Types of Pickups

Hello again and welcome to the fourth installment of Luthier’s Corner. Last month, I explained how the basics on proper setup and maintenance of your guitar/bass. This month I’m going to go into a little more detail about the different types of pickups that you find on the many different guitars out there. The fact is, truly no 2 guitars are alike, even those that bear the same name, due to different grains in the wood, etc. Well, the differences between 2 different guitars, from 2 different guitar companies, that use very different building methods are even more stark. For example, a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Stratocaster play, feel, and sound completely different from each other. Why is that? Well, we’re going to find out.

Since the guitar was first invented, luthiers have been trying to improve upon the design, and still do to this day. It’s the “better mousetrap” syndrome. Don’t try and look up that term, I just made it up. Haha. Anyway, in the early part of the 20th Century, the Gibson guitar company put a single coil pickup on an archtop guitar, called the ES 150 guitar, and suddenly the guitar could be amplified. This guitar was made famous by one Charlie Christian and the pickup that was used was nicknamed the Charlie Christian pickup. What exactly is a pickup, you ask? Well, basically a pickup consists of a magnet that has very thin copper wire wrapped around it, several thousands wraps, that is housed inside some kind of form, and wired either to a volume and tone circuit, or directly to a jack. The types of magnets, coils, and even bobbin materials, are what make each pickup sound unique and offer so many tonal options. This is where it’s imperative to really use your ear in determining if the guitar you want is ideal for your particular playing style and tastes.

Let’s talk, for a moment, about the different magnets used in the construction of pickups. This is important because pickup magnets have differing magnetic strengths and therefore require different height requirements in conjunction with the strings. Set certain pickups too close to the strings, and the intonation and sustain affected. Basically, there are 3 types of magnets used in pickups today. They are AlNiCo, Ceramic, and Neodymium. Let’s look at Alnico first. It’s called AlNiCo because it’s made of a combination of Aluminum, Nickel, and Cobalt. The most common that you hear about is Alnico 5 and pickups that have Alnico 5 magnets are usually sought after because of their vintage tonal quality. However, the aforementioned Fender and Gibson companies used Alnico 5 magnets in very different easy from each other. Vintage spec Fender single coil pickups actually have 6 individual Alnico 5 magnets as the polepieces. Therefore, the magnetic pull is very strong, which is why those pickups have to sit deeper into the body, or much lower from the strings, than say a Gibson PAF humbucker. Gibson uses an Alnico 5 bar magnet between the coil bobbins and the baseplate of the pickup, and each coil has a row of 6 metal polepieces that touch the bar magnet. One row of polepieces is actually height adjustable. This arrangement actually spreads the magnetic field over a wider surface, therefore making it easier to have the pickup closer to the strings than a Fender single coil without intonation or sustain problems. Of course, there are other Alnico magnets being used, and they are numbered as Alnico 2 and Alnico 3. Basically, they have a somewhat weaker magnetic pull and pickups that use these magnets do so to emulate the sweet tonal characteristic of a 50’s Gibson PAF humbucker whose magnetic pull has weakened over time. Gibson also makes a single coil pickup called a P90 which is considerably bigger than a Fender single coil, and sounds fatter because of the construction.

Gibson PAF with the cover	an SG that has a P90 in the neck and a Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge position. showing what a typical humbucker looks like without the cover	the polepieces of a typical Strat pickup, in a pickguard, whether Alnico or with ceramic bar magnet	underside of a typical Strat pickguard showing the individual Alnico magnet polepieces.

OK, ceramic magnets are used in certain pickups for a more modern sound, due to it having a more compressed distortion capability and is a favorite with many heavy metal guitar players. It’s not impossible to get a smooth tone out of ceramic magnet pickups, but they tend to just lend themselves better to harder styles of rock music. All pickups that have ceramic magnets, have them either glued to the underside of the housing, as on Fender-style single coils, or mounted between the coil bobbins and baseplate in a Gibson style humbucker.

The third type is Neodymium, or Neo. Neo magnets are perhaps the most powerful magnets on the market today, and therefore their use in guitar pickup construction isn’t too common, but there are makers who use them. They are usually used as speaker magnets, but you will find guitar pickups that use them in specific applications.

OK so now that we know the basic differences in the types of magnets used, how do you determine what type you have? Well, if you have a Strat-style guitar, the easiest thing to do is take off the pickguard and look at the underside of the pickups. If you only see 6 polepieces and no bar magnet, then your single coils are Alnicos. If you see a bar magnet, then it’s ceramic. If you have a Gibson style guitar, it can be hard to determine what the bar magnet is if there isn’t a sticker on the underside of the baseplate. If it’s a real Gibson humbucker, the best thing to do is cross reference the model number of that pickup with the specs on the Gibson website to determine the magnet type.

The ideal heights for 3 Alnico Strat pickups compared to string heights	Underside of a typical PAF Alnico 5 Gibson humbucker	the underside of a typical single coil pickup with a ceramic bar magnet.

OK well, when it comes to setting the proper distance between pickups and strings, the first thing you want to do is lower the pickups as far as you can without them falling off the mounting screws. After you do that, starting with the bridge pickup, begin to raise the pickup to where it sounds good to your ear. Of course, your guitar is plugged in and the amp is set on the clean channel, right? Make sure that you actually hold both “e” strings down the highest fret while doing these adjustments. That way, you will be able to see, more accurately, what the real distance is when the strings are fretted at the highest frets, not just based on open strings. As you raise the bridge pickup, pluck the fretted string. If the note starts to warble, then the pickup is too high and you have to lower it until the warbling stops. Once you find that “sweet spot”, move on to the middle pickup (if your guitar has one) and then the neck pickup. Their adjustments are actually slightly different in that the goal is to get their output levels, or volumes, to match that of the bridge pickup. The last thing you want is your neck pickup being much louder than your bridge pickup. Output balance between all pickups is essential for a balanced sounding guitar. Now you’ll have a guitar that sounds good, with a consistent output level between all pickup positions, and since you’ve done a setup on it, thanks to last month’s article, it plays great as well.

OK so it looks like I went longer on the history of guitar pickups and the basics of pickup construction than I expected, so tune in next month for my discussion on the differences between Gibson-style, Fender-style, and locking bridges and how to properly set them up.  Once again, thanks for reading my column and remember no task worth accomplishing is ever achieved if not pursued with fierce dedication. Believe in yourself, and make happen that glorious noise called music! Until next time, remember, there is nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it! Cheers!