How do I tone match pickups?

If the guitar is the same and only the pickups are different, remember that when you want to switch from bridge to neck pickup, you'll have to switch presets as well. This is something that has mostly turned me off from the idea for the time being.
 
It won't sound anywhere near as good because the pickup's physical position relative to both the strings and your picking is more important than its EQ.
 
prometh said:
If the guitar is the same and only the pickups are different, remember that when you want to switch from bridge to neck pickup, you'll have to switch presets as well. This is something that has mostly turned me off from the idea for the time being.
Click to expand...

Ummmm...no. I would use this with scenes [emoji2]

Or it could be assigned to an IA...


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prometh said:
It won't sound anywhere near as good because the pickup's physical position relative to both the strings and your picking is more important than its EQ.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I agree with that... The difference is mostly one of EQ/drive, and I think the tone match should cover most of that.

Of course, I could be completely wrong [emoji6]


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unix-guy said:
I'm not sure I agree with that... The difference is mostly one of EQ/drive, and I think the tone match should cover most of that.
Click to expand...
The signals coming off your neck and bridge pickups have radically different harmonic content. And that harmonic mix changes as you fret your way up the neck. You can't compensate for that with EQ, and tone matching is all about EQ. But you can get in the ballpark. Sort of. Okay, maybe you can get into the ballpark in the next town. :)

Example: your bridge pickup has a fair (and fairly constant) amount of high-order harmonics relative to the fundamental note. Meanwhile, your neck pickup has a strong 2nd-harmonic component when you're playing open strings, but the 2nd harmonic fades to almost nothing when you're playing at the 12th fret.
 
unix-guy said:
Ummmm...no. I would use this with scenes [emoji2]
Click to expand...
Same shit; you still have to be near your pedalboard to stomp on a switch. I don't like being stuck to one location unless it's for a specific effect.

unix-guy said:
I'm not sure I agree with that... The difference is mostly one of EQ/drive, and I think the tone match should cover most of that.
Click to expand...
Rex said:
The signals coming off your neck and bridge pickups have radically different harmonic content. And that harmonic mix changes as you fret your way up the neck. You can't compensate for that with EQ
Click to expand...
This and because a pickup is basically a microphone and microphones pick up different sounds in different locations, the neck pickup will receive your playing differently. Your pick/fingers will be closer to the pickup, creating an entirely different attack.
 
prometh said:
Same shit; you still have to be near your pedalboard to stomp on a switch. I don't like being stuck to one location unless it's for a specific effect.
Click to expand...

True - but your are applying YOUR issue to MY need :)

I'm not concerned with that - I am always in front of my board. What I am concerned with is making a pickup selection switch mid-stream while my hands are otherwise busy with playing!

prometh said:
This and because a pickup is basically a microphone and microphones pick up different sounds in different locations, the neck pickup will receive your playing differently. Your pick/fingers will be closer to the pickup, creating an entirely different attack.
Click to expand...

I don't really agree with that analogy - a microphone converts sound/pressure waves to an electronic signal and a pickup converts magnetic "disturbances"... but I get what you are saying.

All of that aside, I did try it last night in a number of ways and was less than pleased with the results :(

Anyway, I appreciate your input and everyone else's.

Thanks!

Kevin
 
I would like to tone match my new strings. So when they get rusty I can just pup in the FreshString IR and good to go.

After that the next project will be my cables, then my pots. If I have time I will do the tuners as well.
 
unix-guy said:
True - but your are applying YOUR issue to MY need :)

I'm not concerned with that - I am always in front of my board. What I am concerned with is making a pickup selection switch mid-stream while my hands are otherwise busy with playing!



I don't really agree with that analogy - a microphone converts sound/pressure waves to an electronic signal and a pickup converts magnetic "disturbances"... but I get what you are saying.

All of that aside, I did try it last night in a number of ways and was less than pleased with the results :(

Anyway, I appreciate your input and everyone else's.

Thanks!

Kevin
Click to expand...

I now this isn't what you are trying to do but I modify scenes with different tone settings, trying to simulate pickup change. coarse most of my guitars are single hum.
 
Pickups (PUPs) don't have a 'sound' per se but cause a transfer function to appear. The dynamics do change somewhat because the neck pickup will 'see' a larger string oscillation (amplitude) than the bridge pickup due to the bridge PUPs closer proximity to the saddle. (Look at your low E at the 12th fret when you pluck it, then look at the saddle area of your low E when you pluck it: see a difference?)

The Science of Electric Guitars and Guitar Electronics - Jarmo Lähdevaara - Google Books

Anyways, I believe that this is something that can be accounted for in the Axe FX with some clever tweaking, if not from an outright DSP algorithm.
 
You could use scenes for neck,middle and bridge etc. Besides if you want to nail a songs tone it's generally 1 or 2 scenes. It ain't rocket science. The straightest line to the answer is always the least convoluted.
 
Hmm I wonder if this would work for high output > Vintage output pickups. BKP Painkiller to coil split SD JB tone match haha. I might have to try this.
 
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