Output? Magnets? Resistance? Inductance? What are pickups all about? What physical properties and materials define their sound? A plethora of viewer questions are answered in this episode of Too Afraid To Ask. #pickup #tata #tooafraidtoask More from CSGuitars: Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/d7b6MY8 Buy CSGuitars Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store Website - www.csguitars.co.uk Contact - colin@csguitars.co.uk
"The physical relationship between the magnetism and electricity" is by far the deepest nerdic erotic trigger I've experienced in YT and some other tubes combined.
As a physicist, I know explaining complex topics in depth can very quickly become very boring; whereas explaining a simplified version might lead to wrong conclusions. I think this was very well balanced - thoroughly explained, but not so much so that someone unfamiliar with the specifics wouldn't understand it
He got the whole stacking of the windings wrong though about causing the sounding different in the magnetic field. As an EE with an emphasis in electromagnetics, I can tell you that it's the distributed capacitance that effects the sound of the pickup with short vs tall wound bobbins, esp into higher impedance amplifier input stages.
"When it sounds right it is right" something new guitarist don't learn fast enough. At least for me, I was basing my pickup height on forum discussions(they know everything🙃) till 3 months ago
I always seem to prefer my pups a bit lower than what is recommended, especially with hot P90's and hot buckers. A good friend of mine wasn't too thrilled with his Epiphone Es-335 (It was a beautiful, well made, high end instrument). The guitar sounded pretty damn good, but the treble dynamics were overly bright and spikey. I took a look at the humbuckers and the previous owner had them sooo close to the strings, I immediately asked to lower them for him and it fixed it right up. Playing with the tone knob can help greatly too.
Actually, most people who obsess over the construction of the guitar are just as obsessive about their pickups. I have no idea where you get the oppinion that they ignore what's generating the signal at all never mind completely.
@@joshuabarron8535 I know what you meant. And those people most assuredly care about the pups, nut, bridge, etc... They probably care more than the people who don't think the guitar itself matters. Besides, if it doesn't matter to you that's ok. But people telling others that it only matters if they think it does, is just self righteousness.
@@ScienceofLoud 🤘🤘💪💪👏👏👏YES INDEED YOU ARE A TRUE UA-cam TREASURE !!! AND.... I AM SUBSCRIBED SINCE MANY YEARS AND THE UA-cam ALGORITHM DOES NOT HELP YOU AT ALL ! SHAME ON YOU "SO CALLED" UA-cam !!! OMG ! You just answered a question I have made to various UA-cam guitar luthier/players like you and nobody never ever cared to read nor answered it !!! I was going to start writing the same question to you having a weird Double Note that happened everytime I hammer-on any strings on some of my guitars specially when practicing WITHOUT an AMPLIFIER. ( BTW, I do not remember if it was more pronounce on the High non wound strings ) So, I happen to have a cheap practice Strat with NO pickups and I just tested it to hear if it has this Double Note problem and .....NOPE ....it does not happen on any string ! I should had noticed this did not happened on my Martín guitar, but I never did !!! Shame on me !!! Duhhhh.... I also called some excellent USA premier luthiers and ALL to my surprise, they said that my problem was " STRATITIS " , which is a different problem for what I have read. So now I ask you .....What is the diference between Stratitis versus Double note problem ? And what if some of my Humbucker guitars also the Double note ISSUE ? What should I do ? Lower all the pickups on the problem Double Note guitars ! Please BE THE ONE THAT DOES A EXPLICIT VIDEO ON THIS ISSUE WITH NO AMP AUDIO EXAMPLES including the STRATITIS ISSUE TOO !!! I am so happy now because of you !!! You are my MASTER LUTHIER FROM NOW ON ! PERIOD !!! THANK YOU AND MANY BLESSINGS TO ALL ps. I hope you get to read my video suggestion ! And sorry for the length of the text !!!
What they don't tell you is that the secret to a good sounding pickup is for the guy winding the pickup needs to hold his mouth a just the right angle, kind of like a guitar playing hitting a high bent note.
It might be helpful to note that Seth Lover, inventor of the far-famed Gibson PAF humbucker, stated that the magnetic field of the permanent magnets in pickups extends upwards into the guitar's strings and MAGNETIZES them. They therefore generate their own mag field, which then penetrates the coil(s) beneath the strings. When any string moves, it necessarily moves its mag field with it, and the part of the field that penetrates the coil(s) below induces a small electrical current in said coil(s). THAT'S YOUR SIGNAL! I, too, used to think that the strings simply disturbed the mag field coming from the permanent magnet, but it isn't so. What IS so that matters is that the pickups WORK!😀
On those PAF pickups, the letters stand for “Patent Applied For”. PAF has really nothing to do with the pickup. It only says that Gibson had applied for a patent on the design of the pickups… a patent long since granted.
@@timmotel5804 I'm a little late, but fundamentally they have a similar sound because their transfer function is similar, much more similar than between transistors and tubes. From an engineering standpoint, germanium transistors may have an elusive quality to their sound due to their inconsistency. The properties of germanium transistors are much less consistent than modern silicon transistors, and their properties change much more with temperature, so devices built with them were temperamental and not two would sound exactly alike - I speak in past tense because they're no longer manufactured and any germanium effects you find now use new old stock parts, so they'll be gone soon. When using germanium, the same unit which sounds great in the summer might be unusable in the winter. Jimi Hendrix was known to keep several fuzz pedals with him to resolve this issue. Fuzz pedals built with germanium also have a lower maximum gain available for the most part because the majority of silicon transistors have higher gain factors than germanium transistors. It's important to remember that the differences between different types of transistors and tubes is only really audible when they're operating nonlinearly (distorting), especially if not using negative feedback in the circuit, otherwise circuits sound the way they do because of how they're designed. People will sell you on all sorts of hocus pocus, but there's nothing magical about germanium transistors - tubes on the other hand offer an appreciable difference in distortion characteristics. If you want to build a silicon fuzz that sounds closer to germanium fuzz circuits try a low gain transistor like 2N4123. You can't directly substitute an NPN transistor like that in a germanium circuit though and would need to find a PNP equivalent.
As someone who works in manufacturing, I appreciate your understanding of the elements and how they interact with each other, as opposed to some people you can tell when they read a paragraph off of the internet and are trying to make it seem like they know it all.
9:00 you can dispense with the touchy-feely woo-woo arguments about hand winding. Perfect machine winding maximizes the interference between adjacent windings at nearly constant intervals and so it creates an exaggerated moire pattern of hot and dead frequencies across the frequency response spectrogram. Imperfect windings "blur" this effect, and the contrast between dead and hot spots on the spectrum is reduced. A highly exaggerated example of this effect can be demonstrated with a "ring filter" effects pedal. There's math behind it.
I didn’t think I would find a 22 minute video about pickups that interesting, but I am happy to admit that I found it extremely well put together and very interesting! Cheers!
Lotta correct info here, but some speculation as well. Stong magnetic pull affects the string harmonics in a way that can make the note timbre sound harsh or nasal. A thinner wire coil has more consistent impedance. The Q is lower, but it also extends into higher frequencies. Some players might interpret that as being less dynamic, but such a coil actually has increased sensitivity and dynamic response depending on how much of it is within the stronger flux lines from the strings. Different core alloys also affect the Q. Even different types of AlNiCo have some effect on the Q, and the permeability of the core alloy affects output as much as the field strength. Finally, the electrical conductivity of the core affects inductance and the high freq roll off from eddy currents. A Nickle cover does slightly roll off the highs, but has no significant effect as a baseplate. A Brass baseplate doesn't have nearly as much effect on tone as a Brass cover. A Steel baseplate slightly increases inductance, and the high permeability draws flux lines down through the coil, as well as reduce the field strength at the top of the poles. There's some confusion about the effect of hand-winding. A more scattered coil is fatter and less efficient, and there's also increased capacitance and semi-shorts to consider as insulation is stretched thin or even cracked. That tends to roll off the highs, and a brighter sounding pickup can be interpreted as sounding "sterile". Pickups hand-wound with the old HF insulation wire tend to have lower capacitance and less semi-short issues than those wound with the old PE wire, and the less dense coil results in weaker lower note harmonics. The way that hits gain stages increases higher freq content-- sometimes interpreted as more dynamic, yet those same players would complain that a coil without any high freq loss may sound sterile? In short, any guitar player might prefer a densely wound coil over a scattered one with random eddy-current losses depending on the inductance and core properties, the guitar it is in, the phase of the moon, etc. Guitar players can be a fickle and naïve bunch. It takes one to know one.
Love every second of this. It's not so much that I was *afraid to ask* but rather, most of it were simply things I had never thought to ask myself before assembling my own guitar just now. Thank you so much!
When it Comes To ANY Thing!Especially Music!Never Be Afraid To ASK!Cause Knowledge,is Empowering😮😃😎❣Stay Open!For Probabilities,for What,You Want To Learn or Do!❣
Great vid, I've recently become interested in how different pickups work. Glad this popped up in my feed. The net gods are obviously listening to my conversations.
It's funny how some seem to "hear" things as they appear or behave in other domains of physics. Ceramic "sounds" more brittle because it can crack. Potted pickups sound less "open" because the wax is closed around it. Light colored wood sounds brighter because it reflects more light.. Machine wound pickups sound more sterile and less "human".. maybe guitars made in Alaska sound "colder" as well.
This is by far the greatest explanation of the various designs in pickup engineering, the materials used, their interactions with each other, thus why each builds sonic properties react the way they do. Finding the right way to define some these complexities, concisely, while keeping easy to follow, is difficult at best. In turn, doing so without getting to far into the weeds that it puts the viewer to sleep, is a feat unto itself. Bravo!
Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!! Most intellectual explanation I have ever heard about how pickups react and how the subtleties effect the sound!!! BRAVO. Thank you for making this video!!!
This is flat out the single best high-level overview of the electromagnetic mechanics of pickup coils on YT (at the time of this writing). Attaboy, Colin. Slàinte à Ameireaga
@@JohnShalamskas This was a beautifully done video. But only understood/deciphered about 80-85% of his plethora of valuable information, due to my hearing issues(I'm almost deaf), and Colin's really thick Scottish/Irish Brogue, my problem, not his. There was a lot of info here to assimilate!! Great video!!
GREAT FRIGGIN VIDEO!!! That cleared up so much confusion I had about pick ups, thanks! I’ve watched so many videos about exactly this end and none of them have been this helpful, appreciate it man!!🤘🤘🤘
8:12 HEY as someone whos job it is to wind coils of wire all day, you are spot on, perfect winding requires alot of effort from a person, we either gotta do it slowly, or not perfectly note i dont work in guitar pickup winding specficially, i work in a wire mill for electrical applications
if you get a vacuum purger you can pump out all the air and make the wax permeate evenly and enhance the potting. Basically, its a pump on a ball valve connected to a piece of half inch lexan cut into the shape of a pot lid, with deforming gasket to make it air tight.
That was a way more complicated subject than I expected. But man I can’t wait to see the finished project. I was *this* close to pulling the trigger on a Fender Dave Murray sig Strat back in the day but passed due to lack of funds.
Seth Lover's original humbucking pickup design had no adjustable pole pieces. They were only added at the request of the sales guys so that they would have a talking point with the Gibson dealers.
4:07 distance of pickup can be adjusted up/down to get the sound you want. 12:19 types of magnets. Split pickup to have lower three versus less pull on higher lighter gauge strings. 16:16 humbucker cell materials affect magnetic field also. Also a little bit by the cover materials material and thickness.
This was absolutely the best, most informative presentation on pickups that I’ve ever seen. Sadly, there are some people in the industry selling pickups for upwards of $600.00 US that don’t know a fraction of what you covered here in a little over twenty minutes. I may never get around to winding my own pickups but the info here is really useful since I build electric guitars and do some modding on factory guitars as well. Thanks for a well prepared and informative presentation!
This was so interesting from beginning to end, thank you Colin! During this video I had flashbacks to my college years 30 years ago for NDT(non destructive testing) of metallurgy class, eddy current/magnetic particle/math classes! Thanks for that trip too! Rock on Bro! :D
"More resistance = more output, less resistance = lower output" Not quite true. More windings equals more output, which happens to also make the DC resistance go up. If your DC resistance goes up because you've used thinner wire, you won't get more output, you'll get less, due to the additional resistance. Great video though. Awesome to see inside all those pickups
Yes! DC resistance is only a first order approximation of what's going on. In a coil, the resistance to current flow increases as the frequency rises. The AC equivalent of resistance is called "impedance" and is also measured in ohms. There is a reactive component to impedance, either inductive or capacitive, which means the voltage and current are out of phase. A stronger magnet increases the impedance. More coil turns increases the impedance and the DC resistance. Smaller wire increases DC resistance.
Just like your accent, I guess the differences in pickups are what make them interesting an worth listening to. Nice video. Thank you for distilling down a complicated subject - there are other UA-cam channels that devote way longer than this episode on one particular aspect of a single kind of pickup and still don't explain it as well as you did.
This goes straight to my UA-cam library "Archive of Most Important Guitar Videos Ever." Your advice on pickup heights was refreshingly straightforward compared to most. I tried to keep records down to 0.1 mm on my changes to pickup heights compared to sounds. All it got me was frustration. Also, this is the first video I've seen that discussed coil geometry vs. sound. Well done.
I'm consistently amazed at just *how much* the sound of guitar gear is reliant on imperfections, or on recreating said imperfections from older versions of the gear, and coils are no different it seems.
Thank you so much for this informative explanation of pick ups. I've always felt bewildered by alot of the words and slang people use to describe how and why different pick ups sound the way they do but this has really set it straight for me. You sir, are awesome.
That's the best video I've ever seen talking about pick ups, you did a tremendous job, on the explanation (the Eddy currents one is 👌) and on the aesthetic. You've become one if not the best guitar technologie popularizer on youtube.
Thank you for a truly remarkable video. You have presented technical information with an impressive breadth and clarity that offers much for viewers having divers backgrounds and interests. I am an older, amateur musician with modest technical training who has experience with a range of amplified string instruments and amplifiers. The video helps me better understand what I have observed and learned experientially over six decades. I have learned that knowledge and experience is often transferable from one field to another in pleasantly surprising ways, such that something recalled from the shop inspires a solution in the office or organization. I sense great application in this video and with be sharing it with friends and family who appreciate work well done. Thanks again!
Question: What happens if the pickup cover is made of brass? or even in the case of the humbucker ring. Just curious how would that affect the sound. I mean, I would guess its supressed to a small degree but does that actually translate to a "finer" sound.
Now I have a much greater appreciation for pickups and their subtle differences! I had no idea there were so many variables involved, all affecting the sound in their own way. Beautifully explained too!
You said about different magnets having different properties, do pickups that have both have a mix of properties, or is it different as there is a much stronger magnetic field?
@@ScienceofLoud yeah, I've seen some pickups that have alnico pole pieces with a ceramic bar below, and others marketed as hybrid pickups with both magnets in?
Thank you Collin, your contribution of knowledge to us guitar players to understand our instrument is an invaluable gift and I for one thank you for your time and effort that you’ve chosen to gift us
I’ve started changing the inlays in the fretboard on all my upgraded guitars. From perfect abalone to simple cream or white clay it makes ALL the difference
Well! You answered questions that I've had for.....oh.... let's see now.......65 years. Around the time when I screwed my first pick up onto my $9 box guitar and lost my mind...... because I had an electric guitar!! And I was just having more fun than any other time in my life!! But after that came the wondering about all of the things that you mentioned. And I've experimented with pickups just by buying different pickups and arranging them differently taking covers off and the up and down with the screws and all that. I figured some stuff out but you cleared up a lot and I really appreciate it I'm going to subscribe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
This video is really winding me up. I think you gave it a nice spin though. There is a magnetic voice that keeps me watching. Not sure what to think yet, it's down to the wire.
Awesome breakdown of the science! I also spotted a whiskey I haven't tried yet in the background. I'll see if I can find some around my area. Anything from the isle of Islay is phenomenal.
Very cool! Before this, all I knew was Single= 60 cycle hum, Humbucker=much less hum. Thank you so very much. I took 3 pages of notes, and though I will never build a pickup, I have a better appreciation of what they really are.
Simply one of the best videos EVER! That was an extraordinarily valuable use of time, which I don't think I've ever said about any other video. THANK YOU for the incredible explanation(s) you provided. AWESOMENESS, seriously just the best!!
Top video, I got the gist why pick ups sound differently. Back to practicing guitar playing and not worrying too much about the sound of my 79 € Harley Benton strat.
I realise I'm over a year late but this is seriously the best fkn explanation of pickups I've heard in 20 years of playing. Great channel. Keep it loud comrade \m/
thanks so much for mentioning "oh just turn up the treble on the amp to make up for a dark-sounding pickup" I mean for a totally clean sound that kinda sorta is a little tiny bit true but once you factor in ANY distortion it is definitely NOT the same thing LOL.
Brilliant. Just Brilliant. I've been considering making my own pups for some time, and now I think I've got a handle on where I want to explore. Thanks man.
On a whim the ever changing UA-cam algorithm decided to push this video, and on a whim I decided to push play, and now I've decided this is the best bang for buck, truthbomb per minute video on UA-cam about pickups,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was super interesting! I feel like it's super useful to know a bit about the instrument you're playing, even if you're not planning on building guitars/pickups yourself. My favourite part was the explanation of how the sound changes with each change, I'm so tempted to grab my guitar and start tweaking the pickup height per string now hahaha
excellent detail and accuracy in this video. Plus the appearance of a bottle of single malt in one of the shots reminded me to enjoy a nip whilst watching. Brilliant!
In noting your talk about the way mics are wound. I had a Yamaha a long time ago and I have never found anything that has ever even came close too having the same sound, that one screamed Perfectly.
Such an awesome video. As an engineer who was curious to understand the inner working of the electric guitar and the nuances between different electric guitars, this video hit all the right spots
Output? Magnets? Resistance? Inductance?
What are pickups all about? What physical properties and materials define their sound? A plethora of viewer questions are answered in this episode of Too Afraid To Ask.
#pickup #tata #tooafraidtoask
More from CSGuitars:
Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars
Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/d7b6MY8
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Website - www.csguitars.co.uk
Contact - colin@csguitars.co.uk
If you did a course on building a pickup from beginning to end I'd be interested in paying for that.
Colin, what was that you were winding that looked like 2 halves of a single coil? Looked interesting.
This was wicked
"The physical relationship between the magnetism and electricity" is by far the deepest nerdic erotic trigger I've experienced in YT and some other tubes combined.
For the love of God - timestamps please
it feels illegal to watch a video this good for free
I'll gladly accept any donations. Thanks for the kind words.
Dude he has a Patreon
@@JuveriSetila yeah video is still free i would give him some cash if i had any tho :d
An ill eagle is a sick bird!
It is. You're under arrest.
As a physicist, I know explaining complex topics in depth can very quickly become very boring; whereas explaining a simplified version might lead to wrong conclusions. I think this was very well balanced - thoroughly explained, but not so much so that someone unfamiliar with the specifics wouldn't understand it
Can you fississists please change that eternal fississist into a proper English word? Fississist is just white noise, I can't stand that word.
He got the whole stacking of the windings wrong though about causing the sounding different in the magnetic field. As an EE with an emphasis in electromagnetics, I can tell you that it's the distributed capacitance that effects the sound of the pickup with short vs tall wound bobbins, esp into higher impedance amplifier input stages.
Why am I tempted to see if I can build an electric forge, heater or motor using guitar pickups after watching this video?
@@voornaam3191 what is proper English though? Each English speaking country has different spelling.
@@indridcold4210
Thanks, now I'm completely confused about everything again, good job.
"When it sounds right it is right" something new guitarist don't learn fast enough. At least for me, I was basing my pickup height on forum discussions(they know everything🙃) till 3 months ago
I always seem to prefer my pups a bit lower than what is recommended, especially with hot P90's and hot buckers. A good friend of mine wasn't too thrilled with his Epiphone Es-335 (It was a beautiful, well made, high end instrument). The guitar sounded pretty damn good, but the treble dynamics were overly bright and spikey. I took a look at the humbuckers and the previous owner had them sooo close to the strings, I immediately asked to lower them for him and it fixed it right up. Playing with the tone knob can help greatly too.
@@Hypersp4ce Not to mention the amp !
People obsess over the types of wood and joints in guitars and completely ignore what’s actually generating the signal.
Such people are "guitarded".
Actually, most people who obsess over the construction of the guitar are just as obsessive about their pickups. I have no idea where you get the oppinion that they ignore what's generating the signal at all never mind completely.
@@Relayer6a I'm talking about people who think tonewood is a thing, not the craftsmanship.
@@joshuabarron8535 I know what you meant. And those people most assuredly care about the pups, nut, bridge, etc... They probably care more than the people who don't think the guitar itself matters.
Besides, if it doesn't matter to you that's ok. But people telling others that it only matters if they think it does, is just self righteousness.
@@Relayer6a whatever
Damn, man! You are a true treasure on UA-cam, so many questions answered over the years; keep it up! Love your work!
Thank you!
@@ScienceofLoud 🤘🤘💪💪👏👏👏YES INDEED YOU ARE A TRUE UA-cam TREASURE !!!
AND.... I AM SUBSCRIBED SINCE MANY YEARS AND THE UA-cam ALGORITHM DOES NOT HELP YOU
AT ALL ! SHAME ON YOU "SO CALLED" UA-cam !!!
OMG ! You just answered a question I have made to various UA-cam guitar luthier/players like you and nobody never ever cared to read nor answered it !!!
I was going to start writing the same question to you having a weird Double Note that happened everytime I hammer-on any strings on some of my guitars specially when practicing WITHOUT an AMPLIFIER.
( BTW, I do not remember if it was more pronounce on the High non wound strings )
So, I happen to have a cheap practice Strat with NO pickups and I just tested it to hear if it has this Double Note problem and .....NOPE ....it does not happen on any string ! I should had noticed this did not happened on my Martín guitar, but I never did !!! Shame on me !!! Duhhhh....
I also called some excellent USA premier luthiers and ALL to my surprise, they said that my problem
was " STRATITIS " , which is a different problem for what I have read.
So now I ask you .....What is the diference between Stratitis versus Double note problem ?
And what if some of my Humbucker guitars also the Double note ISSUE ?
What should I do ?
Lower all the pickups on the problem Double Note guitars !
Please BE THE ONE THAT DOES A EXPLICIT VIDEO ON THIS ISSUE WITH NO AMP AUDIO EXAMPLES including the STRATITIS ISSUE TOO !!!
I am so happy now because of you !!!
You are my MASTER LUTHIER FROM NOW ON ! PERIOD !!!
THANK YOU AND MANY BLESSINGS TO ALL
ps. I hope you get to read my video suggestion !
And sorry for the length of the text !!!
What they don't tell you is that the secret to a good sounding pickup is for the guy winding the pickup needs to hold his mouth a just the right angle, kind of like a guitar playing hitting a high bent note.
The fact that only 240k people are subscribed as I type this is absolutely fkn criminal. Absolute fkn quality.
It might be helpful to note that Seth Lover, inventor of the far-famed Gibson PAF humbucker, stated that the magnetic field of the permanent magnets in pickups extends upwards into the guitar's strings and MAGNETIZES them. They therefore generate their own mag field, which then penetrates the coil(s) beneath the strings. When any string moves, it necessarily moves its mag field with it, and the part of the field that penetrates the coil(s) below induces a small electrical current in said coil(s). THAT'S YOUR SIGNAL! I, too, used to think that the strings simply disturbed the mag field coming from the permanent magnet, but it isn't so. What IS so that matters is that the pickups WORK!😀
Not unless you've got an amp !
@@CitizenSmith50 Shoot, man, these days, you can get a guitar with an amp and a speaker IN THE GUITAR! I wouldn't roll that way, but it's here!
On those PAF pickups, the letters stand for “Patent Applied For”. PAF has really nothing to do with the pickup. It only says that Gibson had applied for a patent on the design of the pickups… a patent long since granted.
Such a breath of fresh air when you finally find the video made by a true expert who is also good at explaining 🙏🏼
Now this is the most solid package of information on peckups i've seen so far, much appreciated.
Colin can you PLEASE do a ‘What’s the Difference’ between Silicon and Germanium transistors in fuzz/boost pedals?
That is a really good request/question. I'd like to know too.
@@timmotel5804 I'm a little late, but fundamentally they have a similar sound because their transfer function is similar, much more similar than between transistors and tubes. From an engineering standpoint, germanium transistors may have an elusive quality to their sound due to their inconsistency. The properties of germanium transistors are much less consistent than modern silicon transistors, and their properties change much more with temperature, so devices built with them were temperamental and not two would sound exactly alike - I speak in past tense because they're no longer manufactured and any germanium effects you find now use new old stock parts, so they'll be gone soon. When using germanium, the same unit which sounds great in the summer might be unusable in the winter. Jimi Hendrix was known to keep several fuzz pedals with him to resolve this issue. Fuzz pedals built with germanium also have a lower maximum gain available for the most part because the majority of silicon transistors have higher gain factors than germanium transistors. It's important to remember that the differences between different types of transistors and tubes is only really audible when they're operating nonlinearly (distorting), especially if not using negative feedback in the circuit, otherwise circuits sound the way they do because of how they're designed. People will sell you on all sorts of hocus pocus, but there's nothing magical about germanium transistors - tubes on the other hand offer an appreciable difference in distortion characteristics. If you want to build a silicon fuzz that sounds closer to germanium fuzz circuits try a low gain transistor like 2N4123. You can't directly substitute an NPN transistor like that in a germanium circuit though and would need to find a PNP equivalent.
@@maudiojunky Thank You. Very informative. Best Regards
As someone who works in manufacturing, I appreciate your understanding of the elements and how they interact with each other, as opposed to some people you can tell when they read a paragraph off of the internet and are trying to make it seem like they know it all.
9:00 you can dispense with the touchy-feely woo-woo arguments about hand winding. Perfect machine winding maximizes the interference between adjacent windings at nearly constant intervals and so it creates an exaggerated moire pattern of hot and dead frequencies across the frequency response spectrogram. Imperfect windings "blur" this effect, and the contrast between dead and hot spots on the spectrum is reduced. A highly exaggerated example of this effect can be demonstrated with a "ring filter" effects pedal. There's math behind it.
The information density in this video is so high, I had to watch it twice.
I didn’t think I would find a 22 minute video about pickups that interesting, but I am happy to admit that I found it extremely well put together and very interesting! Cheers!
Spot on, good graphics, well produced video, excellent summary! Information is well written and very correct.
0:37 Thanks for using the term "plethora", it really means a lot to me.
Brilliant, simply brilliant! University quality Pickup course 101. I’m ready to enroll in Pickups 201.
Lotta correct info here, but some speculation as well.
Stong magnetic pull affects the string harmonics in a way that can make the note timbre sound harsh or nasal.
A thinner wire coil has more consistent impedance. The Q is lower, but it also extends into higher frequencies. Some players might interpret that as being less dynamic, but such a coil actually has increased sensitivity and dynamic response depending on how much of it is within the stronger flux lines from the strings.
Different core alloys also affect the Q. Even different types of AlNiCo have some effect on the Q, and the permeability of the core alloy affects output as much as the field strength. Finally, the electrical conductivity of the core affects inductance and the high freq roll off from eddy currents.
A Nickle cover does slightly roll off the highs, but has no significant effect as a baseplate. A Brass baseplate doesn't have nearly as much effect on tone as a Brass cover. A Steel baseplate slightly increases inductance, and the high permeability draws flux lines down through the coil, as well as reduce the field strength at the top of the poles.
There's some confusion about the effect of hand-winding. A more scattered coil is fatter and less efficient, and there's also increased capacitance and semi-shorts to consider as insulation is stretched thin or even cracked. That tends to roll off the highs, and a brighter sounding pickup can be interpreted as sounding "sterile". Pickups hand-wound with the old HF insulation wire tend to have lower capacitance and less semi-short issues than those wound with the old PE wire, and the less dense coil results in weaker lower note harmonics. The way that hits gain stages increases higher freq content-- sometimes interpreted as more dynamic, yet those same players would complain that a coil without any high freq loss may sound sterile?
In short, any guitar player might prefer a densely wound coil over a scattered one with random eddy-current losses depending on the inductance and core properties, the guitar it is in, the phase of the moon, etc. Guitar players can be a fickle and naïve bunch. It takes one to know one.
Love every second of this. It's not so much that I was *afraid to ask* but rather, most of it were simply things I had never thought to ask myself before assembling my own guitar just now. Thank you so much!
When it Comes To ANY Thing!Especially Music!Never Be Afraid To ASK!Cause Knowledge,is Empowering😮😃😎❣Stay Open!For Probabilities,for What,You Want To Learn or Do!❣
Can't believe these videos are free to watch, the amount of knowledge you put into these is amazing, great work as usual Colin.
Great vid, I've recently become interested in how different pickups work. Glad this popped up in my feed. The net gods are obviously listening to my conversations.
It's funny how some seem to "hear" things as they appear or behave in other domains of physics. Ceramic "sounds" more brittle because it can crack. Potted pickups sound less "open" because the wax is closed around it. Light colored wood sounds brighter because it reflects more light.. Machine wound pickups sound more sterile and less "human".. maybe guitars made in Alaska sound "colder" as well.
Now do valve rectifiers being 'spongy' and spring reverb being 'drippy'.
I'd like to know what makes some pickups have a midrange "honk" so I can stay away from them.
Great video btw, I'm subscribed.
"onomatopoeia" is what that is called. brittle shiver bounce slap all onomatopoeias.
This is by far the greatest explanation of the various designs in pickup engineering, the materials used, their interactions with each other, thus why each builds sonic properties react the way they do. Finding the right way to define some these complexities, concisely, while keeping easy to follow, is difficult at best. In turn, doing so without getting to far into the weeds that it puts the viewer to sleep, is a feat unto itself. Bravo!
Laphroaig 10? You are truly a man of taste
Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!! Most intellectual explanation I have ever heard about how pickups react and how the subtleties effect the sound!!! BRAVO. Thank you for making this video!!!
This is flat out the single best high-level overview of the electromagnetic mechanics of pickup coils on YT (at the time of this writing). Attaboy, Colin. Slàinte à Ameireaga
*watches whole video
**googles “what is a peckup?”
But seriously love these videos, great content 😂
Nice comment, part of the charm of his videos. Somehow makes them more interesting, I certainly have to listen a little closer.
It reminds me of Mr. Scott on Star Trek. "The engines canna take much more of this, Captain! Ach, my poor wee bairns!"
@@JohnShalamskas This was a beautifully done video. But only understood/deciphered about 80-85% of his plethora of valuable information, due to my hearing issues(I'm almost deaf), and Colin's really thick Scottish/Irish Brogue, my problem, not his. There was a lot of info here to assimilate!! Great video!!
"peckup", "sund", "defferent"... I've never heard this accent before and I really got curious where it comes from. I couldn't identify at all.
Wee Scotland🏴....... hearts desire💜
This was the best, lightly scientific, lightly mathematical explanation of guitar pickups and how they work I have ever watched. Well done!!
GREAT FRIGGIN VIDEO!!! That cleared up so much confusion I had about pick ups, thanks! I’ve watched so many videos about exactly this end and none of them have been this helpful, appreciate it man!!🤘🤘🤘
8:12 HEY as someone whos job it is to wind coils of wire all day, you are spot on, perfect winding requires alot of effort from a person, we either gotta do it slowly, or not perfectly
note i dont work in guitar pickup winding specficially, i work in a wire mill for electrical applications
I guess I did it backwards, changing pups before knowing the science. Either way, thanks again colin!
if you get a vacuum purger you can pump out all the air and make the wax permeate evenly and enhance the potting. Basically, its a pump on a ball valve connected to a piece of half inch lexan cut into the shape of a pot lid, with deforming gasket to make it air tight.
That was a way more complicated subject than I expected. But man I can’t wait to see the finished project. I was *this* close to pulling the trigger on a Fender Dave Murray sig Strat back in the day but passed due to lack of funds.
The information you just shared was overwhelming in the amount coming at us so fast ... I have just one thing to say ... WOW!
Seth Lover's original humbucking pickup design had no adjustable pole pieces. They were only added at the request of the sales guys so that they would have a talking point with the Gibson dealers.
4:07 distance of pickup can be adjusted up/down to get the sound you want. 12:19 types of magnets. Split pickup to have lower three versus less pull on higher lighter gauge strings. 16:16 humbucker cell materials affect magnetic field also. Also a little bit by the cover materials material and thickness.
DISCORD NOTIFICATION SQUAAAAAAADDDDDDDD
SQUAAAAAD
SQUAD!
This was absolutely the best, most informative presentation on pickups that I’ve ever seen. Sadly, there are some people in the industry selling pickups for upwards of $600.00 US that don’t know a fraction of what you covered here in a little over twenty minutes. I may never get around to winding my own pickups but the info here is really useful since I build electric guitars and do some modding on factory guitars as well. Thanks for a well prepared and informative presentation!
By far the best gear youtube channel: great animations, great (and scientific!!) explanation and great fun!
I've learned so much more in the last 15 minutes than I have in years! Tysm!
This is my favourite video you’ve done. I love this shit.
Wow! This was one helluva video. Although a lot was over my head, I did learn a lot about the basics. Well done mate. Well presented video👍
This was so interesting from beginning to end, thank you Colin! During this video I had flashbacks to my college years 30 years ago for NDT(non destructive testing) of metallurgy class, eddy current/magnetic particle/math classes! Thanks for that trip too! Rock on Bro! :D
OMG, this is possibly the BEST electric guitar-related video that has ever been made. SO MANY questions answered.
"More resistance = more output, less resistance = lower output"
Not quite true. More windings equals more output, which happens to also make the DC resistance go up.
If your DC resistance goes up because you've used thinner wire, you won't get more output, you'll get less, due to the additional resistance.
Great video though. Awesome to see inside all those pickups
Yes! DC resistance is only a first order approximation of what's going on. In a coil, the resistance to current flow increases as the frequency rises. The AC equivalent of resistance is called "impedance" and is also measured in ohms. There is a reactive component to impedance, either inductive or capacitive, which means the voltage and current are out of phase. A stronger magnet increases the impedance. More coil turns increases the impedance and the DC resistance. Smaller wire increases DC resistance.
Dude. This was incredibly helpful getting past that final step in setting up for thicker strings. Thank you.
Not going to lie I half heartedly came into this video but after the first couple minutes I was hooked
Just like your accent, I guess the differences in pickups are what make them interesting an worth listening to. Nice video. Thank you for distilling down a complicated subject - there are other UA-cam channels that devote way longer than this episode on one particular aspect of a single kind of pickup and still don't explain it as well as you did.
I think it would be fun to watch you and ElectroBOOM build a low-wattage valve guitar amplifier together 🤘
Best pickup explanation on UA-cam. It all makes sense now. Makes me want to try my hand at winding my own.
I think I've finally gotten used to short heard Colin
"Whats heavier? A kilogram of Steel, or a kilogram of feathers? The Answer is a kilogram of Steel, because Steel is heavier than feathers"
A kg of steel is heavier because it's denser, therefore has less upthrust.
They weigh the same. A kilogram is a kilogram regardless the matter’s substance
This goes straight to my UA-cam library "Archive of Most Important Guitar Videos Ever." Your advice on pickup heights was refreshingly straightforward compared to most. I tried to keep records down to 0.1 mm on my changes to pickup heights compared to sounds. All it got me was frustration. Also, this is the first video I've seen that discussed coil geometry vs. sound. Well done.
I'm consistently amazed at just *how much* the sound of guitar gear is reliant on imperfections, or on recreating said imperfections from older versions of the gear, and coils are no different it seems.
Thank you so much for this informative explanation of pick ups. I've always felt bewildered by alot of the words and slang people use to describe how and why different pick ups sound the way they do but this has really set it straight for me. You sir, are awesome.
That's the best video I've ever seen talking about pick ups, you did a tremendous job, on the explanation (the Eddy currents one is 👌) and on the aesthetic. You've become one if not the best guitar technologie popularizer on youtube.
Thank you for a truly remarkable video. You have presented technical information with an impressive breadth and clarity that offers much for viewers having divers backgrounds and interests. I am an older, amateur musician with modest technical training who has experience with a range of amplified string instruments and amplifiers. The video helps me better understand what I have observed and learned experientially over six decades. I have learned that knowledge and experience is often transferable from one field to another in pleasantly surprising ways, such that something recalled from the shop inspires a solution in the office or organization. I sense great application in this video and with be sharing it with friends and family who appreciate work well done. Thanks again!
Question: What happens if the pickup cover is made of brass? or even in the case of the humbucker ring. Just curious how would that affect the sound. I mean, I would guess its supressed to a small degree but does that actually translate to a "finer" sound.
Now I have a much greater appreciation for pickups and their subtle differences! I had no idea there were so many variables involved, all affecting the sound in their own way. Beautifully explained too!
You said about different magnets having different properties, do pickups that have both have a mix of properties, or is it different as there is a much stronger magnetic field?
I'm not sure I understand what you are asking. Can you detail your question a bit further for me?
@@ScienceofLoud yeah, I've seen some pickups that have alnico pole pieces with a ceramic bar below, and others marketed as hybrid pickups with both magnets in?
@5:01 "Use your ears!" Amen! Love it.
I know you don't make guitars anymore. And I think that if you made pickups that would be really awesome. I know I'd buy some.
Greight video! Thanks for taking the time to explain the fundamentals of pickups, has filled in some gaps in my knowledge, for which I am grateful.
I wonder if anyone could tell the difference between machine-wound and hand-wound pickups in a blind test
No. It’s a wallet thing!
..Wondered the same as well..
Thank you Collin, your contribution of knowledge to us guitar players to understand our instrument is an invaluable gift and I for one thank you for your time and effort that you’ve chosen to gift us
I’m only 4 minutes in and this video is bomb. 😎
That's a lot of information. Thanks for sharing. 17 more listens and I'll begin to understand this.
I’ve started changing the inlays in the fretboard on all my upgraded guitars. From perfect abalone to simple cream or white clay it makes ALL the difference
Well!
You answered questions that I've had for.....oh.... let's see now.......65 years. Around the time when I screwed my first pick up onto my $9 box guitar and lost my mind...... because I had an electric guitar!! And I was just having more fun than any other time in my life!!
But after that came the wondering about all of the things that you mentioned. And I've experimented with pickups just by buying different pickups and arranging them differently taking covers off and the up and down with the screws and all that. I figured some stuff out but you cleared up a lot and I really appreciate it I'm going to subscribe.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
17:39 Sidenote: I see you drink Laphroaig as well? You sir, have very good taste in whiskey.
I like how people overthink too much about these stuff and how perfectionist about these stuff but then they play through 10 pedals
DISCHORD SQUAAAD
Exactly what I was looking for, thanks! So many videos with no clear explanation of pickup height. Yours clears it all up.
This video is really winding me up. I think you gave it a nice spin though. There is a magnetic voice that keeps me watching. Not sure what to think yet, it's down to the wire.
I gave this comment a dislike
U pun'ce of shit
Awesome breakdown of the science! I also spotted a whiskey I haven't tried yet in the background. I'll see if I can find some around my area. Anything from the isle of Islay is phenomenal.
so many questions answered in one 20 minute video by a scotsman.. thanx man.. from a geordie.
Very cool! Before this, all I knew was Single= 60 cycle hum, Humbucker=much less hum. Thank you so very much. I took 3 pages of notes, and though I will never build a pickup, I have a better appreciation of what they really are.
Induction.
By far my favorite theory of electricity. I am a lifelong career electrician. This video is very well put together, nice work man!!
Learned a lot here. Things I'd never thought about, would never have asked about, now I know... Cheers.
Lookup magnetic permeability. Non ferous materials are generally nearly exactly the same as air.
Simply one of the best videos EVER! That was an extraordinarily valuable use of time, which I don't think I've ever said about any other video. THANK YOU for the incredible explanation(s) you provided. AWESOMENESS, seriously just the best!!
Top video, I got the gist why pick ups sound differently. Back to practicing guitar playing and not worrying too much about the sound of my 79 € Harley Benton strat.
I realise I'm over a year late but this is seriously the best fkn explanation of pickups I've heard in 20 years of playing. Great channel. Keep it loud comrade \m/
thanks so much for mentioning "oh just turn up the treble on the amp to make up for a dark-sounding pickup" I mean for a totally clean sound that kinda sorta is a little tiny bit true but once you factor in ANY distortion it is definitely NOT the same thing LOL.
Absolutely the best pup video I’ve ever watched and just makes me want to try winding my own even more.
Brilliant. Just Brilliant. I've been considering making my own pups for some time, and now I think I've got a handle on where I want to explore. Thanks man.
On a whim the ever changing UA-cam algorithm decided to push this video, and on a whim I decided to push play, and now I've decided this is the best bang for buck, truthbomb per minute video on UA-cam about pickups,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was super interesting! I feel like it's super useful to know a bit about the instrument you're playing, even if you're not planning on building guitars/pickups yourself. My favourite part was the explanation of how the sound changes with each change, I'm so tempted to grab my guitar and start tweaking the pickup height per string now hahaha
20:40 That guitar with a built in metalzone pedal is awesome!
One of the best, if not THE best explanations of pick design and operation. Many many thanks.
What a great video, I understood things I didn’t expect to understand. Subscribed.
Wow … What an education … absolute GOLD - Thank you so much 🙏
Wow, very good video. Very accurate. One of the best pickup videos I've seen.
Fantastic video. Thank you Colin for being one of the very few people to post truly intelligent content about electric guitars on UA-cam.
excellent detail and accuracy in this video. Plus the appearance of a bottle of single malt in one of the shots reminded me to enjoy a nip whilst watching. Brilliant!
Fantastic - best ‘what is a pick up and what makes it tick’ video I’ve ever seen. Thank you for making such an interesting video!
This the best video on pickups on the entire world wide web. ❤
In noting your talk about the way mics are wound.
I had a Yamaha a long time ago and I have never found anything
that has ever even came close too having the same sound, that
one screamed Perfectly.
Such an awesome video. As an engineer who was curious to understand the inner working of the electric guitar and the nuances between different electric guitars, this video hit all the right spots