Dark Order Lord
New member
I love this dude, he's always informative, and hates active pickups like me (which is not the point of this video).....
More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
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Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
This is interesting.. It seems to me he is saying that say a JB with a Gold Cover on it, would sound different to that of a Nickel cover on it, and then different again with no cover... I thought it was purely cosmetic....
This is interesting.. It seems to me he is saying that say a JB with a Gold Cover on it, would sound different to that of a Nickel cover on it, and then different again with no cover... I thought it was purely cosmetic....
Dark Order Lord
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
No. Nickel plated and gold plating is too minimal. But covers do change the sound for sure, but exactly why is the mystery
No. Nickel plated and gold plating is too minimal. But covers do change the sound for sure, but exactly why is the mystery
koshikas
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
i ve heard and read my share of these mysteries regarding covers and base plates material influencing the sound of pickups. i ve also heard a great deal about these eddy currents thang which is totally cryptic to me. perhaps afterall they are related to influence the sound to debunk this mystery. got to read more on this.
i ve heard and read my share of these mysteries regarding covers and base plates material influencing the sound of pickups. i ve also heard a great deal about these eddy currents thang which is totally cryptic to me. perhaps afterall they are related to influence the sound to debunk this mystery. got to read more on this.
DreX
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
I'm sure there is a measurable difference if you have fancy test equipment, but I doubt it's audible, or has any effect on the voicing since the magnetic geometry remains the same.
If you add a ferrous base plate to a pickup, it will change the shape of the magnetic field and change how the string and the coil interact with it. It would be like changing the lens on a camera to see more or see less, nearer or farther. It's easy to witness, you simply strum and listen to the guitar as is it, then stick different, thin pieces of ferrous metal between the strings and the pickup, strum and listen again and you will hear a difference. Eddy currents, if they are even significant, would probably serve to move the resonant peak a tiny bit.
It's also curious that he didn't simply do an A/B audio test with and without a cover, where the rubber meets the road, the practical application of this concept, but instead he detours and plays Bill Nye the Science Guy and demonstrate how the magnet slide more slowly down a board. Maybe he knows the outcome of an A/B audio demo would have been underwhelming. It's worth noting that he had to use a neodymium magnet for his eddy current demonstration. Neodymium magnets are ridiculously strong compared to AlNiCo or ceramic.
If anything, I think the metal cover has more of a microphonic significance with unpotted pickups.
I'm sure there is a measurable difference if you have fancy test equipment, but I doubt it's audible, or has any effect on the voicing since the magnetic geometry remains the same.
If you add a ferrous base plate to a pickup, it will change the shape of the magnetic field and change how the string and the coil interact with it. It would be like changing the lens on a camera to see more or see less, nearer or farther. It's easy to witness, you simply strum and listen to the guitar as is it, then stick different, thin pieces of ferrous metal between the strings and the pickup, strum and listen again and you will hear a difference. Eddy currents, if they are even significant, would probably serve to move the resonant peak a tiny bit.
It's also curious that he didn't simply do an A/B audio test with and without a cover, where the rubber meets the road, the practical application of this concept, but instead he detours and plays Bill Nye the Science Guy and demonstrate how the magnet slide more slowly down a board. Maybe he knows the outcome of an A/B audio demo would have been underwhelming. It's worth noting that he had to use a neodymium magnet for his eddy current demonstration. Neodymium magnets are ridiculously strong compared to AlNiCo or ceramic.
If anything, I think the metal cover has more of a microphonic significance with unpotted pickups.
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Edgecrusher
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
The dude in the video is a tool... He shows us eddy currents exist (no great revelation lots of other people have read bill lawerences website too) but doesnt give us anything more in terms of what actually happens sonically. I could not care less that it makes a magnet fall slower... what does it do sonically. But i get the distinct impression from the video he doesnt really know.
Tim Mills from BKP gives a decent covered vs covered comparison. While not specifically about eddy currents atleast he shows us how parts can make a difference in sound
The dude in the video is a tool... He shows us eddy currents exist (no great revelation lots of other people have read bill lawerences website too) but doesnt give us anything more in terms of what actually happens sonically. I could not care less that it makes a magnet fall slower... what does it do sonically. But i get the distinct impression from the video he doesnt really know.
Tim Mills from BKP gives a decent covered vs covered comparison. While not specifically about eddy currents atleast he shows us how parts can make a difference in sound
DreX
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
One thing about these BKP demos is that they put a lot of space between the apples and apples comparisons, here are links set to start when the in neck is selected:
covered
http://youtu.be/D756154qUdo?t=1m46s
uncovered
http://youtu.be/D756154qUdo?t=3m1s
It sounds to me like the uncovered pickups might be a little brighter and covered a little warmer. I hear more of a difference than I expected, but then again he could have been plucking the strings a little harder or softer, the difference is that small.
One thing about these BKP demos is that they put a lot of space between the apples and apples comparisons, here are links set to start when the in neck is selected:
covered
http://youtu.be/D756154qUdo?t=1m46s
uncovered
http://youtu.be/D756154qUdo?t=3m1s
It sounds to me like the uncovered pickups might be a little brighter and covered a little warmer. I hear more of a difference than I expected, but then again he could have been plucking the strings a little harder or softer, the difference is that small.
darthphineas
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
There is a difference to any cover you put on a pickup. Period. It's up to you to determine if its something that works for you or not.
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There is a difference to any cover you put on a pickup. Period. It's up to you to determine if its something that works for you or not.
Sent from my armored battle station using Tapatalk
VVladislav
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
+1
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+1
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
At the end of the vid they have the back to back ones.
At the end of the vid they have the back to back ones.
Rockstar216
New member
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
Eddy Currents would make a great name for a front man or a 60s R&B group. "Now with their new hit single Static love, Eddy and The Currents"
Eddy Currents would make a great name for a front man or a 60s R&B group. "Now with their new hit single Static love, Eddy and The Currents"
Simon_F
Super Moderator
Re: More to pickups than your magnet and coils..... Great video
I'm pretty certain that's not Tim Mills in the BKP video!
I'm pretty certain that's not Tim Mills in the BKP video!