Explaination of how pickups work

[Mincer]

OK, I have lots of students with electric guitars...they want to know how pickups work, and I find it hard to tell them without using terms they don't understand (some are young, and some have no idea about electronics)...so, any suggestions of simple explainations for someone who may have no experience with electronics of any kind? Basically I need explainations that don't include terms or ideas that need further explainations, if that makes sense. So, let me hear em...my students would thank y'all.

 

[vinterland]

Re: Explaination of how pickups work

Maybe say something like a magnetic field is like a pond. Throw a rock in a pond and the water is disturbed. When a string vibrates the magnetic field is disturbed which in turn causes sound. Maybe expand upon something like that a little? It's hard not to get technical when talking about stuff like that.

 

[Al Heeley]

Re: Explaination of how pickups work

I came across a great site a couple of weeks ago, translated from German, called The Secret Of Guitar Pickups, How They Work, or something like that. Now where did I put that link? Will post later if I find it, well worth a read.

 

[Artie]

Re: Explaination of how pickups work

A pickup is just a small AC generator. You have the coil, the permanent magnet, and the strings are the armature. "Spin" the armature, and you generate electricity.

Its really that simple.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Explaination of how pickups work

the pickup is made of a magnet and a coil of wire

when the string vibrates to make a note, the magnet and coil "picks up" the vibration and turns it into an electrical signal

if the vibration changes (to make a different note, or a chord), the electrical signal changes ... if the vibration is bigger (because you pluck or strum harder), the signal is bigger ...

depending on how strong the magnet is, how close the pickup is to the strings, and how much wire is in the coil, the electrical signal might be stronger or weaker or 'different' ...

hope this helps
t4d

 

[Natman]

Re: Explaination of how pickups work

And for the technical terms, a magnetic object in a magnetic field induces a current in a wire if it is at 90 degrees to it. The object (in our case guitar string) has to have a velocity (and it does from your pick plucking it). The pickup's magnet is providing the field, and the wire is would in such a way that it is always 90 degrees to the direction of the object's movement (think of the string in ONE spot only, and it is basically moving up & down). Therefore, the current is +ve when the string swings toward the pickup, and -ve when it swings away or upward. There you go = alternating current which exactly matches the string's vibration. All you need is an amplifier to drive a speaker which in turn vibrates at the same frequency as the string using the opposite theory: the current induces the magnetic field, which moves the cone, which moves the air.