"Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

[autologic]

OK, I was just reading a few articles on this guys website (I get annoyed more and more as I read them) and came across this: http://menga.net/how-long-does-it-ta...-guitar-pickup

Is there any truth to this as all? I could understand the magnet settling as the pickup gets older, but according to this guy, pickups get used to the way you play, and high output humbuckers get worn out the more you use them?? Seems pretty far fetched to me, I've never personally noticed any of this in my 12 or so years of playing...

[Snake Aces]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

We're not talking about a brand new Hemi here. The only "break-in" that happens in gear that I know of are speakers, tubes and wood. Especially on acoustics for the wood but there is a good chance the wood of an electric gets broken in a bit too according to how you play. I certainly have one chambered black korina LP from Warmoth that has gained a warmer bottom end over the years as one example.

Pickups? No. Sure, the magnet changes over many, many, many years very slightly... that's about it. I have an old Alnico II Pro neck humbucker. There could be many reasons why it sounds smoother and slightly different than a brand new one but it is not so far off that you couldn't recognize that it is an A2P.

[autologic]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

OK good, because the whole time I was reading that I was just calling B.S. over and over in my head. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the crazy one. By the way, I would agree about electrics breaking in as well, with the necks bending a bit while playing, and the body and neck flexing from vibrations, it has to change it somewhat over a long period of time. Since acoustics are thinner and flex more, I guess it makes it more noticeable because it happens quicker. Magnets, however, don't seem like they could be altered by a guitar string vibrating over them. I just can't see that one happening.

[AlexR]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

If you put a different magnet in then there is a small period where the new tonality seems to settle - but its always debatable as to whether this is your ears or the pickup.

[firebirdguy72]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

Wow... that's some serious BS going on over on that site... he "conditions" the magnets to react a certain way? Also apparently high output buckers only sound good for a couple years? Seriously?

[Dahla]

"Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

High output humbuckers have a lifespan of 6-12 months before they sound like crap? HahahahahahahahahahahaAAAAAHAHAHAHA!

And I like the "play the crap out of it as often as he can ~ 8 months before it's broken in". But gigging? Less than 6 months. Yay. Lol

Man, I love the internet sometimes.

[allbutromeo]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

This might be the most rediculous thing I've ever read. Ive had the same set of "metal" pickups that have found their way into three different guitars over the last 15 years and sound just as good as day one.

[freefrog]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

See what winders say...

http://music-electronics-forum.com/t11732-post91707/

BTW and FWIW, I've already measured a lowered gauss level on recent pickups and a strong gauss level on vintage pickups (vintage= +/- 50 years old).

[allbutromeo]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

Here's another idiotic article from the same guy titled: Is Guitar Pickup Modding Stupid? It's not really about modding pickups and more about changing pickups in a guitar, but incredibly stupid all the same

http://menga.net/is-guitar-pickup-modding-stupid

[Archer250]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

>Menga.net

THERE'S your problem. You're listening to the biggest sufferer of the Dunning-Kruger effect I have ever seen.

[AlexR]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

This isn't Scott Grove writing is it?? Sounds like his style.

[idsnowdog]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

No. If anything people get used to the sound of the new pickup and they finish adjusting it to their liking. These two activities can be euphemistically considered break in.

[2manyguitars]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

WTF? Where do people come up with this stuff? No, I guess after 50 years a pickup could demagnetize some but if you were to drop in a new SH-1 today it's going to sound exactly the same a year from now? Speakers, tubes, wood to some extent, will break in over time but pickups are basically just electromagnets, so I'd think as long as they are used in normal situations there not going to change much? Even if they do, & I'm 99.999999999999% sure they do not, it would be so subtle that you wouldn't be able to notice? Especially if you use the guitar on a regular basis, then it's still just going to sound like you're guitar because any change would be extremely trivial and would happen over a very long period of time?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??

There are things that can happen to a pickup over time that very much DO affect the sound. Some plastics do shrink slightly, this change in bobbin shape can loosen a tiny bit of tension and the coil will vibrate free'er and possibly become microphonic. Sometimes gunk, grime and crud from your hands finds its way into the coils and does the opposite. Where it could vibrate more now its dampened a bit. You can have a potted pickup that over time the wax dries and falls out and leaves the pickup able to vibrate more. This increase in mechanical noise is interpreted as being "harmonics" and "complexity" at times. I'm convinced that many times when someone is talking about the richness of their favorite vintage pickup what they are enjoying are these extra little bits to the sound.

While the linked articles are bunk... its also bunk to think that pickups dont change over long periods of time.

The stuff about high output pickups only sounding good for a couple years is just pure

[GilmourD]

Re: "Pickup Break-in" Any truth here??