What is "hot"

[vsrini29]

I am new to guitars and pickups. When I read stuff on pickups, there are terms like "hot", "bright", "dark" "punchy", "middy sound", to describe a sound quality.

What do these terms mean? Are there any audio samples I can hear to perceive the difference between "hot", "bright", "dark" "punchy", "middy sound"?

Also, what do these mean: "harmonics", "midrange", "grainy"?

Appreciate any help.

 

[Funky P]

Re: What is "hot"

Bright - treble
Dark - not bright

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: What is "hot"

I am new to guitars and pickups. When I read stuff on pickups, there are terms like "hot", "bright", "dark" "punchy", "middy sound", to describe a sound quality.

What do these terms mean? Are there any audio samples I can hear to perceive the difference between "hot", "bright", "dark" "punchy", "middy sound"?

Also, what do these mean: "harmonics", "midrange", "grainy"?

Appreciate any help.

Hi vsrini29!

Let me see if I can help you with a couple of definitions. The problem with trying to define some terms is because they are COMPARATIVE. In other words, they don't mean much until you compare one against the other.

Hot implies a pickup with high output. It can drive a clean amp into overdrive.
Bright implies that the pickup may have a boosted frequency response in the treble. Bad brightness terms are tizzy, harsh, synthetic. Good brightness terms are clear, open, airy.
Dark implies that the pickup has a dip in the treble. It is the opposite of bright.
Middy implies that the pickup has a boost in the midrange. Too much midrange and it may be called congested.
Punchy implies that the pickup has a PUNCH in a certain frequency band. Tho it's most often refered to the midrange, a pickup can also have punchy bass, too. I've never heard of a punchy treble, tho.
Harmonic or harmonic richness implies that the pickup lets the naturally ocurring overtones in any note ring out with lots of clarity and resolution.
Midrange is the frequency band that operates in the middle of our hearing range, typically from 200Hz to about 5kHz, to over-simplify it. The midrange is where guitars rule!
Grainy can refer to a lot of things, but is typically used to describe when something sounds harsh or abrasive in the upper midrange and treble bands.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What is "hot"

All humbuckers and single coils are based on Gibson and Fender pickups from the 50's. To me, HOT implies a pickup that's overwound so it has more output than a 50's pickup. Lew

 

[yeti]

Re: What is "hot"

One term you didn't mention but should see alot is "muddy". This is when your sound is too dark, and notes aren't very well defined. Just put something like Van Halen's "Eruption" on your stereo, cut your treble to 0 and your bass to 10, and you'll get an idea what muddy sounds like.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: What is "hot"

One term you didn't mention but should see alot is "muddy". This is when your sound is too dark, and notes aren't very well defined. Just put something like Van Halen's "Eruption" on your stereo, cut your treble to 0 and your bass to 10, and you'll get an idea what muddy sounds like.

I'll have to partially disagree on that... because dark doesn't mean muddy For example, a Texas Hot isn't very strong in the highs, still not muddy (but also not dark X-D )... muddy is just undefined blah...

 

[Telesexual]

Re: What is "hot"

All humbuckers and single coils are based on Gibson and Fender pickups from the 50's. To me, HOT implies a pickup that's overwound so it has more output than a 50's pickup. Lew

word

I also like to search for pickups by looking at magnet types first
ALNICO II - mellow
ALNICO V - Bright
Ceramic - HOT and has balls

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What is "hot"

Yeah...to me, "muddy" is when you have more bass than you need and when you go to play chords they sound "muddy"...same to me as "woofy".

Most neck humbuckers sound a little muddy to me...but bridge humbuckers usually do not.

It's why I prefer single coils for playing rythym.

 

[yeti]

Re: What is "hot"

True. I definitely didn't mean dark=muddy. Look at Clapton's woman tone in Cream. I guess I meant too much bass and not enough highs to balance-plus mids just sounding blegh. No definition.
We should have a Sticky with definitions of the lingo for the new guys.

 

[Jester700]

Re: What is "hot"

Keep two things in mind. First, tone is taste. EVERYONE has their own idea of what sounds good. Some will say a pickup is "clear & bright" others will say the same pickup is "harsh". Some folks swear by humbuckers, others swear AT them and prefer single coils. Also, a lot depends on what else is going on - the guitar's construction, the gear it's plugged into, etc. A "bright" guitar and a "bright" amp will generally make a "clear" pickup sound "harsh", if you follow me.

For this reason it's important that you spend lots of time absorbing the sounds of different guitars, asking questions about the pickups and other construction details, etc. Listen to the sound clips on this and other pickup sites. Get familiar with the bands/songs you like and how those sounds were made. Read geeky interviews with guitarists who have opinions deeper than "anything other than brand X sucks". Before long, you'll have a good idea about what you like and what gear will achieve it.

 

[BowerR64]

Re: What is "hot"

I always thought hot was a high resistance but i have a few pickups that are overwound around 16k that sounds great. They crunch when asked and they clean up like a low output so everything about a pickup depends on the guitar, wood, electronics, the amp your playing style you just have to try em out.

I got a set of pickups off e-bay once from an ibanez RG, they were the V7 and V8 and the V8 sounded like crap and i didnt like it so i took it out and put a jackson pickup in the guitar and it sounded better. Then i put the V8 in the jackson and it sounded better in that guitar. I dono if it was because the jackson had a pickguard like the ibanez it came from or what but it did.

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: What is "hot"

Anybody care to share a good definition/example of "glassy"?