Common designs Single coil guitar pickup

1 common designs

1.1 gibson p-90
1.2 telecaster design
1.3 stratocaster design

common designs
gibson p-90

the p-90 single-coil pickup designed gibson guitar corporation. these pickups have large, flat coil adjustable steel screws pole pieces, , pair of flat alnico bar magnets lying under coil bobbin. adjustable pole pieces pick magnetism magnets. moving screw closer or further away magnet determines signal strength, tone well. there 2 variations of p-90 pickup differ mounting options:

gibson p-90 soap bar



soap bar casing has true rectangular shape , mounting screws contained within coil perimeter, positioned between pole pieces, between strings 2-3 , 4-5, creating irregular , unusual pattern. occasionally, mistaken pole pieces; thus, p-90 erroneously said have 8 pole pieces. soap bar nickname comes predominantly rectangular shape , proportions resembling bar of soap, , fact first p-90s on original gibson les paul model of 1952 white.


p90 dog ear



dog ear casing type extensions @ both sides of pickup resemble dog s ears. these extensions of predominantly rectangular cover encompass outlying mounting screws. dog-ear p-90 pickups commonly mounted on gibson s hollowbody guitars es-330 , on solid body models les paul junior. same pickups available on epiphone models (since gibson building epiphone guitars in 1950s) , design best remembered appearance on hollow body epiphone casino of mid late 1960s.

the sound of p-90 brighter , more transparent gibson s later humbucker pickup, , every bit crisp , snappy fender s single-coil pickups despite high output , big sound.

despite tonal qualities p-90 fell out of favor gibson in 1950s consequence of guitar players complaining amount of hum (noise) put out. gibson employee seth lover solved hum problem designing hum-canceling pickup known humbucker, supposed sound p-90 in fact has quite different sound. nevertheless became gibson s mainstay pickup point on. p-90 did not become popular reason, although many guitarists still prefer tone of p-90.

telecaster design


two pickups on telecaster

the fender telecaster features 2 single coils. neck pickup produces mellower sound, while bridge pickup produces extremely twangy, sharp tone exaggerated treble response, because bridge pickup mounted on steel plate. these design elements allow musicians emulate steel guitar sounds, making particularly appropriate country music.

pickups selected three-position switch, , 2 wiring schemes exist:

vintage: 1) neck pickup treble cutoff bassier sound; 2) neck pickup only; 3) bridge pickup only.
modern: 1) neck pickup only, no treble cutoff; 2) neck , bridge; 3) bridge pickup only.

the fender esquire has variation vintage wiring scheme using scheme on single pickup. gives treble cutoff in first position, normal in middle position, , tone control cutoff in third position.

stratocaster design


stratocaster pickups, viewed along neck profile. note poles of different heights.

the traditional stratocaster design guitar features 3 single coils. guitarist can control pickup or combination of pickups selected lever switch. pickup positions referred bridge, middle , neck pickups based on proximity parts of instrument. neck pickup typically has greatest output, mid-range , bass response, whereas bridge pickup has greatest treble response, slight twang it. sound of middle pickup similar of neck pickup, albeit less bass , more treble. many players, such ritchie blackmore, find of obstruction picking hand, , tighten mounting screws such lies flush pickguard.

modern stratocasters have five-position pickup selector switch. positions 1, 3 , 5 activate 1 pickup (bridge, middle or neck respectively), while positions 2 , 4 activate combination of 2 pickups (bridge , middle, or middle , neck, respectively). pickup sets have reverse wound , reverse polarity middle pickup when in combination normal bridge or neck pickups cancel electromagnetic interference (noise/hum) single coil pickups suffer badly from. sonic effect of positions 2 , 4 referred quack or notch positions , , guitar notation includes directions use these pickup combinations. 1 example sultans of swing dire straits played in position 2 (bridge , middle).