Guitar Pickups Don't Matter?

[ML SOUND LAB]

Take the strings off of your guitar, plug it in, and crank up your amp. Now tap on your guitar. What do you hear?

I do understand what you're getting at but let me reverse this - when do you ever tap on your guitar when actually playing it? Again I'm not saying that these things don't make a difference at all. I'm more trying to say that there are other things that make a much bigger difference like anything that touches the strings. The bridge is a big one as every ringing string is pressed up against it. The nut for open notes and I suppose the frets should make a big difference as well but I haven't done an A/B between different material frets in the same instrument.

I did like that video posted by @Kamil Kisiel and that's IMO the best video showing the difference without changing anything on the guitar - now I'm thinking what the test would be like if those bodies were finished. I'll actually post an analysis of that video below.

 

[Rex]

I do understand what you're getting at but let me reverse this - when do you ever tap on your guitar when actually playing it?

You don't (usually, anyway). But that's irrelevant to the discussion. The point is that the statement "They "pick up" what your strings are doing. They don't pick up what wood is doing because it's not made of metal" is mistaken. Pickups do pick up what the wood does.

Again I'm not saying that these things don't make a difference at all.

I totally did not pick up on that.

I'm more trying to say that there are other things that make a much bigger difference...

True.

...like anything that touches the strings. The bridge is a big one as every ringing string is pressed up against it. The nut for open notes and I suppose the frets should make a big difference as well...

Dunno about that. Those all make a difference. But when listening to a guitar tone, I'm more likely to say "that sounds like the midrange growl of a Pearly Gates pickup" before I'd say "that sounds like an aluminum bridge."

 

[ML SOUND LAB]

For a comparison of different body or neck woods the best I've seen so far is the videos on Warmoth's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/WarmothGuitars/videos

They will keep everything about a guitar the same except for the part that is under test. There are definitely differences caused by body woods, neck woods, chambering or not, etc. In many cases they are pretty minor but as @Disco Cat pointed out, your guitar tone is a sum of all the parts. Some but not necessarily all of the differences can achieved through different means such as EQ.

Here's a comparison of Alder vs. Mahogany vs. Swamp Ash bodies:

This is a really good video and probably one of the only videos that's "done it right" as in they keep everything else the same. Now I'm only wondering why those bodies were unfinished... does it make the difference larger? Anyways I'll run some EQ tests on that clip even though it can't be the exact same take - I think it can give us a better understanding of what's actually happening rather than using feel based qualities. Again I highly recommend everyone watching this video with their eyes closed so you're actually using your hearing instead of reacting to the information that your eyesight is giving you.

First graph is the clean bridge pickup takes and the second graph is the driven bridge pickup takes.

GREEN = Swamp Ash | BLUE = Alder | PINK = Mahogany

Just so everyone is reading the graph correctly the biggest difference is about 0,6dB in the low end. These types of measurements would typically require the same exact take because depenging on how you're palm muting and where you're picking will have big differences in these areas.



Generally speaking both alder takes seem to be the lowest output takes as it's always the bottom curve - also EQ balance wise it aligns with the other takes at 2kHz forward so in comparison this would mean that it's the brightest if you don't take to account the volume difference. For me the mahogany one has a slight nasally character to it in these takes. If I would have to pick a favorite I'd probably choose the swamp ash.

Now let me bring us back to reality - if I felt like my alder body guitar tone was too bright, how would I fix it? Switch pickups? Switch to a different body wood guitar? Raise my pickups? Switch between 250k/500k pots?

No - I would turn up the bass knob on the amp half an increment - because that half increment makes a bigger difference than body wood or most likely you changing your pickups. This is once again subjective but that's the kind of logic I would use.

 

[lwknives]

This is a really good video and probably one of the only videos that's "done it right" as in they keep everything else the same. Now I'm only wondering why those bodies were unfinished... does it make the difference larger? Anyways I'll run some EQ tests on that clip even though it can't be the exact same take - I think it can give us a better understanding of what's actually happening rather than using feel based qualities. Again I highly recommend everyone watching this video with their eyes closed so you're actually using your hearing instead of reacting to the information that your eyesight is giving you.

First graph is the clean bridge pickup takes and the second graph is the driven bridge pickup takes.

GREEN = Swamp Ash | BLUE = Alder | PINK = Mahogany

Just so everyone is reading the graph correctly the biggest difference is about 0,6dB in the low end. These types of measurements would typically require the same exact take because depenging on how you're palm muting and where you're picking will have big differences in these areas.

View attachment 58934

Generally speaking both alder takes seem to be the lowest output takes as it's always the bottom curve - also EQ balance wise it aligns with the other takes at 2kHz forward so in comparison this would mean that it's the brightest if you don't take to account the volume difference. For me the mahogany one has a slight nasally character to it in these takes. If I would have to pick a favorite I'd probably choose the swamp ash.

Now let me bring us back to reality - if I felt like my alder body guitar tone was too bright, how would I fix it? Switch pickups? Switch to a different body wood guitar? Raise my pickups? Switch between 250k/500k pots?

No - I would turn up the bass knob on the amp half an increment - because that half increment makes a bigger difference than body wood or most likely you changing your pickups. This is once again subjective but that's the kind of logic I would use.

Or if we wanted to make an even bigger difference we could use a post amp graphic EQ!
I've also noticed that the sliders on a 3 band graphic make a bigger difference than the sliders on a 10 band. Ten band graphic EQs must not effect tone as much as 3 band EQs so we should quite chasing our tail trying to get good tone using 10 band EQs and start using 3 band exclusively.



Obvious hyperbole is obvious...


Mine not yours...