What is a chewy pickup ?

JB6464

New member
When people state certain pickups sound chewy ,what are they meaning ?
Are they saying the pickup reacts more dynamic with your string attack , like if you dig in it gets more aggressive and when you back off it sounds soft and smooth , all without adjusting you volume knob .
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

Chewy pickups:

2b2e738113ba23c8797a9b2cc7aa22f0.png




:P
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

I don't usually think of pickups being chewy, mostly amp/pedals but for me I think of it as something that doesn't really lose a lot of dynamic range, I guess a lot of compression of quieter sounds, as opposed to a more dry sounding pickup that has less of a volume floor and can sort of "die out" on weaker frequencies and light touch.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

I used to describe the tone of that red Strat that Brad Gillis played as chewy. Sounded thick and juicy to me.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

Well, I would imagine that the over potted Asian wax buckets could be plenty chewy.

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Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

chewy to me is exemplified by the soft bass and big warm textured mids of an alnico 2 pup
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

Honestly nothing. It could mean a different thing to one person than it means to another , and then something else to you.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

Trying to find the proper adjective for the timbre of a pickup is a true rabbit hole.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

I thought this was a zombie thread. My recollection from the last thread that asked this is that it’s an adjective someone used for marketing that sounds like nonsense to everybody.


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Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

None of the adjectives we tend to use are universally accepted or well understood by others. How do you take the character or feeling of something creating sound beneath your fingers and translate it into words?

I feel like I understand "chewy" and agree with the "textured mids of an A2" pickup sentiment above, but I can also see where that means absolutely nothing to most people, especially if they haven't experienced it and are just reading the words.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

I remember an ancient Guitar Player magazine interview with Skunk Baxter, talking about his studio experiences....

He was working a session with Dolly Parton recording Christmas tunes, and when it came time for a solo Dolly asked for something "All green and sparkly". Skunk racked his brain for a time when someone mentioned green or sparkly in reference to his playing (took about a second). So he buckled down and improvised something on the spot, and Dolly supposedly clapped her hands in glee and squealed with delight. Skunk made a mental note for future reference.....

I figure we all eat, so I made references to food when talking about sound (chewy fits right in there). So does sweet, warm, etc. Sometimes our communication skills are so limited, aren't they?
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

There are probably a whole host of guitar-based descriptions that I don't understand. Although I have my own terms for stuff I do and hear, I think it would just confuse people if I used it when communicating with other musicians.
 
Re: What is a chewy pickup ?

I remember an ancient Guitar Player magazine interview with Skunk Baxter, talking about his studio experiences....

He was working a session with Dolly Parton recording Christmas tunes, and when it came time for a solo Dolly asked for something "All green and sparkly". Skunk racked his brain for a time when someone mentioned green or sparkly in reference to his playing (took about a second). So he buckled down and improvised something on the spot, and Dolly supposedly clapped her hands in glee and squealed with delight. Skunk made a mental note for future reference.....

I figure we all eat, so I made references to food when talking about sound (chewy fits right in there). So does sweet, warm, etc. Sometimes our communication skills are so limited, aren't they?

I don't think it's true, but I heard some believe that if you had the right words you could describe color to a blind person.

But I think that's what we're trying to do here.

Some sounds are easy to understand - bright, dark, warm, twangy

Some can be confusing if you're not a guitar player / fan of guitar music - brittle, spanky, boomy, scooped, hairy, crunchy, punchy

Some can be confusing even if you are one - chewy, honky, glassy, throaty, round, woody
 
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