some
information provided by
Seymour Duncan -
one of the top manufacturers of guitar pickups
First, what is a
pickup?
Technically, pickups are
transducers that “pick up” string vibrations and
translate them into an electrical current which then
comes out of your amp as a tasty jazz run, a chunky
power chord, or an in-yer-face death metal riff.
Why change
pickups?
Simply put: Are you totally satisfied with your
instrument’s tone? Look – 99% of all guitars are
built from the same basic stuff: wood, strings,
hardware, and pickups. Each of these components
plays an important role in formulating the tone and
determining how your instrument will sound. But
check this out – if you’ve got an instrument that
looks right and feels right, but doesn’t sound right
to you, then the pickups in that instrument are not
the right pickups for you. Seymour Duncan/Basslines
manufactures hundreds of pickup models for all kinds
of instruments with the single-minded goal of
helping you find your tone. Your tone.
OK, now I have
decided to change but what and how?
Deciding on
your tone needs in an important first step in
choosing a pickup. Do you need more output?
Are you looking for a thicker tone? Is your tone
lacking bottom end? Are you in search of more
sustain or better dynamics? Answering these
questions is the first step in choosing the right
pickup for you.
Next, read about
pickups. Look at their reported sound and
tonal qualities. Many pickup manufacturers
have sample sounds from varying guitars on various
amps on their websites.
Seymour Duncan has
a large audio library giving samples to help you
find what you are looking for.
audio
samples from the
Seymour Duncan
website - mp3 format
See
the
Pickups
Directory
for pickup manufacturers
Installation
After
buying your new pickup you need to get it installed.
Whether you have it done by a local guitar shop or
do it yourself is the next question.
Installing your own pickups can be a little complex
and requires some soldering skills. Pickup
installation requires the strings to be removed from
the guitar, the pickup removed, the new one
installed and soldered back to the guitars wiring.
Once installed put on a new set of strings and jam
on.
Installation tips
-Note
all the wire locations and wire colors
-Take a picture of the wiring
-Some factory installed pickups have different
wiring than aftermarket ones, read the directions
-Most pickup manufacturers have detailed wiring
diagrams and descriptions for installation.
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