5 Stupid Pickup Myths
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
- Here are some of the Mythbusting Pickups We talked about today
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Dylan Talks Tone Recieves Commision From Some Of These Links - Hudba
I mean the JB jr in the video... sorry I misspoke On that
Please Dylan, do the Alnico and Ceramic differences video.
Dylan, there's this one thing one been thinking about and couldn't find it in the webs: a given pickup+ pot + cap setup sets a specific resonance peak. A different piece in this combo means a different result in resonance peak. Ok. But does this actually mean that it CHANGES as you sweep the pot?
I just heard that part, and thought, wait..
The Duncan Distortion is a ceramic magnet, and basically a hotter JB (or so it said on their website when I bought a JB)
Magnet decay is real, but not in 70 years as far as I know unless there are extreme things happening to that magnet to get it to lose remanence, like it being exposed to rogue strong magnetic fields, or like really vast temperature changes(Yep you covered them), I mean there is literally no guide in science to predict the half life of a magnet its not like Radioactivity where you can measure it specifically, so in another couple hundred years we may need to talk about it but the question then would be how many Tesla did it lose over a couple hundred years I would bet it is a very slight difference.
Pickups well guitar playing is weird when it comes to quantifying "Tone", Pickups are designed and are a sum of all the parts that go into it, I kind of stick to saying the Tone is from you to the speaker and its a sum of all the parts, if your tone sucks figure out where specifically it needs alteration, but I strongly object that there is bad Tone, just bad placement. Some of the most famous songs in rock and roll history had bad tone when taken in isolation, on its own, but as part of the whole and why it was used to get the overall sound and effect that is needed it ends up an amazing combination and thus doesn't suck.
@@haveagoodone5830 The peak level (detemined by the cable Capacitance) drops and shifts slightly down as the tone knob is turned down until it gets to the point on the knob where the pot resistance on the tone cap is low enough that the tone cap value determines the peak. That's generally at 3~4 on an audio taper pot.
I'd like to see that Ceramic vs. ALNICO comparison
There are. Ceramic don't sound worse if properly designed.
@@jordimateubartroli951 ceramic sound better for metal sometimes, not so great for jazz and not the same as alnico. Same with speakers I have found I love ceramic speakers for metal and rock and alnico for jazz/blues/vintage cleans.
@@realtruenorth It depends on the design: the comparison I saw was between strat pickups, clean. Ceramics sounded as good and sweet as alnico. They were well designed.
@@jordimateubartroli951 yes, I have ceramics that sound great. Ceramic and alnico sound different. But better is subjective.
I would absolutely watch a Ceramic vs Alnico magnet video.
Thanks for this.
This is very likely beyond the scope of what you want to do, but: it would be really cool to also hear the same test on speaker magnets in otherwise identical speakers, w/a breakdown on the effects produced on those separate ends of our tone
Do the magnet swap, but do NOT tell viewers which is which.
It's amazing how videos where they do that (like can you pick out the cheap vs expensive pickups or cheap vs expensive guitar) in blind test videos and don't reveal the answer until a later video always gets so few comments :D :D
EVH stated in an interview in Guitar Player Magazine long ago that when he rewound his PAF pickup he didn't count the number of turns.
I would love to see that Ceramic v Alnico video, I've always accidentally held the wrong idea about ceramic magnets thanks to mainline attitudes.
Me too. Frequency analysis and Chart comparison would illustrative as well. I've heard good sounding Ceramic Magnet Pickups in blind tests.
Ceramic (ferrite) magnets are intrinsically noisy and this translates into the output. Alnico magnets are much quieter and this is audible.
Matters not what magnet it depends on whether you like it. Jack Pearson, used to play with Allman Brothers as well as others, is considered one of the top most players, plus other top players are using stock Squier Bullet guitars w/o changing pups in all kinds of gigs. They sound just fine.
Having both ceramic and alnico magnets in my pickups, there isn’t much difference I can hear, at least for my guitars and what I play.
But I remember once hearing you should buy and use ceramic magnets because they hold their magnetic properties much longer and your alnico magnets will eventually stop working.
Guitars that are much older than I am still have their original pickups and they still work.
But even if they lose that property I have heard of them being re-magnetized
@stevelaferney3579 nah those pickups are junk and noisy. The higher end Squiers with the SQR pickups are sooooo much better.
People get salty when you challenge their “beliefs “ with science. Don’t EVER stop doing that
Well music is more an art than a science, so sometimes it doesn’t fit science, it depends on feelings.
So things like pickups can sometimes be perceived to make differences that science won’t support
But of course thee are still many myths that people won’t let go
And these kinds of videos can still be cool
@@dw7704 pickup is not a music. it's technology
@@endajd. but it’s used to make music.
It’s part of the process of what we hear, which is why they exist.
Yes you can use science to explain how they do what they do, but the results are not necessarily science
They are music
Agreed. Science is important if you want to avoid malfunctions, fighting noise, DIY, etc. if you have a hired handyman then it’s probably not that necessary
@@dw7704 have people invented music or is music older than people?
Phil McNight did a tour at Kiesel and the one place they wouldn’t let him into was the pickup room. The reason being they have all the formulas for their pickups up on the wall, so they didn’t want anyone else to see that, and Jeff Kiesel stated that pickups are just math.
“You can’t duplicate PAFs.”
Hell, they (Gibson) couldn’t duplicate it back then. lol. They didn’t make the same one twice. They grabbed anything they had sitting around.
Some sounded great and some didn’t.
I think there's a lot of caveats in that situation.
They were a production floor, not a custom shop, so there wasn't a lot of thought going into it let alone reproducing it. Especially when "it" was such an elusive target. They were just trying to sell guitars. Remember, the LP got canceled for a reason. That hard rock adopted the PAF LP as "the sound" was a happy accident. Like the reverse of the "Friday Ford" concept.
In the many decades since, there are a plethora of "magic PAF tone" pickups, but how can you tell except in isolation?
I could probably tell the difference in a small room with me, the guitar and an amp or in a very controlled studio recording of guitar and amp, but otherwise? Nah.
I mean BFG famously "recreates" the Pearly Gates live tone for all of his other guitars with a rack of stuff.
I’ve probably learned more about pickups in this video than I have in my entire guitar playing life…great video Dylan👍
People also forget pickup height makes a huge difference
My main Tele has a Filtertron in the neck and it took a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge to balance the sound. Filtertrons are LOUD pickups but they are not very strong.
I also have a crazy Strat shaped (Samick Malibu) guitar where I put in a Filtertron (bridge), SD Little 59 (middle), and a Quarter Pounder (neck) and it sounds great! I have a coil split in the middle hole for the Little 59 and I have a treble bleed on the volume and a Grease bucket on the tone. Both pots are Bournes minis with 250k pots. The guitar sounds fantastic and all pickups play well together. The idea for this was AC/DC (bridge), Wayne Kramer as well as a jangle (middle and middle split) and a P-90ish tone (neck). Those Quarter Pounders are good as being a P-90 punch with the glassiness of a Strat pickup.
Oh yeah magnet wise it's a Alnico ll (bridge), ceramic (middle) and Alnico V (neck) for the Samick. Again, in 2 & 4 on the five way switch, they play well with each other 😉👍✨
I love these mythbusting episodes. Very helpful!
Duncan’s JB is an Alnico 5 magnet
Yes!!! I misspoke. JB jr is ceramic
This is definitely the content I love from your channel!!! Even when you have posted similar before, because if it's not something you work with on a regular basis, I for one can't remember the details.
At 70 years old I'll never stop asking WHY IS THAT? Thanks Dylan for your time Sir. jm2c
Loved this video! Thanks for the technical explanations to throw some light on it but without going too deep to lose the focus! Really enjoyed!
This is the type of content that caused me to subscribe back when you were making videos in your back yard. Great topic! Love this approach to understanding the components that contribute to a tone.
Reminder that fussing about this stuff never resulted in an amazing song. Amazing songs are created by playing and recording. If you compose an amazing song it will probably be amazing no matter what your guitar had in it
I would disagree, every genre and every song from every band has a specific sound, tone plays a part into manipulation of a person's psyche and Emotional state, both Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie have had published works based on this. Paint it Black would not even remotely sound the same without that shrill high end of the highs played by Richards, or a band like Korn that used a 7 string that gave them a very very unique sound. Lets go back to early telecaster days would those songs have sounded right if they didn't sound overly compressed, how about Sevendust and the guitarists story about using a small shitty amp and when it didn't sound right in the studio with all that high end gear he ended up recording with his little Roland amp that gives them that weird heavy sound he has. Or what about U2 and the Edge. How about Brian May would We will rock you sound better or worse if he didn't fuss over that solo bit he does giving way to one of the greatest rock anthems ever made. How about the Kinks.
I mean I would argue strongly against your statement because that as a guitarist is what makes you you and is what makes you stand out in the mix versus everyone else. I could compose a masterpiece but the song would be complete crap if not done by the right people in the correct way, there are countless examples of people butchering music. I can take a poorly composed piece and make it sound better, I cannot take a masterpiece and make it sound better than it has already been done and in the off chance I can it would be the exception not the rule.
This one's for the mechanics not the race car drivers
I love this video this cleared up a lot of doubts that I have and questions that I had of pickups and its anatomy
Just discovered this channel and loving it. Great topic here👍
This was very insightful. Loved it. Cheers
Thanks Dylan, you put it very well.
Stopping players referring to dc resistance as 'output' is hard. Like them calling positions 2 and 4 of a Strat switch 'out of phase'. I'm right behind ya fella.
Stratocasters. Tremolo. Vibrato. The most egregious. :D
We forget that EEs are designing modern pickups and have been for a few decades now. It's science folks.
Def would love to see the ceramic vs alnico vid! Love your channel and your helpful info makes cutting through a lot of the bs out there easier. Thanks man
Keep on delivering in the objective, patient, and experienced way that you do. There's so much BS out there that needs to be swept away.
You’re my favorite MythBuster in the world of guitars!
I’d like to see the video comparing ceramic and alnico magnets
Thanks, interesting stuff! I’m glad I’m now better informed and more knowledgeable about pickups than I was before watching this!!
Awesome! Thank you! I love vintage tones, but I also know that there ain't no magic nowhere! Thanks for being so clear-sighted and honest!
Dude I'd love the ceramic vs alnico test. I appreciate the takes in this video man, love the honesty.
I admire your quest for awesome tones, Sir Dylan. Travel forth and discover great things for the people from the land of guitars.
Great stuff man!
Thanks, Dylan, for the nerdy stuff; very interesting.
The DC resistance thing is the most infuriating thing ever! I learned this the hard way. I bought a set of pickups from a builder advertised as having "the power and clarity of an active with all the tone and dynamics of a passive". I play metal, so that intrigued me. It had a DC resistance of 8.6 kOhm. What I got, pummeled a 100 watt tube clean amp channel into breaking up A LOT! I didn't read the fine print, but it had three magnets, ceramic and alnico, underneath, which created one helluva strong magnetic field! I had to get rid of them and get something else. DC resistance alone is balony, and I wish pickup manufacturer would advertise their products with greater specificity.
Learned a bunch in this one! Thanks man!
I always learn something new with Dylan and he keeps my curiosity peaked. It would be cool to see a graphical representation of your various pickups mapped to resonant peaks and Q widths and tonal qualities (potentials?) so folks who think they want a hotter pickup can actually see how to get what they’re after vs assuming. Then videos like the ceramic vs alnico swap will also have a visual representation. This video puts to rest why you rise above others in this field. Well done sir.
"curiosity *piqued*" I promise, I'm not trying to be a grammar nerd, but you seem to care about your words, so I figured I'd just pass along that tidbit as someone did for me many years ago. I'm grateful for those that correct me. 👍
Paul McCartney was once asked what kind of strings he used. He answered "long silver ones". I still laugh about that to this day.
Hey...now do strings!
Love the nerdy science part. Understanding more about how and why the gear we love works is always interesting.
Facts. I loved it, thank you!
Great video Dylan. I didn't do a video but I record audio a couple months ago 2 tracks with 2 Telecasters, One panned left the other panned right. First one a Squier with ceramic bar magnets, Second one had vintage 65 Fender Jazzmaster alnico 5 pole magnets. One on the left the other on the right channel. All the settings were the same when recording both tracks. Now you know the difference in the size of the coils, so I thought there would be a lot of difference. I could not tell the tone difference between the two. I let ten other people listen to the tracks and they couldn't tell any difference either in the tone. Output was a bit higher with the Jazzmasters. Have a good one Dylan.
Definitely do ceramic vs. alnico. Years ago I ordered a set of PAFs from ThroBak. The set I settled on came standard with alnico 2 magnets, but I asked for a "short alnico 5" for the bridge. It sounds great but I've always wondered if it was the right call. I've thought about having a tech switch the magnets just to see.
The G&L MFDs are ceramic, too. I definitely rate them higher than a lot of non-ceramics…
wow...didn't know...and they are truly exceptional pups!
Agree 100%. Would be cool to see a video where you compare how different pickups sit and cut through in the band mix.
Good info! Have there been any attempts at a pickup design using a Neodymium magnet?
I’m planning on ordering a set of matched P-90’s from you at the end of June. Love to hear your opinions on how to pick the right wire/magnet alloy/wind number to achieve the tone I’m looking for.
Fascinating episode! All I can say is, more please. Nobody has ever explained the science you discussed here, I imagine because most “experts” are pulling information right out of their butts. Thank you for posting this episode.
Awesome info Dylan!
Thanks again, and yes, we want that comparison video. Our friends don't believe us, lol. 👊🤠
I loved this video. Given that guitar output is an important dimension of my overall chain, is there a reliable way to measure the actual output of a guitar? OR is DC resistance “close enough” as a relative value to help predict what might happen when swapping guitars?
Hi Dylan! Grate and very informative video. I have a question. If you wiring pickups and guitar instead of coper wire but with silver wire. How it will affects on quality and strength of the sound ? Thanks in advance for the answer.
Always something interesting. Thank you.
I'd love to see you get together with Glenn Fricker and talk shop. I feel like you two could make such an enriching series.
The nerd in me says DEFINITELY do a Ceramic vs. ALNICO comparison video. It will be fun to watch and listen to. If there are any oscilloscopes or spectrum analyzers available to hook on the outputs of the pickups, I think they would be huge visual examples of output, Q, etc. vs. the sound you get as you change the magnet strengths, sizes or what's easier for you with what's on hand. Thanks for putting in all this work in your channel. Love the tech talk!
Love to see the swap using pickup designed for ceramic (like JB), then using pickup designed for alnico like PAF. Thanks for great videos.
I appreciate that you "squashed" all the "voodoo" I've encountered over the decades. I'm pretty much set with the guitars and their pickups that I now have - which includes a set of your P90s. So, thanks.
GREAT VIDEO DYLAN !
For the few inches of copper wire used to hookup to a pickup in a guitar, like you said is is soooo imperceptible. Then includes think about all the copper used in the windings.
The speed of electricity through a copper wire is approximately 98-99% of the speed of light in a vacuum, which equates to about 300,000,000 meters per second or 186,000 miles per second.
Great video Dylan
This is my favorite type of video you do. It would be great to learn how each aspect affects tone and by how much using clips and maybe even freq response graphs. A lot of work but i believe your are the guy qualified to do something like that.
Love to see ceramic vs alnico. I've been pleased swapping ceramic bar for alnico poles in a pbass pickup.
This is the content I subscribe for! Definitely do the Alnico v ceramic video
Since it's possible to make ceramic pickups to sound good both clean and dirty, why don't speaker manufacturers try to make a ceramic speaker that sounds like an Alnico Blue?
The capacitance of the wire could change with the PVC coating, but the lengths found in guitars would make this a trivial detail.
At that point it's the trivial details that add up to make it more than trivial. Or least that's what the marketing told me. :D
I mean have you read anything about the late Ken Fischer of Trainwreck amps?
Dude said he could hear the differences in wire coating in his amps/transformers.
Seymour Duncan and Larry DiMarzio basically created an entire industry on paying attention to pickup construction.
I liken it to putting together a signature wardrobe. The amp/speakers/pickups are the major pieces and from there you refine, refine, refine.
Yes, but this capacitance is depending on the distance between wire coils. You can make the pvc coat thickness appropiate for the capacitance you need or want.
Great video as always. Would it be worth doing a video where you swap just one of the magnets in a humbucker to a different type? For example, a regular humbucker might use two AlNiCo 2 magnets but what happens to the sound if you replace just one magnet with an AlNiCo 5?
It would also be very interesting if you could talk about how the winding pattern can change a pickup's tonal balance i.e. compare scatter wound to a more evenly wound pickup and how those then compare to a pickup that has its winds weighted towards the top, middle or bottom of the bobbin.
A couple or a few years ago Darrel Braun switched the magnets in a pickup, and in that particular instance the ceramic pickup had a "warmer" sound but the alnico was clearer and more articulate. I'd be curious to hear, if you made alnico and ceramic pickups that were exactly the same size, shape, and strength, whether there would be any difference in sound.
Dude, use an Invader to swap out all the different magnet types! Love the idea! Can't wait!
I love a nice A5 or ceramic pickup, I use all kinds. P-90, Duncan and DiMarzio HB's, strat, true single coil and HB. The DiMarzio Super Distortion is just a superb pickup and my current fave.
Add an extra element of nerdiness and do a side by side through an O-scope. Seeing it quantified would be pretty awesome.
I just love this kind of videos! I think think they are fun, too!
Thank you for sharing. I would enjoy the video about magnets. You mean your name on it doesn't put the magic in my pickups. I will need a minute to process......lol. still playing more now. Words can not begin to say how good it is. Thanks again
Yes please, ceramic vs alnico comparison with all other parameters remaining the same. Thanks Dylan.
Hey Dylan, can you riddle me this: I seem to gravitate towards blade magnet pickups. My first guitar was the Peavey T-60 and I loved those pickups. I replaced TV Jones Tron pickups with their Super‘Tron cousins. I put a bladed Duesenberg SC in the neck position of a strat. I replaced the Duncan MM pickup in a bass with a bladed version and enjoyed the result. I even prefer the X2N over the JB. Although, that’s a tough one, both are too nasal for my taste.
Not saying there aren’t wonderful regular pickups. But there’s something about the blades… is there anything to it or am I just looking for the looks?
Great video, thank you. Is there a reason why you don't use A3 or A4 magnets in your pickups?
I would like to see the comparison. What is the formula for a less bright PU. The high E string, and the G and B strings have ringy sound when I just struming or plaing open cords. It drives me crazy. I installed Epiphone coil split ALNICO 2 Probuckers, better pots, etc. It didn't reduce the ringiness but made it clearer compared to the manufacturers cheap PU's. I've since then bought a different guitar with higher DC resistance PU's and they the same ringiness. I've tried the ToneShapers kit using different capacitors (250k vs 500k) a treble bleed kit, and 7 combinations of tone control capacitors.
One question I've always wondered about is about the quality of a split coil humbucker.
If you have a Les Paul with split coils, are those pickups supposed to be anything? Or are they just a lesser version of each, a humbucker or single coil pickup?
I've always come from the school of thought that a tool that tries to do two things, doesn't do either of them well. Does that apply to split coil pickups?
Very informative. Are you familiar with Furguckskin Upchucker pickups? ...a gut retching tonal experience.
Please do that video of the "Alnico magnet" vs the "Ceramic magnet" ?! I'd love to see the side by side comparison !! Great idea !!!
Please do the pickup magnet comparison video for us Dylan.
Love the idea of a Ceramic vs. Alnico comparison video.
You are a good teacher.
I would love to see/hear the Alnico/Ceramic video, especially taking into account different types of each that are counter parts. Like Alnico 2 5 and 8 and anything comparable on the ceramic side. Etc.
Would love to see the Ceramic VS. Alnico vid.
I have yet to find a Ceramic Tele or Strat pick up set that i like.
Ibanez Super 58s are made with ceramic and they are amazing
Thank you. I keep seeing people measuring the DC resistance of their pickups and it means almost nothing. The AC resistance might - at the operating frequency of a guitar string. I'd like to see a video about the effects that the different variables have. It would probably involve some math.
At the end of the day though, unless you A-B compared the effects, the audience probably couldn't tell the difference and my fingers aren't impressive enough for anyone to care.
The little sticker tells you so. 🤣🤣😂😅😂🤣
Ceramic vs Alnico would be interesting... cool vids, as always
I don't need that video to believe you, but I would love it because it's so interesting knowing things
The wire is the main difference between modern offerings and vintage
its not just the enamel coating it is also the impurities in the copper that aren't there today
too the same degree because the smelting process is more refined Throbak had some pickups they were selling a while back that used some vintage wire they found and there was a clear difference between the exact same variety's wound on the same machines with the same magnets and hardware using the modern wire.
As a fellow Dylan i can say we were made to ruffle the feathers and I for one subbed for logical and scientific information which you are a wealth of.
Definitely do the ceramic vs video. I will super chat it Thursday. I love ceramic, maybe cuz I'm a metal kid from the 80's , but ur right, Both are worthy.
What are your thoughts on materials make a slight difference in unpotted pickups? Would it change the microphonic resonances?
I would conjecture that when you pot a pickup all of the material differences go out the window. However, they might have a slight effect on the microphonic sound. Any thoughts?
The only argument regarding 2 vs 4 conductor wiring that might have some merit would be the noise. Generally speaking the more wire you have the higher your noise potential. Then again I can't say I have ever noticed a difference in real world use.
P.S.: The Duncan JB is A5, you were thinking od the Distortion, same wind but ceramic magnet.
Yes, please do a comparison between ceramic and alnico magnets.
What is your opinion on the influence of the winding pattern for the coil wire in a pickup? How much does that influence different components of the tone?
Dylan, I too would like to see the Ceramic vs Alnico shoot out, but I think it would be more telling to try this is a P-90 format.
Curiosity if for nothing more.
Love the nerdy stuff.
I love the no none sense no Bs of this channel. Most people that make good/great pickups try to make you believe that this stuff is all special sauce or wizardry. Dylan’s the guy that gives it to us straight! I had a set of HW Abby pickups that I coveted for the simple fact that they were wound by her… were they the best sounding- nope. Did I like the brittle nature of the ‘69 design- nope. Sold them to someone in a CS strat and have never regretted either. The magic doesn’t come from the person or process that makes the guitar. It comes from the person that plays it.
About heat, if what you mean is that the magnets will decay because they reach their Curie temperature, then you shouldn’t worry if your soldering iron is below the actual temp (especially when you’re tens of degrees below).
Basically when a magnet goes up to Curie temperature it changes its state of matter (magnetic phase). And just like how ice at -20C degrees isn’t going to melt when you heat it to -5C degrees, your magnets aren’t going to lose their ferromagnetism unless they actually hit (or surpass) their Curie temperature.
Ceramic vs alnico please!
I have other questions:
1. in the case of humbuckers / P90s, how much does the material of the pole pieces affect the sound?
2. the effect of putting the same number of winds in a smaller height (e.g. like a P90 or a Jazzmaster pickup is short height but fat diameter)?
3. On a scale of Neutron Star to MRI machine, what would it take to demagnetise a pickup in your guitar?
To answer point 3, if you play in a small enough club with a large enough audience then the room temperature should reach your pickup magnet's curie point by the time you've almost finished your Freebird solo.
I'd love to learn which aspect of pickup design has the biggest effect on which aspect of tone, like attack, compression, sustain, … and how pickup height comes into play there.
Picked up a Tremonti SE with a Duncan Distortion bridge (ceramic) and was blown away by its fat clarity and off course output!
You answer many of my questions about pickup. My next question. Besides buying and put it in our guitar, how can we guess pickup sound ?
I swapped pickups in my 335 and my LP and my strat (because I wanted coil splits... And I wanted a different colour on my strat!) They all still sound like the guitars they are.
My favorite videos of yours have always been the ones which are more scientific in nature. Especially the white board ones. I go back and watch 5 year old videos occasionally.