Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Hello there

As the title asks.... Would a magnetic soundhole pickup work if mounted on an electric guitar?
I'm planning a hollowbody build and I'm thinking of mounting an acoustic soundhole pickup somewhere on the body... Maybe near the bridge or edge of the fingerboard and link it to a piezo with a blend pot while at the same time mounting a set of PAF's for the electric side.

But the question is, will a soundhole pickup like a lace bronze sensor or an SD woody work on electric guitar strings? Something like EB Slinkies or D'Addario chromes?

And another question linked to this is with acoustic pickups, how do they work? I read somewhere that phosphor bronze strings aren't that magnetic so how does a non microphone soundhole pickup work with them?

[jeremy]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

soundhole pickups will work very well with electric strings. i dont think overall the sound will be very acoustic-y but might be cool. id put it closer to the neck rather than the bridge to get a fuller sound.

phospher bronze strings and the like dont create as much signal as electric strings which is why companys make things like white bronze or zebra strings

[UCSDBoy]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

Bronze itself isn't magnetic so if it did work, it would be picking up the vibrations of the core wire, which is probably steel. I wouldn't know what it would sound like...

[Chickenwings]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

it will work. soundhole pickups are no different to electric guitar pickups.

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

Ah so basically it would just be functioning as an electric pickup? So it would kinda be redundant if I'm using that and a PAF....

I was just confused as to why they work on bronze strings even though they're not magnetic. I thought they used a different kind of sorcery to pick up signal....

Is there any difference in the way the acoustic pickup is wound/made from a normal style humbucker?
I read that the some of them are acoustic soundhole humbuckers so are they also just wound coils around magnets but just in a different package?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

Is there any difference in the way the acoustic pickup is wound/made from a normal style humbucker?
I read that the some of them are acoustic soundhole humbuckers so are they also just wound coils around magnets but just in a different package?

Sure the construction is different from a normal humbucker and they wouldnt sound exactly like one. If your after a acoustic sound from your electric its probably not such a hot idea but if you want something different than a normal humbucker or strat single coil then it might do the trick.

[MrTondo]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

As a physicist I'll have to say all materials are magnetic. Just look for 'levatating frog' on youtube.

The thing is, all materials moving in a magnetic field influence that magnetic field, especially conducting materials. So it is the moving that causes the signal in the pickup, not so much the material that moves. Have you ever noticed increased signal from your pup by playing pure iron strings? I don't think so. What you do notice is the change in tonality due to the different vibrational properties.

That being said I say go for it. It will not sound like an acoustic (no electric will), but it should be a cool sound!

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: Would a soundhole pickup work on an electric?

Yeah I'm not aiming for a full acoustic sound, I rather want a cleaner, less coloured sound. Like the sound you get with te soundhole pickup that's quite similar to the actual sound of the acoustic instead of being altered by magnet choice and different winds etc.

Basically I want to pick up the raw "acoustic" tone of the hollowbody (I like the sound of old archtop acoustics but I want to amplify it and hav conventional PAF's in there as well) and from what you guys say a repurposed acoustic pup is the way to do it