.......... pickup simply translates as "microphone", because it is responsible for receiving sound like a microphone, but it works differently. The pickup of electric guitar consists of magnets and coils. When the string vibration changes the magnetic field, the coil will produce a small current. This current is so weak that it must be amplified by an amplifier to drive the speaker to sound. Generally common pickup can be divided into
Single coil and fucking pickup. Single-coil pickup usually has bright timbre, high noise and low output. On the right is a single coil with the cover removed, which is often seen on Fender Stratocaster. The six points above are magnets, and there are thousands of copper wires around the bottom. The current is output from the two lines below. Early electric guitars, whether Fender or Gibson, all used single-coil pickups. Dual-coil pickup usually has full and warm timbre, low noise and large output, and its appearance can be traced back to 1955 Gibson PAF published by Seth Loew. He wound coils in different directions on two groups of magnets with opposite poles, and used the principle of out-of-phase to eliminate noise, hence the name hum-bucking. His timbre is milder and fuller than that of a single coil, but there will be some high-frequency attenuation due to phase cancellation.
.......... s double coil and single coil have their own characteristics and are favored by different guitarists. Many pianos are designed with single and double coils. Generally speaking, Fender Stratocaster is equipped with three single coils, while Gibson les paul is equipped with two double coils. In addition, the combination of H-S-H (single and double) and S-S-H (single and double) is also very common.
What is the difference between different magnets?
In .........., because the magnetism of general natural magnets is too weak, people use artificial magnets made of alloy to pick up the sound, and it is easier to make them into appropriate sizes. Seth Lover once published a P-90 made of aluminum, nickel and cobalt (hence the name "Al-Ni-Co"). At that time, the output of this P-90 was large enough for the expander to break down. Today, the full timbre of Al-Ni-Co is still quite popular, and it has also been applied to the speaker unit. Another common magnet is the "ceramic" magnet, which has larger output and brighter tone.
What is "string pulling"?
..........'s powerful magnet can increase the output, on the contrary, it reduces the vibration of the strings, leading to the continuous deterioration of the strings. Some pickup trucks advertised as "low string" are improved for this shortcoming. They claim that they can reduce the pull of the magnet on the strings and maintain the durability and timbre. As time goes by, the magnetism of the magnet will naturally weaken, which is why the retro pickup truck will have a more natural "low chord pull" effect.
The .......... magnet with magnetic structure in the North Pole and the South Pole is related to the phase of the output signal, which greatly affects the use of double coils and more than two single coils (such as the second and fourth segments of Stratocaster). This problem must also consider the winding direction of the coil, which will be further explained below.
Influence of coil
.......... pickup coils are usually wound with extremely thin copper wires. The more windings, the greater the output and the more intermediate frequencies, and the higher the efficiency. But the more windings, the higher the impedance and the more high-frequency loss. Early people tried various methods to increase the number of coil windings, change the shape and size, and so on, so there were more different designs. The same single coil, Gibson P-90 is much larger than the ordinary fender single coil, and its timbre is also very different.
By measuring the resistance of the pickup (ohm: ohm), .......... can infer the number of turns of its coil, and then use these numbers to imagine what timbre a pickup will have, how much output it will have, and so on. However, it must be noted that the ohmic value of the resistor is influenced by other factors such as material and wire diameter, and cannot truly reflect the actual number of coils wound. Bill Lawrence takes the same 65,438+08,000 turns as an example. Using No.45 * copper wire (resulting in a resistance value of 38.5 kω) is almost twice as much as using No.42 copper wire (20 kω). Nevertheless, resistance value is still the most convenient and quick way to judge a pickup truck, so many manufacturers will provide it for consumers' reference. At this time, we must pay attention to whether the winding material and wire diameter of the coil are the same, otherwise it is meaningless.
.........., we should remember that it is not enough to judge a pickup just by its resistance value. It is not directly related to the pickup. Because the pickup generates alternating current, the resistance is measured by sending direct current from the ammeter. In alternating current field, both capacitance and inductance will hinder the current flow, and their magnitude is affected by frequency; The sum of comprehensive resistance, capacitive reactance and inductive reactance on the vector is the "impedance" of alternating current. The impedance value is also expressed in ohms, but the measurement must rely on other precision instruments and mathematical formulas. Other factors, such as eddy current interference and magnetic permeability, also have considerable influence on the pickup.
Finally, .......... must pay attention to the fact that the insulator of the conductor also plays an important role. Copper wire for winding is commonly known as enameled wire. There are three different materials for common baking varnish: Formvar, plain paint and Polynylon. The chemical composition and thickness of different materials are different, which affects the inductance and capacitance of the whole pickup, so the timbre is also different.
What is the difference between manual winding and machine winding?
.......... must first know that the winding of pickup coil depends more or less on the machine; Even a single-coil pickup often has to be wound around 8000 times at first, which is very difficult to wind by hand. Leo Fender once invented a winding machine, which was semi-manually operated by human beings and successfully guided winding. It was not until 1965 was bought by CBS that Fanta used a fully automatic machine for winding to ensure the quality.
.......... s hand-guided winding method is decentralized and random, and there is no fixed pattern, number of turns and tension, so it is called "decentralized winding", and there are great differences between each finished product; Although self-winding maintains a stable sound quality, people find that the sound quality is not as good as before. The reason for this situation is quite complicated, which is roughly due to irregular winding and random overlap destroying a part of capacitive reactance. Nowadays, many pickup trucks advertise that manual winding is nothing more than to reproduce retro timbre; As for the quality, it can only be judged if it has been used. Manual winding can't guarantee good timbre.
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* Seth Lover himself once said that the world's first double circle appeared in1930s, but he didn't initiate it in 1955. But his double coils enabled Gibson to compete with Fender and had a far-reaching impact. Seymour Duncan once released a pick-ip, model SH-55, to pay tribute to the father of dual coils.
* Gauge refers to the thickness of steel wire diameter, sometimes expressed by numbers. The larger the number, the thinner the copper wire in the insulator, but the same number may have different actual wire diameters. The larger the wire diameter, the greater the resistance, which in turn affects the impedance value and timbre.