Need Some Help With Termonology

[jlarremore]

I'm trying to determine pickups for a guitar I'm building for myself I thought I knew, but I think I've over thought it. I've been running across terminology for pickups and getting this as a specification

DC: Neck 5.8K, bridge 10.0K ( this is just one I pulled off a pickup I found )

What do those numbers mean and how will raising or lowering them affect the sound?

Jef

Edited November 5, 2008 by jlarremore

[Ripthorn]

Those are the DC resistances of the coils. The higher the number, the more windings there typically are. A higher value will indicate a higher output due to the greater number of windings. The bridge one above would be considered hot while the other would not be so much. Hope that helps.

[jlarremore]

So is about 8.x considered roughly the standard for hot or not hot?

[westhemann]

9k ohms is about where it goes from mild to hot...12 to 14 is typical JB or Duncan Distortion...whilest 15 and above is scorching hot...

any help?

[Geo]

There are other factors too. The magnetic strength also determines the output.

And the coil shape and number of coils determine the color of the sound, which influences the perceived output. Don't forget the shape of the magnetic field.

[bluesy]

There are other factors too. The magnetic strength also determines the output.

And the coil shape and number of coils determine the color of the sound, which influences the perceived output. Don't forget the shape of the magnetic field.

There are some assumptions being made when people predict based on DC resistance. For a start, they are assuming similar resistivity of the wire used. For wire of the same makeup, this means, same diameter, and for wire made of different materials, all bets are off. Given this, then the wire still needs to wound on a similar sized bobbin in order for the number of turns to be proportional to DC resistance. Then there's the coupling to the string.

[jlarremore]

This is all very interesting and informative. This is going to be my "go to" guitar so it needs to be rather versatile. On the clean side I want a crisp tone for both the bridge and neck. I'd like to be able to switch from a Jazz/Nashville type sound to a pretty solid and round, yet still crisp tone when I dirty it up with distortion. I'm starting to like the Eddie Van Halen "Custom Custom" pickup, but I'm not sure it's as versatile as I want. The phrase that keeps coming to mind is "general purpose" which seems to be a 59 type humbucker. I'm also considering something like a GFS Dream 180 which is cross between a P90 and a TV Jones.

Any thoughts? You're not going to hurt my feelings unless you just say something mean. I'm here for the expertise. I just don't get the chance to really try these out for myself very much.

Jef

[Ripthorn]

For versatility, I actually like PRS pickups. The dragon II series are very nice. The only downside is that they are pricey. I guess my question is do you want to use what you have or buy something to acheive your general purpose-ness? Also, if you want lots of versatility, you might consider putting in a third pickup. It all depends on what you want to do. Usually a hot pickup will give you very crisp tones (at least in my experience) as opposed to a mellower one. I just don't think crisp for jazz so much, I think mellow.

[jlarremore]

I think mellow is good word too. The body is like an Peavey Wolfgang. So we're looking at 2 pickups, preferably humbuckers. I like the body design. I like mellow, but too mellow sounds muffled and muted. Personally I like the crunch of the bridge and then switch over to the bridge and get the mellow jazz sound. I use them more as individuals than as a combination.

I may have backed myself into a corner.

Jef