Members CompleteGuitard Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I realize fully that DC resistance is not an accurate measurement of output, this isn't meant to claim this. However, it is interesting, even if only to me. I figured someone else out there would find this kinda cool Gibson LP - Dirty Fingers (bridge) - 14.94 498 R (neck) - 7.62 PRS Semi Hollow Custom SE stock bridge - 9.60 stock neck - 8.75 Daphne blue partscaster Seymour Duncan Quarter pound (bridge) - 13.17 stock japanese SQ strat mid - 5.77 stock japanese SQ strat neck - 5.73 Jim Adkins telecaster Seymour Duncan Hot Soapbar (bridge) - 14.53 Seymour Duncan Vintage Soapbar (neck) - 11.98 Seafoam Green Fender Telecaster Stock bridge - 10.02 stock neck - 8.45 The chrome monster Seymour Duncan Invader - 16.25 (holy shit) The best strat ever Seymour Duncan JB (bridge) - 15.62 Seymour Duncan Jazz (neck) - 7.15 The other pickups were for basses and other instruments, not really relevant here. I'm pretty suprised that the JB is actually higher than the dirty fingers and close to the invader in terms of resistance. I'm also suprised at how hot those duncan soapbars are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EADGBE Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Yeah the JB is hot. I love it. One of mine measures 16.25K. A question. When you rewired all of your guitars back up after measuring the various pickup's resistances, did they all sound the same as before? Sometimes it seems my pickups sound a little different every time I rewire them. Even if everything else remains the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr_GoodBomb Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Resistance doesn't really mean output, correct? And it's subjective to how hard you pluck the string, the gauge of pick, the gauge of string, etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CompleteGuitard Posted January 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Yeah the JB is hot. I love it. One of mine measures 16.25K. A question. When you rewired all of your guitars back up after measuring the various pickup's resistances, did they all sound the same as before? Sometimes it seems my pickups sound a little different every time I rewire them. Even if everything else remains the same. My ears aren't that good sounds the same to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EADGBE Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Resistance doesn't really mean output, correct? And it's subjective to how hard you pluck the string, the gauge of pick, the gauge of string, etc etc.It's one indicator. More resistance can mean more wire around a coil. Which can increase output. However too much wire around a coil can begin to choke a pickup's output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EADGBE Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 My ears aren't that good sounds the same to me! It might be my imagination then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 The distance a pickup is from the string, different magnets, gauge of wire will all have an impact on the amount of "output" a pickup has. Years ago I purchased a dual humbucker A20 Washburn from a guy who said he the guitar sounded "dead" to him. I restrung it, adjusted the action and lastly raised the pickups. That guitar literally came alive with such little effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 How do you measure it with a multi-meter? I'd like to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Aside from telling me a pickup is wired correctly and works I don't see the point of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fuelish Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 How do you measure it with a multi-meter?I'd like to do that. IIRC, it can be done without removing them .... set your multi-meter, turn volume knob to max (tone knob I can't recall if you max it or roll it all the way back), plug a cord into your guitar, and place the probes at the tip and further down the plug shaft (below the black ring) ... it's been a while, this may or not be entirely correct - I think my Epi humbuckers measured at something like 13.3k and 8.7k, give or take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArpeggiateTHIS Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 The pickguard on your PRS looks awesome - is that as stock? They should have stuck one on my SE Custom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I have JBs in two guitars. I never measured the output, but I knew they were hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Measuring the resistance of a pickup's coils does not measure it's output, it measures it's resistance. Higher readings tend to tell you there are more windings (more wire), and if you are comparing pickups with the same type AND size of magnet it can give you an idea which will have more output. But can also tell you there is finer (thinner) wire... Unless you also know the wire gage (size) and magnet type, measuring the resistance is useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members normh Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 For those interested here is a brief discussion of coils. More wire or DC resistance does not necessarily mean a greater output, although it can. One way I used to test the output or transference of a coil was to wire a 555 time to a known frequency, couple the signal through a transformer, and measure the AC voltage drop across the coil. Using ohms law, you can determine the resistance, which is impedance in an AC circuit. More accurate would be to use the formula of X = 2*Pi*f* x(l). That being said, greater impedance does not mean greater sound because ferrous material and magnets mean something as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CompleteGuitard Posted January 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 The pickguard on your PRS looks awesome - is that as stock? They should have stuck one on my SE Custom. It is entirely stock, they didn't put one on yours at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Yeah, there's a correlation between resistance and output if everything else is the same, but you definitely can't compare one pickup to another pickup. The biggest example are Dimarzio HS2/HS3/YJM. They measure around 16k... slightly above a JB, but it has radically less output. Among the lowest output pickups I've ever owned. As far as measuring pickups while still attached, you'll always get a lower reading going through pots and switches, even if they are all the way up. Having said that, if you measure them all through pots and whatnot, they'd still give some perspective for comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flummox Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 The distance a pickup is from the string, different magnets, gauge of wire will all have an impact on the amount of "output" a pickup has. Years ago I purchased a dual humbucker A20 Washburn from a guy who said he the guitar sounded "dead" to him. I restrung it, adjusted the action and lastly raised the pickups. That guitar literally came alive with such little effort. That's amazing! What do you feed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MickSlick Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I don't think I've ever seen a Strat with a full on SD Jazz and and JB pickups in it. Very intrigued, how would you describe the tone? Also, how did you do it? Did it come like that, did you buy a pre loaded pickguard or did you build it in pieces? Any info. would be greatly appreciated, I would love to convert one of my strats. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CompleteGuitard Posted January 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I don't think I've ever seen a Strat with a full on SD Jazz and and JB pickups in it. Very intrigued, how would you describe the tone? Also, how did you do it? Did it come like that, did you buy a pre loaded pickguard or did you build it in pieces? Any info. would be greatly appreciated, I would love to convert one of my strats. Thanks. It's the best guitar ever. It was originally a delonge strat, which I bought new in 2001. It was originally cut for a single humbucker and a volume knob, but I got a local luthier (paul iverson, a god of luthiers) to cut a slot for a neck pickup and then I installed a 5 way super switch. The switch is pretty cool, my favourite position is the middle one, where I've got it so both buckers are split. Its got the coolest, hollowy acousticy tone in that position. With a tiny bit of grit or fuzz, its the perfect guitar tone. As for the overall guitar's tone, there is NOTHING subtle about this guitar. It sounds like an angry SG, partly aided by the guitar being a hardtail. It just screams above any mix. If I could put an image to it, it sounds like a T-rex in a f16 jet fighter. Even the jazz in the neck is spanky and bright, I like it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy Chitown Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 For those interested here is a brief discussion of coils. More wire or DC resistance does not necessarily mean a greater output, although it can.One way I used to test the output or transference of a coil was to wire a 555 time to a known frequency, couple the signal through a transformer, and measure the AC voltage drop across the coil. Using ohms law, you can determine the resistance, which is impedance in an AC circuit. More accurate would be to use the formula of X = 2*Pi*f* x(l).That being said, greater impedance does not mean greater sound because ferrous material and magnets mean something as well. WTF is a "555 time"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 55gibby Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 How do they sound?.... That is all that really matters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PlinytheWelder Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 555 Timer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Generally speaking the lower the resistance the more highs a pup has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chippy Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Resistance doesn't really mean output, correct? And it's subjective to how hard you pluck the string, the gauge of pick, the gauge of string, etc etc. Correct. Output be measured in volts, yo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy Chitown Posted January 9, 2010 Members Share Posted January 9, 2010 555 Timer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC Ah. But of course. Soon's I can locate a pinout, a freq gen and a tranny, I'll rig that right up down here in my MEGAGUITARLAB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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