Everything You Need to Know About Selecting the Right Pickup For

MAY 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM GEAR waves—the most common one that you Can you rock with passive hear is the 60-cycle hum generated by pickups? the AC current that powers most of BRONSON: A lot of time you’re our gear. Humbuckers fl ip the pickup Don Mitchell fi nding a balance between what signal back on itself and cancel out all your guitar is doing and what your that stuff, which is why they’re called amp is doing. You can have a humbucking—they buck the hum. pickup with a very low output going into a powerful Marshall stack—that What are your favorites? captures more of the feel of the BRONSON: One of my favorite sounds guitar itself, the subtleties of the is on a 1955 Les Paul Junior guitar with wood, than just blasting distortion. a Bumble Bee Capacitor P-90 pickup. It If you listen to AC/DC’s tones on starts to break up as if it was a humbucker, Back in Black, they’re using lower but you still get that great vintage single- vintage outputs on their guitars coil sound. A more modern humbucker and just cranking the amps up. The I love is the DiMarzio D Activator. It’s a distortion is natural, so you’re really hot pickup—meaning it sends out a high getting the sound of the guitar. amount of signal that will saturate and Zakk Wylde break up into distortion sooner. It’s also How do you fi nd the right one? pretty trebly, but I put it into Les Paul How else do passive and active LEWRY: Buying the pickup that Custom guitars—which are darker instruments pickups differ? your favorite guitar player has is one way to sound-wise, so the pickup balances it out. LEWRY: Passive pickups have a beautiful, start, but ultimately fi nding your own sound We wanted a heavy rock sound when I was natural warmth to them that’s well suited for is key. So don’t be afraid to try something performing Avril Lavigne’s song “Losing Grip” a lot of musical styles, but some guitarists new. Also, don’t obsess over the small live, so I used the DiMarzio Tone Zone for that. want more output. If you It almost had a nasal quality and some natural have really hot-wound compression—it was just perfect for that song. passive pickups with ‘Ultimately, fi nding your own LEWRY: When I was designing the Video big, chunky magnets, the Guitar, I needed a pickup that could run magnets themselves can sound is key. Don’t be afraid alongside an LCD monitor without picking slow down the strings’ up any noise or interference from the screen, vibrations. It can make a to try something new.’ Everything you need to knowwhich was tricky. about The Lace Alumitone has difference when you’re playing. Active pickups been great for that, and it’s a radically different –Ben Lewry selecting the right pickup fortechnology. your It has one largeguitar wind of wire around tend to have pretty crispy it instead of thousands, so it doesn’t pick up highs and good fi delity outside interference as easily and it responds with a clear, pronounced When you’re headbanging to a blistering (Katy Perry) and Steve Wilson (Porcupine to aas wider the rangestrength of frequencies. of the magnets. Another Stronger cool, bass, which is why they’re really good for stuff. What basic category are you looking riff by Slayer’s Kerry King or holding your Tree); he is also the inventor of the Video innovativemagnets pickup and ismore the Seymour winds produce Duncan Littlehigher metal. When you want that “chug-chug” sound, for? Single-coil? Vintage? Modern high- breath as you listen to B.B. King’s soaring Guitar, an instrument that plays video on the ’59levels Jr. It’s ofa neckoutputs—but pickup for everything single-coil aboutguitars, the getting those defi ned lows is something that gain? Do you want to try some crazy lead, you’re hearing more than just great guitar’s body. Bronson and Lewry spoke to butbuild it’s actually changes a thehumbucker. sound. Other You can parameters use it active pickups also do well. Metallica and new technology? Once you fi gure out musicians, guitars and amps. Key to any us about how to pick up just the right pickup. to getare themore height of a rich,and widthjazzy sound. of the pickup;A lot if the Megadeth both play with active pickups. what planet you’re going for, then six-stringer’s unique tone is the pickup— of peoplecoils are love hand-wound variations on or the machine-wound; original it’s much easier to break things the unassuming metal device that sits What exactly is a pickup? Gibsonand the PAF quality humbucker, of the materials. which pretty down and refi ne your choices. underneath guitar strings and translates BRONSON: Very simply speaking, it serves much set the standard. Lots of boutique Also, if you’re replacing a pickup their vibrations into sweet melodies or as the microphone for your strings. It gets manufacturersHow are humbuckers make variations and on single-coil the in your guitar, rather than buying raging sonic fury. Few pieces of gear have the sound of the guitar, and the strings classicpickups design. different? Steve Stevens uses Bare a completely new instrument, it’s a greater impact on a guitar’s tone—and for you’re hitting, and sends it to your amplifi er. KnuckleBRONSON: pickups, Singleand they coils have give their you own a thinner, important to know what you’re such a seemingly simple mechanism, there LEWRY: Each one is a magnet wound with hotrodfunkier, PAF classicdesign. sound and were used in trying to fi x. Is the sound too thin? are nearly infi nite varieties to choose from. thousands of turns of wire. It’s basically a vintage Fender Stratocasters. Humbuckers Do you need more output? Is your To better understand the world of device that generates electricity. It converts Whygive would more ofyou a thick, use rich,hot warmpickups? tone. They’re rig too susceptible to outside noise guitar pickups we turned to experts Devin the mechanical energy of a vibrating guitar BRONSON:what Gibson The uses hotter in theLes pickups, Paul and SG and interference? Bronson and Ben Lewry. Bronson is a rock string into electrical energy that can be sent traditionally,guitars. the heavier the rock. BRONSON: A lot of companies guitarist who has played with artists like Avril to an amp. WhenLEWRY: you’re A getting humbucker into that is basicallystyle— two have sound samples on their Lavigne, Pink and Kelly Osbourne. Lewry likesingle Zakk coilsWylde put with together, Ozzy Osbourne,but with opposite websites, and sometimes graphs to is the founder of Visionary Instruments, a What makes each one different? forpolarity. example—they’re Since a pickup usually is a using magnet very wrapped show how a pickup responds. Do company that has worked on guitars for LEWRY: The biggest features are the high-poweredin wire, it can pickups act like with an hot antenna outputs. and react your research and don’t be afraid Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Patrick Matera number of winds and type of wire, as well Metalto all players sorts ofsometimes electrical usesignals active and radio of using a cheap one, whatever pickups like the EMG 81, which runs off works for you. What’s important is 56 of a 9-volt battery. I fi nd those sounds that when you close your eyes and too brittle for my own playing, but for a listen, it just works. certain style of music they work. Steve Stevens –Michael Gallant 57 M3-Vol2-Mag-beta24.indd 56 6/2/11 1:08 AM M3-Vol2-Mag-beta24.indd 57 6/2/11 2:51 AM + GEAR FEATURE MAY 2011 M MUSIC & MUSICIANS MAGAZINE.

Load more