Great advice. As a guitarist with over thirty-five years in the quest for the ultimate tone, I've had my trials and tribulations. I've learned that high output and low output doesn't always tell you everything about a pickup. What I go for is balance. For instance, one of my favorite pickups of all time is the Duncan Custom. It's medium output, but I find it has more bite to it than the substantially higher output JB or Distortion. I find it to be very well defined. What I love even more are the other Duncan Customs, such as the Custom Custom, made with an Alnico II mag, and the Custom 5, made with an Alnico 5 mag. I find these three pups pretty much cover the bases. But my main pickup these days is the Duncan Full Shred. I find it not only has enough punch and tightness for rhythm, but it's an exquisite sounding lead pickup. And it's medium output. What I realized in the 80s when I was still a young guitarist is that amps were being produced that had so much onboard distortion that high output pickups actually sounded terrible in a lot of instances. No longer did you need a high output pickup like a DiMarzio Super Distortion, X2N, Bill Lawrence, or Duncan Invader to get a lot of crunch and sizzle. All you needed was the right interaction between a pickup and the amp. You have to ask yourself what sort of dynamics you want from a pickup. If you have an SG and you want that SG tone to shine through, stick with medium to vintage output. If you don't care about keeping a little twang you can go right ahead and pop in some EMGs or a Duncan Invader, Distortion, etc, and get a great metal tone, but you will lose the thing that makes that guitar sound special. The right pickup, guitar, and amp combo can give you the ultimate sound, and changing any component of the holy trinity of tone can really throw it off.
i just started making pickups and i would be friggin' lost(er) without tthis channel. i almost feel like i've cheated by getting to learn this stuff from your channel. i've been playing for 40 years, building guitars for 1, and now making my own pickups. thanks man.
Bill Lawrence said that estimating a pickup's output by looking at DC resistance is like trying to judge a person's intelligence by looking at their shoe size. And yet manufacturers persist in quoting "outputs" in kiloohms, presumably so the guitar-buying public can feel like they are exercising some expertise in choosing a pickup. You've only got to look at the classic combination of Seymour Duncan JB bridge (16.6k) and Jazz neck (7.5k) to know that the DC resistance measurements on their own are barely relevant. Unless you know wire gauges and magnet strengths, you might as well choose a pickup by how much it weighs. I wish manufacturers would just stop quoting the DC numbers altogether.
I find that DiMarzio tend to focus on millivolts rather than DC resistance as it sounds more dramatic. That is, the difference between one pickup and another being one hundred millivolts sounds a lot more dramatic than a DC resistance differential of 5. The Super Distortion is rated at 13 in DC and 425 in millivolts, while the much hotter Super 3 has a DC resistance of 25 but is only ten millivolts higher than the Super D at 435. It's the 25 DC resistance that makes the difference with this pup, and perhaps the wire used.
Wow. Thank you! Now I understand what's going on. I have a Peavey guitar, and just love the pickups (and the roll-off tweek'd) controls. The neck pick up is 7.39, yet it rings like a bell at all volumes. My Tele has Humbucker in the neck that's 12.25 and sounds muddy.
Great video and easy to follow too. The information about voicing pickups (if that is the right term) for the intended use was excellent. Thanks a million
You'll get a huge difference too, between a bar magnet and pole pieces magnets with the same pickup with still Alnico V type. I experimented that with my humbucker, with pole piece magnets oriented South on one side of the coil and North on the other coil. The pickup tends to sound less powerful and results in a brighter sound, but it also cancels hum better.
Your blog is much appreciated, thanks. You have the natural teachers' knack of making things clear. Can you help with this? My signal path has tone controls everywhere; guitar, all the pedals and the amp. How do I set them up best to work together?
Hi dylan, u talk about 4 criteria to choose a pickup. I think this can be engineered by setting the eq. However, in one video , u said that reason to change pickup is clarity, dynamics, definition, etc. CMIIW
Fantastic channel. Quick, maybe not easy, question. Is there a very general rule or guide for the wire size vs magnetic field in terms of effect on sound? Seems like 4 main options to me - weak magnet with 42 vs 43 and strong magnet with 42 vs 43. If we assume the same resistance on the wind how might the tone change one way or the other with the different gauge/magnet combos? Is there a certain amount of winds before this takes effect? Like is there a certain size/amount of winds where 42 gauge wire will start to get to the edge of the magnetic field on an A2 magnet for example? I'm very curious about all this as I've had some real struggles getting the sounds I'm after out of different guitars, and every seller/builder tends to provide random different specs. Thanks!
I have alumatones in 2 guitars. I think one has like 3.4 on both and one has 3.4 neck and 7 something on the bridge. The 7 something has a pretty high output (its a deathbucker) the 3.4 has plenty of output like maybe a 59
Do you know how Dimarzio gets their output number then? the PAF Pro for example have a output of 300. I Have a modded Dimarzio humbucker that i would like to measure the output on and compare it to other Dimarzio pickups.
Dylan How You Doing? My Name Is Jose Listen Man a Question So Thee Fender Yosemite Pickups are 8K Pickups with RWRP ahh Thee Henries Read 3.6 3.8 3.4 And On Thee New Fender Pure Vintage 1973 Pickups With RWRP Thee Pickups are 5.6 k with 2.8 Henries 2.6 and 2.4 What is Thee Difference Between Inductance And Output
Thanks, I've seen a lot of videos on this plus I've wound some, I'm building a telecaster and stuck on what pickup configuration to give it like a mini humbucker / rails/ and there's one that doesn't use magnets really confusing. I'm going to carve the body with mermaids and dragons so that can't start untill I make my damn mind up ha ha, oh well, I did buy a Tele set on eBay for 12 dollars and fraylin had a set for 220 I'm thinking one is overwound is it worth it it's just wire one with a little more. I have wire and was thinking about just removing the wire from the cheap one and just sit here and fill it up without counting, by hand that's less hassle. I wound one once with 42 and in the middle soldered 43 to it and that's taxing and tape , that's dingbatz. But it was fun. I should just coil spoilt some store bought and forget about it. I do like the sound of single coils, but wonder how close splitting gets. Thanks for the video great information.
hey man, thanks for the content, really appreciated. Can you tell me more or less what am I looking for if I want to control my clean/drive/fuzz with the guitar volume knob, have a more dynamic response with analog pedals and etc... I believe is about low output, but how that translates to specs, thinking of tele pickups for instance? Thanks a million beforehand.
Hey quick question, I rewound a 1978 strat pickup, using 42 non coated.I got an output of 3.65k somehow . I did not count winds as i basically used a drill. It works and seems to sound pretty good to me. Only thing I figure that maybe gave it low DCR is the tension i put on the wire as it wound, being that I couldn’t have fit much more on the bobbin. Would like to know your opinion, maybe I should rewind it with 43 awg? Idk what to do or if I should just roll with it and see if I like it.
Hi Dylan, great video! I have a question..will an 11K pickup with a ceramic magnet be louder than an Alnico V pickup with 15K? for example your 8 ball humbucker, would it be louder than or as loud as the iron gear Hot Slag (15.3k, Alnico V Magnet, 44awg wire) that exists in my strat? Im thinking of changing it, the output is great and it matches well with my single coils however it does muddy up when I roll it back and i'd like a better quality pickup with good quality materials. Thanks
I wanted to buy the stewmac guitar workstation at end of video, I ended up donation $5000 to Donald Trump. I will use covid stimulus #5 for stewmac now. Yeeeee Haaaaaaawwww.
Great advice. As a guitarist with over thirty-five years in the quest for the ultimate tone, I've had my trials and tribulations. I've learned that high output and low output doesn't always tell you everything about a pickup. What I go for is balance. For instance, one of my favorite pickups of all time is the Duncan Custom. It's medium output, but I find it has more bite to it than the substantially higher output JB or Distortion. I find it to be very well defined. What I love even more are the other Duncan Customs, such as the Custom Custom, made with an Alnico II mag, and the Custom 5, made with an Alnico 5 mag. I find these three pups pretty much cover the bases. But my main pickup these days is the Duncan Full Shred. I find it not only has enough punch and tightness for rhythm, but it's an exquisite sounding lead pickup. And it's medium output. What I realized in the 80s when I was still a young guitarist is that amps were being produced that had so much onboard distortion that high output pickups actually sounded terrible in a lot of instances. No longer did you need a high output pickup like a DiMarzio Super Distortion, X2N, Bill Lawrence, or Duncan Invader to get a lot of crunch and sizzle. All you needed was the right interaction between a pickup and the amp. You have to ask yourself what sort of dynamics you want from a pickup. If you have an SG and you want that SG tone to shine through, stick with medium to vintage output. If you don't care about keeping a little twang you can go right ahead and pop in some EMGs or a Duncan Invader, Distortion, etc, and get a great metal tone, but you will lose the thing that makes that guitar sound special. The right pickup, guitar, and amp combo can give you the ultimate sound, and changing any component of the holy trinity of tone can really throw it off.
i just started making pickups and i would be friggin' lost(er) without tthis channel. i almost feel like i've cheated by getting to learn this stuff from your channel. i've been playing for 40 years, building guitars for 1, and now making my own pickups. thanks man.
Bill Lawrence said that estimating a pickup's output by looking at DC resistance is like trying to judge a person's intelligence by looking at their shoe size. And yet manufacturers persist in quoting "outputs" in kiloohms, presumably so the guitar-buying public can feel like they are exercising some expertise in choosing a pickup.
You've only got to look at the classic combination of Seymour Duncan JB bridge (16.6k) and Jazz neck (7.5k) to know that the DC resistance measurements on their own are barely relevant. Unless you know wire gauges and magnet strengths, you might as well choose a pickup by how much it weighs. I wish manufacturers would just stop quoting the DC numbers altogether.
Exactly
I find that DiMarzio tend to focus on millivolts rather than DC resistance as it sounds more dramatic. That is, the difference between one pickup and another being one hundred millivolts sounds a lot more dramatic than a DC resistance differential of 5. The Super Distortion is rated at 13 in DC and 425 in millivolts, while the much hotter Super 3 has a DC resistance of 25 but is only ten millivolts higher than the Super D at 435. It's the 25 DC resistance that makes the difference with this pup, and perhaps the wire used.
Thank for making these videos and sharing all this information about pickups. I found it really useful!
This is a huge help! I'm about to have a custom made pickups for my strat.
Thanks, Dylan!
Wow. Thank you! Now I understand what's going on. I have a Peavey guitar, and just love the pickups (and the roll-off tweek'd) controls. The neck pick up is 7.39, yet it rings like a bell at all volumes. My Tele has Humbucker in the neck that's 12.25 and sounds muddy.
I really enjoy watching your videos. You always do a great job of explaining things to "scientifically-challenged" people such as me. Thanks!
Excellent video with so much useful information!
Thank you, this was a really helpful video and gave me a lot to think about.
Great video and easy to follow too.
The information about voicing pickups (if that is the right term) for the intended use was excellent.
Thanks a million
this is great. all your videos are greatly appreciated
Great explanation!
I believe it's the increased series coil inductance that creates more high end roll off not the capacitance of the windings.
Very helpful and informative. Thanks a lot.
You'll get a huge difference too, between a bar magnet and pole pieces magnets with the same pickup with still Alnico V type. I experimented that with my humbucker, with pole piece magnets oriented South on one side of the coil and North on the other coil. The pickup tends to sound less powerful and results in a brighter sound, but it also cancels hum better.
Your blog is much appreciated, thanks. You have the natural teachers' knack of making things clear. Can you help with this? My signal path has tone controls everywhere; guitar, all the pedals and the amp. How do I set them up best to work together?
Excellent video! Thank you, Dylan.
Great stuff!
Hi dylan, u talk about 4 criteria to choose a pickup. I think this can be engineered by setting the eq. However, in one video , u said that reason to change pickup is clarity, dynamics, definition, etc. CMIIW
Fantastic channel. Quick, maybe not easy, question. Is there a very general rule or guide for the wire size vs magnetic field in terms of effect on sound? Seems like 4 main options to me - weak magnet with 42 vs 43 and strong magnet with 42 vs 43. If we assume the same resistance on the wind how might the tone change one way or the other with the different gauge/magnet combos? Is there a certain amount of winds before this takes effect? Like is there a certain size/amount of winds where 42 gauge wire will start to get to the edge of the magnetic field on an A2 magnet for example? I'm very curious about all this as I've had some real struggles getting the sounds I'm after out of different guitars, and every seller/builder tends to provide random different specs. Thanks!
I have alumatones in 2 guitars. I think one has like 3.4 on both and one has 3.4 neck and 7 something on the bridge. The 7 something has a pretty high output (its a deathbucker) the 3.4 has plenty of output like maybe a 59
Would it be possible to make a video on how to install a tone capsule on a bass that have a blend and a volume on a stack pot plz thanx in advance
Been trying to understand why my Duncan designed hb103 at 16k output has less volume than by burstbucker pro at 8k. I think this helps.
When I test a 14-15k it reads 13.85. When I test a 6k it reads 5.50 Why does it test lower than it say's it is? This was a great learning video.
Temperature
thanks...this helped alot...
Is output linearly (or so) related to volume?
Do you know how Dimarzio gets their output number then? the PAF Pro for example have a output of 300. I Have a modded Dimarzio humbucker that i would like to measure the output on and compare it to other Dimarzio pickups.
Hi I have Gretsch guitar G2655TG p90 on neck 8.94 k on bridge Broad Tron BT 2s 9.19 k I can put on neck Seymour Duncan Stack 21k
0:25 eek, I wish the decimals lined up!
Daniel Skrivan lol!
Dylan How You Doing? My Name Is Jose Listen Man a Question So Thee Fender Yosemite Pickups are 8K Pickups with RWRP ahh Thee Henries Read 3.6 3.8 3.4 And On Thee New Fender Pure Vintage 1973 Pickups With RWRP Thee Pickups are 5.6 k with 2.8 Henries 2.6 and 2.4 What is Thee Difference Between Inductance And Output
Please consider that there is a difference between the resistance of a conductor and the impedance of a coil.
Editing your comment to sound smarter I see… should I wait longer for you to edit again?
@@DylanTalksTone Yes, I realized I was been impolite so I edited one (I hope) final time.
What is the difference between a P90 and P60 Humbucker pickup? I want a really warm deep bluesy sound.
Thanks, I've seen a lot of videos on this plus I've wound some, I'm building a telecaster and stuck on what pickup configuration to give it like a mini humbucker / rails/ and there's one that doesn't use magnets really confusing. I'm going to carve the body with mermaids and dragons so that can't start untill I make my damn mind up ha ha, oh well, I did buy a Tele set on eBay for 12 dollars and fraylin had a set for 220 I'm thinking one is overwound is it worth it it's just wire one with a little more. I have wire and was thinking about just removing the wire from the cheap one and just sit here and fill it up without counting, by hand that's less hassle. I wound one once with 42 and in the middle soldered 43 to it and that's taxing and tape , that's dingbatz. But it was fun. I should just coil spoilt some store bought and forget about it. I do like the sound of single coils, but wonder how close splitting gets. Thanks for the video great information.
Why is resistance higher for a smaller coil?
hey man, thanks for the content, really appreciated. Can you tell me more or less what am I looking for if I want to control my clean/drive/fuzz with the guitar volume knob, have a more dynamic response with analog pedals and etc... I believe is about low output, but how that translates to specs, thinking of tele pickups for instance? Thanks a million beforehand.
So what do you do when the answer to all of those proposed questions is pretty much “yes”
Hey quick question, I rewound a 1978 strat pickup, using 42 non coated.I got an output of 3.65k somehow . I did not count winds as i basically used a drill. It works and seems to sound pretty good to me. Only thing I figure that maybe gave it low DCR is the tension i put on the wire as it wound, being that I couldn’t have fit much more on the bobbin. Would like to know your opinion, maybe I should rewind it with 43 awg? Idk what to do or if I should just roll with it and see if I like it.
what different ,they are same pickup?
Louisville cardinal hat?
Hi Dylan, great video! I have a question..will an 11K pickup with a ceramic magnet be louder than an Alnico V pickup with 15K? for example your 8 ball humbucker, would it be louder than or as loud as the iron gear Hot Slag (15.3k, Alnico V Magnet, 44awg wire) that exists in my strat? Im thinking of changing it, the output is great and it matches well with my single coils however it does muddy up when I roll it back and i'd like a better quality pickup with good quality materials. Thanks
The louder - the muddier. Try using treble bleed circuit with existing pickup, chances are you'll like it
I'M SO CORNFUSED ! ............................. THINK I'LL TAKE UP ACCORDIAN.
The more you know*
I have been tossing around the idea of putting a variable resistor inline with a pickup to raise or lower resistance. Possible?
I wanted to buy the stewmac guitar workstation at end of video, I ended up donation $5000 to Donald Trump. I will use covid stimulus #5 for stewmac now. Yeeeee Haaaaaaawwww.