Ever wondered what is behind the amazing sounds a guitar makes? Well, there are plenty of components, but the pickups are an essential part of helping to create the unique sound we hear. In an electric guitar, the vibrations of the strings are sensed electronically and the signals route back to the amplifier. All of this sensing happens in a magnetic pickup. How do they work, and could you make one yourself?

How Does a Pickup Work?

If you know anything about electromagnets, then you are aware that the coils and magnets are able to turn electrical energy into motion. But they can also turn motion into electrical energy and this is how the sound is produced by an electric guitar.

The humble, little pickups often consist of a bar magnet that’s wrapped with as many as 7,000 turns of fine wire. When you play the string, you’ll produce a corresponding vibration in the magnetic field and therefore establish a current in the coil, which transforms it into sound.

The majority of electric guitars have two or three of these pickups located in different parts of the body. These pickups generally produce a distinctive sound. When you pair different pickups together, you can create a ton of different sound variations and add more flair to your playing.

The different pickups all have unique qualities. Some of them have just a single magnet bar under the strings, whereas others have a separate pole piece for each string. These pole pieces make it easy to adjust their height, which in turn can influence the strength of the signal. This will help produce a unique sound depending on the height of the pole piece.

The Materials Used

The most important part of the pickup is the magnet. There are a few different magnet materials used in contemporary guitar pickups. According to the Guitar Repairs website, these include:

• Alnico – Aluminium, nickel and cobalt: alnico magnets are actually one of the oldest magnets ever developed, and therefore, the pickups that use it are often classic or vintage models. It gives a nice mellow tone to your guitar, but the strength will decline over time.
• Ceramic or Ferrite – strontium ferrite: these magnets were developed as a budget-friendly alternative to alnico. They are commonly used, but can cause “string pull” and intonation problems. The sound is brighter compared to alnico.
• Rare earth – neodymium, iron, boron or samarium cobalt: these are quite rare, but incredibly strong magnets. They are commonly used in modern guitars, as well as acoustic guitars. They provide a very stable and clear tone.

How to get a Guitar Pickup?

If you are looking for a new guitar pickup, you have two options. It is actually possible to make your own pickup from relatively few materials. It isn’t by any means an easy thing to do, but if you are passionate about guitar music, then it might be a fun project to do. There are plenty of tutorials available online.

Alternatively, you could just purchase a new pickup from guitar shops. If you want something very durable and high quality, then use handmade guitar pickups. For example, Creamery Pickups are a good option to keep in mind.

Hopefully, the above helped you understand the way guitar pickups work and how they are made. If you are having trouble with the tone of your guitar, then you can find other helpful tips from our previous blog post. Always look after your guitar well since it’s the best way to guarantee you’ll sound great as well!