closing cause different compression. Ok so some have an input jack. So is that compression not even registering? Yes I plan on trying it on my pick up when it comes in and pretty much same question on the pickup. A Mike would certainly register, but the other stuff is questionable?
Wow. That's some fine wire. We could check their numbers by building a transformer out of two pickups (one with known N) or by doing a cross-sectional area calculation based on the gauge of the wire and circular packing constraints. Indie lab!
Only ferrous materials will work for electric guitar strings.
That means nylon, copper and gold will not work.
Larger diameter strings will require more tension to achieve the same pitch as smaller diameter strings.
Larger diameter string will generate a larger output from pickup.
String tension is directly proportional to pitch. More tension = more acceleration= higher pitch.
Great video. Love the way you are prompting interaction with your viewers.
Guitar creation functions for dummies.
Also I love how you format the video, the marker drawn diagram make every thing so easy to understand
SUPER LOVED THIS VIDEO! Highly, highly, HIGHLY informative! I've been researching how I can make guitars for a while and pick ups have been kind of a roadblock for me and this really helped me out! I really love how you went super in depth with how pick ups and signals work! I love how your teaching style is exciting and engaging as well! Hope you make more videos like this! My only complaint is that I feel like you waste a lot of paper hahahah but yeah thank you !!
Awesome!!!! I was looking this information for a proyect in my University, but I did not find the information in spanish, this will help me a lot.
Thank so much!!!!
Greetings from an ecuadorian student.
"And hence rock and roll"......I'm so showing my kids this. I will use that quote forever.
I'm an eee major watching this for fun. Very fun! Right now I'm studying how op amps change the signal before it reaches the amplifier... BUT even without my training your video is fun. Cheers
Thank you for clearing this up for me! I had basic knowledge on the science behind the pickup, but never this in-depth. Awesome!
This was the most informative video regarding pickups on youtube. Thank you
Thank you! I was looking for this information years ago! I really wanted to know the physics behind the electric guitar... thank you again!
I'm pretty sure most commercial pickups have around 8K turns with over-wounds going higher.
prickiland DANG! You'd probably want a machine to do that for you.
+Doc Schuster people prefer hand wound though. They're supposed to give a natural, imperfect sound
hand wound pickups use machine to rotate the pickup but a person is holding the copper wire to give the coil whatever shape and tension he wants.
Yep, people are stupid that way. Having a person do it just means making things more random. Which means you don't know what quality you'll get. If a more random winding leads by accident to a better sound, it would make more sense to let a machine copy that exact winding job, then letting a person wind another one which would again be different.
And just looking at the physics behind it, I don't believe the sound will change all that much from having the wire on the bobbin wound slightly worse than perfect.
It's just in people's head that effort and high price creates higher quality. Which makes no sense.
I think it stims from how many people play electric guitar and how badly we want to sound different. The hardest part about paying guitar is being original. The gear choices are outrageous.
This is such a good video. Love your energy
from australia this is realy great helps some good things of the of the electric guitars i'm sure people got it right now...many thanks...joe
The current in the amp is powering the amplification circuit, but one could argue that the input circuit is not complete until the guitar is connected. Connecting the guitar when the strings are not moving can induce a little hum because monitors might cause vibration in the strings that is then output again in the monitors. The 60 or 50 Hz hum from the AC line also leaks over in real amplifiers.
Could you please do a video on tube amps, the physics behind it? I really want to understand which components in the tube amps make them sound different to Solid State ones.
Really entertaining, neatly explained ! It's funny that I did not thought of that too much before, being a physicist and a guitar player. Cool stuff!
The magnets in the pickup don't magnatize the strings. The string vibration causes an electro magnetic induction in the coil.
Sup, Kevin. The only way the string vibration can cause electromagnetic induction in the coil (correct, btw) is if the strings have a net magnetic field. They are a soft ferromagnetic material, and are therefore only magnetized in the presence of an external field. You can check my claim by wondering why there are magnets in every pickup you've ever held.
@@DocSchuster in the practice nylon strings works in a electric guitar
100-300 millivolts output of pickup.
You can get high tension going slow in an absolute zero degrees environment.
Thank you I like the white board look and objects on set
wow, you sir earn my subscription, a born teacher
I'm a musician studying magnetism right now for physics class and this was pure gold
Thank you! You're really very nice!
Keep learning, sir.
This is the video that I was looking for!!!
Your explanation makes learning so fun . I love science (physics) and guitars. You've earned a new subscriber . And Hence rock and roll ! ;)
If anyone is interested this is rather elementary compared to the way in which the auditory apparatus is organized and functions relative to acoustic input. That’s when it really gets interesting and complex because it’s the brain with which we actually hear. Then consider auditory memory and emotions and recall. Nonetheless this was interesting. Consider that the way this all works can not be separated from the human body. A guitar pick up is like the human inner ear. All related models of human design. I’m not a musician and I know little of music theory, but I can’t get enough of electric guitar design.
it would be so useful to understand how a mic or a pickup can be better than others and why; i mean if you buy a cheap guitar it uses a cheap pickups but if you buy an expensive guitar it has a different pickups so how that affect the signal of voltage variation.
in what basic of the pickup sound good or bad?
Great video
Awesome video.
Do all the turns have to be from the same wire
Excellent explanation!
This is a beautiful idea! Do you want to go into business together making high-tensile gold-string guitars? In fact, you wouldn't even want magnets in your pickup.
I'm serious. I would love to see how this sounds. We should start with copper. Possible problem - current might change when you touch the strings...
awesome video dude
Doc Schuster Which is your favorite song?
What a fun presentation, thanks a lot.
really thanks, you are very patient and you described this very well!
Nice vid, very informative, im a wee bit perplexed as i read that cibalt strings, probably an alloy variation with cobalt to add mire density and magnetic attraction to the string for the magnets and coil that will behave together in a different way than standard nickle strings in relation to i mean magnetically, so im thinking less sustain, or if you lower the pickups away from the strings as many peopledo to get a specifictype of tone on the bass end of the thicker strings- so more volume or idk a ckearer signal without losing the sustain., so when you saud low mass - big acceleration, then wouldn't string mass be more relative to the materials of the strings used in regards of how magnetically atttractive the strings are?
Btw- cobalt strings feel so weird to plays and they dont last long, i tried a set and they were a touch louder and i suspect youd only realy notice a considerable difference at high amplified levels over 80db to110db gigging levels. Were every little touch of the string is heard, very unforgiving. The way the cibalt strings felt to play was sticky, difficult to move say bar chords up and down the neck, very unpleasant but i had to try, i try out a new set of strings i dint know anything about about every month or 3 months but i stick to the elixir coated strings they last a fair bit and sound great. Feel great.
And another question is where the wire of the pickup go, if it goes to the current or if it only transfer the signal of voltage variation?
Thank yuo teach guitapickup ilove yuo family gita!!!!
So, I'd assume after watching this video that you'd agree an electric guitar's (not acoustic guitar) "tone wood" has no affect on the sound/tone. Only the pickups matter? i.e. a guitar made of particle board or mahogany or basswood using an identical pickup and played exactly the same would sound identical? That's what it seems like to me.
The sound would absolutely change. The way a string vibrates when plucked (and therefore the way the voltage changes) depends on the rest of the body. For example, some materials will allow the string to vibrate for longer and some wont (Imagine a very stiff body vs one less stiff).
your explanations were interesting!
Hey. Would you like to explain how the sound is modeled within a guitar amplifier?. Pre amp? Amp? Eq?. What is the roll of valves? How they matter? etc?
Thank you!! Love your explanation
Carlos Mora Oh yes. I really do want to create some videos on tubes/valves and on transistors. I am nervous because they are VERY important. My explanation has to be really good!
I suggest to answer this question in order to make the video interesting: Is it worth having a valve amp when your effects come from pedals?
Cheers
Doc Schuster I wanted to thank you so much for this vid, I'm currently developing an argumentation about physics and guitars for my graduation exams in high school (I'm from Italy and we have to discuss some topics we choose with our teachers) and your explaination was really helpful. could I ask you one more question? given the flux 0B= B x S x sin@, what is exactly changing when the chord is moving? is that B or the surface S interested in the magnetic field? I figured out that could be B, since the string becomes a magnet and kinda "intercepts" some lines coming out from the magnet which don't go back to its own south pole but to the string's, is that so?
last question : is the induced potential a form of AC? so that graphic you drew about it responds to V=Vmax(sin(wt)) law for ACs? thank you for your help :)
this is absolutely awesome...i love this vid, instantly suscribed
Very interesting and funny video! You have a really good sense of humor. :)
Awesome! thanks I understand now
focus & you can get a fatter tone from a thinner string and vice versa :)
It was amazing,
Thank you for sharing,
But the question is, how it is working separately for each string with a same coil?
How it determine which string is vibrating?
+Reza Amya
Signals will summarise.
For determination which string is vibrating -- you mast do it by your fingers or plectra. )))
It called -- guitar playing. ))))
If you are not a player -- just enjoy the music. ))))
@@iridios6127 If you summaries the signals, it will not be able to detect which string is vibrating!
There should be some other mechanism, something like separator! or collector!
I don't know!
Couldn't edit for some reason. But, good job on a quick instruction.
I used nylon strings on a P-bass copy and it worked.
The nylon strings for electric bass guitars have steel cores with nylon coatings. They won't work otherwise, at least not through an amp.
lol. Jesus
ExperimentLife Yes.
They use gold plating on some strings, like "Optima Gold"
Thanks
Wondering why I cannot reply to individual posts O_O .
"Slaps the air"
Gold pickups would be cool tho!
Dude this video is amazing
Nice f***ing job 10/10
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Good lecture Doc.
You might know. I remember many years ago seeing a picture of an early sort of loudspeaker that was basically a thin metal funnel, sort of corrugated like a parasol. I think it was purely mechanical (no electric) Do you know what they are called, I cant find any reference to them on the internet. I might want to try building one. I reckon something like the thin metal horns on those stroh type violins...?
Goldsmithexile1960 My understanding of those cones (like used in Victrolas) is that they simply channel the sound into your ear rather than just letting it spread isotropically. It is remarkable how loud my Victrola is. I think it comes from the tremendous needle pressure (very different from modern 33's). This means the vibrations are more dramatic, just like a violinist pressing harder upon the bow.
Doc Schuster I'm going to have a guess and say that the horn on an old style record player is a waveguide. I believe there are some pretty complex things happen when a gas (air) couples with a solid moving surface (speaker or diaphragm). The way the horn flares out is less to do with making the sound directional, more to do with making the air couple to the surface efficiently.
Matt Saxey THAT is something I remember nothing about. I will look into it, now. Thanks for the help!
But the induced voltage in the coil will produce a magnetic field that create a force on the string, thus changing its frequency, right? And the string’s altered frequency is still in turn influencing the induced voltage.... I’m a bit confused how the finalized sound would be. (Guess I need to review my physics)
sfdrexj
They’re so small forces, you don’t have to think about it.
The strings is tensioned to 25 pounds average.
I pickup is wound 6-12 thousand times not 500
wow!!! amazing!
I don't think an amp to the string would work. You really do benefit from having 500 turns in the pickup coil.
Copper, nylon or gold can't be used in electric guitars because they're not ferromagnetic materials. Ferromagnetic materials can interact with magnetic fields such as Nickel, Cobalt, Iron..
I think this explanation makes the phenomena too simplified. Basically, the string with ferro materials can be magnetized when it approaches the permanent magnet. But the strength of the induced magnet is not constant but depends on the position. You have better explain using the concept of magnetic circuits. The magnetomotive force (mmf) can be regarded as a constant value because the permanent magnet and the magnetic resistance (reluctance) will be changed depending on the position of the string made by ferromagnetic materials, which results in time-varying the magnetic flux passing through the coil.
...Thousands of turns, not hundreds lol
thickest nylon strings will work, they are wound with brass
I wish my physics teacher was like this
9k turns on that coil. No rock n roll with 500 turns.
nice ending :)
Im just curious. I put my phone speaker in front of my guitar pickup and i could hear the music from the phone on my amplifier. I want to ask why does the guitar pick this sound up? And can it damage something if you put another magnet near a guitar pickup. I would be glad for any answer. :)
I would say the sound of your phone speaker moves the air, which consequently moves the strings.
Then the process will be the same, as in the video.
So, if you hold your strings or take them out, I guess there will be no sound, but I haven't tried.
So on my Less Paul one pick can play my phone speaker and one can't. I have seen a few Bands use this Smashing Pumpkins James Iha used a toy ray gun and I am pretty sure other musicians have. I will leave a link to what I did. Ok so why only one pickup. Also there something called an atomatone. It's a toy that is a synth strip and at the base as speaker that is housed in a little ball que opening and closing cause different compression. Ok so some have an input jack. So is that compression not even registering? Yes I plan on trying it on my pick up when it comes in and pretty much same question on the pickup. A Mike would certainly register, but the other stuff is questionable?
ua-cam.com/video/5Zs7zV5zpK0/v-deo.html ok my cellphone read through a pickup and recorded on a looper. Why does one pick it up but not the other?
Oh don't about why one wasn't working it just dawned it was switched off. That's probably why.
informative n funny
WHAT?!?!?!
5000-9000 turns actually
0:46 500 or 5000?!!
INNOVATION & INITIATIVE Diy
In between 2000 to 15000 turns for single coil -- you pick any number. )))
Biggest humbucker i know -- near 30000 turns.
like for sound effects alone
Tonewood smonewood
Probably already said more like 5k turns.
5000 + turns *
500 turns? I'm thinking more like 8000 turns.... correct me if I'm in outer space.
+David Higginbotham
In between 2000 to 15000 turns for single coil -- you pick any number. )))
Biggest humbucker i know -- near 30000 turns.
wow now i know..before, i thought the sounds came from hell
well, maybe
500 turns? No way thats way too low
3:17 so
Conclusion is...
You can play electric guitar in space
Thats wrong
8000 turns on average in a Strat coil, not 5000 or 500. Source: Pickup winder at Dawgtown. (:
Wow. That's some fine wire. We could check their numbers by building a transformer out of two pickups (one with known N) or by doing a cross-sectional area calculation based on the gauge of the wire and circular packing constraints. Indie lab!
copper strings?
so put acoustic strings on your electric.
yeah... it sounds horrible.
Someone that knows nothing about playing guitar shouldn't have made this video...
Why?
why?
amiracle why?
...the demo lost its way! Thumbs down!