Pickup output

[Rog]

This from Bill lawrence - pick maker:

I'm asked by players, over and over, " How much output do your pickups have?" This is a very disturbing question because one should consider, no matter how much output your pickup has, you'll never get more than 50 watts out of a 50 watt amplifier!


Rating Pickups with DC Resistance

DC resistance is NOT a power rating; it is the resistance of the wire in a pickup's coil at zero hertz, something that only occurs when the guitar isn't played. If some marketers use DC resistance as a power rating for an AC device, like a pickup, then they only show their ignorance. If we use DC resistance as a parameter, we disregard the fact that, due to Pe and other conditions that result in eddy currents, the effective resistance (Rac) is frequency dependant.

DC resistance (Rdc) tells you as much about a pickup's tone and output as the shoe size tells you about a person's intelligence!


Millivolts

The output rating of pickups is generally given in millivolts (mV). Millivolts could be a helpful parameter if all manufacturers would agree on a standard measuring method that provides such data over a wide frequency range. Now, let's say with this information, we plot an impressive-looking graph showing the different output levels at various frequencies -- does this give you a good idea of the sonic character of a pickup? Yes and no. Don't forget that not every guitar is created equal, and neither are the players. We use different kinds of strings, cables, amps and speakers, and a pickup is only one link in a chain that finally determines tone and output.


Inductance

Inductance ( henry) is another valuable parameter for the sonic evaluation of a pickup but requires some basic understanding of electrodynamics. As a general rule, the higher the inductance, the lesser the highs. For example, a traditional strat pickup has an inductance around 2.3 henry while a Gibson PAF has an inductance around 4.4 henry and some of the so-called "distortion" pickups have an inductance above 8.0 henry. With these comparisons, you get a basic idea. Besides inductance, there are other factors that also need to be considered in projecting tone and output of a pickup.


Tone and output mainly depend on the relation between inductance, magnetic strength and the efficiency of the pickup, as well as the relation between the inductance of the pickup and the capacitance of the cable.

[ash]

I'm asked by players, over and over, " How much output do your pickups have?" This is a very disturbing question because one should consider, no matter how much output your pickup has, you'll never get more than 50 watts out of a 50 watt amplifier!

He knows very well that its not as simple as that with valve amps, and he knows that statement is also entirely irrelevant regardless of what uninformed players may be asking for.

DC resistance is NOT a power rating; it is the resistance of the wire in a pickup's coil at zero hertz.....
DC resistance (Rdc) tells you as much about a pickup's tone and output as the shoe size tells you about a person's intelligence!

I PMd you just in time Reuben! One day later...

For example, a traditional strat pickup has an inductance around 2.3 henry while a Gibson PAF has an inductance around 4.4 henry and some of the so-called "distortion" pickups have an inductance above 8.0 henry. With these comparisons, you get a basic idea. Besides inductance, there are other factors that also need to be considered in projecting tone and output of a pickup.

And this is one of those hidden differences between Alnico and ceramic. The magnet material itself has different permeability and affects the inductance just by being close to the coil. People often say a Gauss is a Gauss, regardless of whether it comes from Alnico or Ferrite, but they're the ones who never thought about inductance effects or dynamic permeability or the myriad of other tiny differences that don't fit onto a catalogue datasheet.

[philipnz]

My rickenbacker single coil, my LP classic 57 and my junior P90 all measure the same 7.5 ohms. The humbucker is slightly louder than the p90 but hardly noticable. The ricky is way behind.

[Rog]

? regardless of what uniformed players may be asking for.

What difference does wearing a uniform make???

[The Scarecrow]

I PMd you just in time Reuben! One day later..

Reckon. Quite a bit of discussion on pickups seems to have arisen today.

[B45-12]

My rickenbacker single coil, my LP classic 57 and my junior P90 all measure the same 7.5 ohms. The humbucker is slightly louder than the p90 but hardly noticable. The ricky is way behind.

Umm should that not be 7.5 kohms ??

I sort of wonder where that thing called 'hearing' comes into the equation -I mean flat even response across the audio spectrum is generally not where it's at. Given we seek an extremely complex waveform I wonder if the specs on the boxes can ever be of much use. Don't get an audience saying 'oh dungge that's only 50mw input and it's not even class A output'. More likely 'Need some grog, oooh those pair are nice, shit the music's not half bad here, need some grog etc.

Also, has anyone ever fiddled with say a tapped transformer at the amp end - primary would to match the pup impedence and secondaries of verious windings to supply match (and mismatches) to the amp input?? The thing I was taught about capacitors (which are generally the input to the grid of the first valve) is that they put voltage and power 90 degrees out of phase so the push (voltage) would be strong but the muscle (current) behind it weak.

Am also wondering about coupling - no not that sort but amplifier stage coupling! Maybe we could take a leaf from the old valve radio designers with xformer coupling between stages and not capacitor as it normally is. Who knows - maybe such an amp with DC heaters and xformer coupling would produce some really juicy tones??

Dammit where's me soldering iron!

[ash]

? regardless of what uniformed players may be asking for.

What difference does wearing a uniform make???

Depends on what colour it is, Rog. If its purple you'll probably be fine with a strat or maybe a BHM, but if you always wear black, nothing less than a 3.6 MW demon-bucker will suffice