Diy Pickup Tech Testing Contraptions |
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Apr 1 2017, 06:51 PM
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I've been doing a lot of research on pickups and wanted to be able to compare the technical details across manufacturers and between name-brand, boutique and generic pickups. Most manufacturers post no real details about their pickups and there is so much misinformation out there regarding their tone. This post in this thread is just the beginning of the journey, but I was excited to share the tools I've constructed to collect data.
These are the "real" details about a pickup to determine their output and EQ. - Resonant Peak / Q factor - Inductance - Capacitance - Resonant Peak - DC Resistance - Flux Density First, using a car dash cam mount I built a device which will suction to the guitar face and lower a pickup to the strings for testing. This allows me to try pickups without changing strings or taking the guitar apart. It's a bit of a process, but is non-destructive and allows you to audition pickups.      Second, is the Gaussometer. At the end of the wooden stick is a hall-effect sensor which measures the presence of magnetic fields. This will allow for the comparison of the flux density, or magnet strength.  Third, is a device designed by Ken Wilmott to connect to my audio interface. You can sweep the frequency spectrum and map the frequency response (Q factor, Resonant Peak)    Lastly I have my trusty multimeter for DC resistence and an LCR meter for measuring the inductance. If anyone is interested I'll post more tech details and model info as I proceed. This post has been edited by yoncopin: Apr 1 2017, 07:53 PM --------------------  |
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Apr 1 2017, 11:15 PM
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Yes please
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Apr 2 2017, 01:22 AM
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QUOTE (Todd Simpson @ Apr 1 2017, 01:40 PM)  WOW! That's freaking impressive. Are you a pro mechanical engineer or something? This is FAR beyond guitar diy IMHO. These are specialized skills. I think the information you get from each pickup should be included in our gear WIKI. As Kris Mentioned, the more new content the better and maybe it will finally get the Nav link it deserves in light of Frans years of hard work! Also, I'm curious if you can test an original Ibanez V8 pickup. They are simple stock pickups but remain my fave in terms of tone. The only thing I've found close was the CRAZY 8 pickup from Seymour Duncan. Todd Ha! You're to nice  I'm actually a software engineer. I just love to tinker in my spare time, and it's more like specialized tools than skills I don't have the pickups you mentioned, but would be happy to test them if you'd like to mail me the pair. We can see how close the two actually are. Not only that, but a pickup isn't set in stone, there are simple electric mods you can do to adjust resonant peaks or filter frequencies etc... Instead of just buying a new pickup, I can now see how small circuit adjustments can get closer to the tone I'm looking for.My hypothesis is that a lot of pickup info is just marketing BS. It's really just magnets and a wire coil, and most designs haven't changed in decades. Stock pickups get a lot of haters as well as budget options like Guitarfetish and Dragonfire. I think for the most part they're all just re-branded Artecs or something similar. There is no reason an exceptional sounding pickup can't be made in Korea, etc... That said, I do think it's more challenging to find the sound you're looking for and manufacturers aren't very forthcoming with actual data (to protect their business). This makes comparisons hard, but now I can see the truth. I have a "vintage" SD JB, a modern SD JB and a Duncan Designed HB-102 (JB). My hypothesis is that they're identical, with a small production variance. This post has been edited by yoncopin: Apr 2 2017, 01:23 AM -------------------- |
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Apr 2 2017, 01:58 AM
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Brilliant!
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Apr 4 2017, 12:48 PM
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Wow, looks great
Adding it to the wiki! 
-------------------- Guitars:
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, Ibanez RG2570MZ, Epiphone SG G-400 Amp: Vox AC4TVH head + V112TV cab Effects: Vox Satchurator, Vox Time Machine, Dunlop CryBaby, Boss MT-2, Boss CE-5, Boss TU-2, Boss ME-70 Recording: Line-6 POD X3 + FBV-Express, Pandora PX5D GMC wants YOU to take part in our Guitar-Wikipedia! Have a good time reading great articles and writing your own with us in our GUITAR WIKI! Share your playing and get Pro-advice from our Instructors: Join REC |
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Apr 11 2017, 03:42 PM
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It's here at this entry:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/inde...ng_Contraptions I'll be happy to add any new info to the wiki
-------------------- Guitars:
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, Ibanez RG2570MZ, Epiphone SG G-400 Amp: Vox AC4TVH head + V112TV cab Effects: Vox Satchurator, Vox Time Machine, Dunlop CryBaby, Boss MT-2, Boss CE-5, Boss TU-2, Boss ME-70 Recording: Line-6 POD X3 + FBV-Express, Pandora PX5D GMC wants YOU to take part in our Guitar-Wikipedia! Have a good time reading great articles and writing your own with us in our GUITAR WIKI! Share your playing and get Pro-advice from our Instructors: Join REC |
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Apr 11 2017, 06:52 PM
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Excellent concept!
Love it
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Apr 12 2017, 02:30 AM
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QUOTE (Fran @ Apr 11 2017, 09:42 AM) It's here at this entry: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/inde...ng_Contraptions I'll be happy to add any new info to the wiki Thanks for doing that Fran! I'm going to have some results to show shortly. I ordered some ceramic, and Alnico 2/5/8 bar magnets to see what magnets swaps do to existing pickups. Just waiting on delivery. QUOTE (Darius Wave @ Apr 11 2017, 12:52 PM) Excellent concept! Love it Thanks Darius
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