What determines a pickups sound?

[Coma]

IE, how does the different factors alter its sound pocessing?
What's the difference in sound between scatterwound and machine (non-scatter) wound?
How does the number of wire turns affect the sound?
What effect does the pole pieces have (standard screws, Invader-type screws, allen screws - or whatever those on the full shred are called)?

tanx

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

IE, how does the different factors alter its sound pocessing?
What's the difference in sound between scatterwound and machine (non-scatter) wound?
How does the number of wire turns affect the sound?
What effect does the pole pieces have (standard screws, Invader-type screws, allen screws - or whatever those on the full shred are called)?

tanx

Hey Coma I thought I could chime in and add a bit of light to the matter.

All SD's are machine wound to some extent, scatter winding has to do with a human hand guiding where the coil wire goes. It's said that a scatter wound pup has a more complex sounding midrange. When you compare Antiquities to the production wound pups it becomes believable.

The more wire the larger possible mV output. This translates to stronger signal, more midrange heavy, and less highs.

Allen screws have the effect of providing tighter bass, where as regular screws give a more mellow rounded sound, slugs make for a warmer darker sound. The large hex cap poles on the invader provide lots of bass.

Hope some of that helps!

Luke

 

[Artie]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

Here's another good resource for that answer:

Seymour Duncan Q & A

Scroll down to answer #155.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

What's the difference in sound between scatterwound and machine (non-scatter) wound?

Scatter winding, as Luke says, can be done on a machine, but what scatterwinding really means -- if I understand correctly -- is there is some degree of randomness to the wind pattern. Guiding the wire with the hand inherently adds "imperfections" to the wind that make it to one degree or another "scattered". It isn't wound in perfectly neat rows back and forth in some geometrically precise pattern, which is what is really meant by machine-wound.

The effect of irregular wind patterns is to change the capacitance of the coil (the tiny amount of current that leaks through the insulation of the copper wire). For whatever reason, this adds depth and complexity to the whole frequency spectrum, but especially the mids.

(See my thread on "My Wacky Weekend Winding experiment" for a humorous adventure in true scatterwinding -- with my bare hands! That coil looks more like a ball of yarn than a pickup! And talk about clear, detailed but warm mids!)

How does the number of wire turns affect the sound?

More turns equals more output (power/volume/sensitivity), and past a certain point, more and more midrange at the expense of the highs and lows.

What effect does the pole pieces have (standard screws, Invader-type screws, allen screws - or whatever those on the full shred are called)?

The height of the poles relative to the pickup itself, to each other, and to the slugs in the other coil have more of an effect on the sound than the type of screw. However, though some say the screw type has no effect at all, in my experience it does matter. One thing I've noticed in particular is that the Seymour Duncan screw heads are much smaller than those on a Gibson pole piece -- the Gibson poles are noticeably louder and ruder.

Another interesting thing to note is that grinding the other end of the pole piece down adds more output and midrange by concentrating the magnetic field more toward the strings. Even 1/16" will make a noticeable difference.

I know what you're thinking but I didn't believe it either until I tried it!

tanx[/QUOTE]

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

Lots of awesome information in this thread. Very much Vault-worthy

 

[Artie]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

Another interesting thing to note is that grinding the other end of the pole piece down adds more output and midrange by concentrating the magnetic field more toward the strings. Even 1/16" will make a noticeable difference.

I know what you're thinking but I didn't believe it either until I tried it!

tanx

I keep meaning to try this. I have a nice tap & die set, so I can cut the ends off, and reshape the threads. I just gotta decide which pup to . . . sacrifice.

Maybe the lone DD.

 

[Coma]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

Well, I'm getting a DD in two weeks or so. If I wanna add, say, more bass, I should replce the pole pieces (screw, that is, and thse slugs are sorta stuck there) with allen screws?

And when you're talking about grinding down the pole slugs, are you talking about singl coils? Cuz as far as I know, those are the only pickups I know where the pole pices are standing up above the coil body (ie, they're staggered).

Oh, and I'm glad you like my thread :arms:

 

[Artie]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

Well, I'm getting a DD in two weeks or so. If I wanna add, say, more bass, I should replce the pole pieces (screw, that is, and thse slugs are sorta stuck there) with allen screws?

I've taken a couple of pups apart, and on mine, the slugs pushed out fairly easily. Also, you want to be careful about the metal composition of the replacement screws. If you use the wrong type, they won't conduct the magnetic field. (Its in that FAQ above.)

And when you're talking about grinding down the pole slugs, are you talking about singl coils? Cuz as far as I know, those are the only pickups I know where the pole pices are standing up above the coil body (ie, they're staggered).

You need to very careful if you do this. On a single-coil, (and the Stag Mag), the poles are the magnets. Overheat them with a grinder, and you've ruined them. Not to mention the risk of "splintering" them.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: What determines a pickups sound?

And when you're talking about grinding down the pole slugs, are you talking about singl coils? Cuz as far as I know, those are the only pickups I know where the pole pices are standing up above the coil body (ie, they're staggered).

What he is referring to is grinding down the screws poles, not the mags in S/C pups.

As far as taking out the slugs go your problem will be there are no threads on the bottom, or tapped out in the plate.

You might want to consider a Screaming Demon. It has a very aggressive sound with the high end bite that helps to make leads jump out of the mix. It also has a set of screw poles, and a set of allen poles. However if you are pretty set on a Distortion but want an additional set of poles I'd shoot Duncan an email and ask them if they could do it as a Floor Shop Custom. Those are standard models with a small modification. You'd be better off going that way than butchering a new pup hoping to get it the way you like it.

Luke