One of the most important parts that make up the sound of an electric guitar is the pickup. The changing out of a pickup is also one of the best ways to upgrade the tone of your guitar. These are the little modules that sit under the strings in the middle of the guitar. They are bars of metal or ceramic wrapped with tiny wire in a plastic or metal casing. The vibration of the strings when you play is "picked up" by the pickups. This signal is fed through your guitar cable into the amplifier where it is amplified and run through your eq controls, etc, to come out as sound.
Although there are many pickup variations, The two main basic types are "single-coils" and "humbuckers". Single coils are the original pickups. They what are most commonly seen on a standard type of Stratocaster. Look at one and you can see one row of poles that go under each string and most Strats have three. Single coils are known to have a very clear and crisp sound. They can be heard in all types of music. Yet they have a "hum" which can be heard when you are not playing.
By experimentation, pickup builders found that if you wired two single coils together, the "hum" is cancelled out. Therefore you get the term "humbucker." Humbuckers are usually twice the width of single coils and may be open on top or under a casing. These are more popular when using louder, distorted types of guitar tones as the hum of the single coils is even more evident when using distortion or overdrive, but are also heard in all types of music. Humbuckers can be said to have a warmer, smoother sound usually.
They now make combo pickups that can be switched between the two. They also make single spaced humbuckers or wider double spaced single coils if you want to modify your guitar and need it to fit in the old space.
So when picking out an electric guitar for the first time, be aware of this difference and compare them. Use your own ears to see which you prefer.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Right now, about the board itself. It's by a company called Electar. I got it from a now defunct website called MusicYo. It was really cheap, but it's pretty cool for me. It powers up to ten 9 volt effects. It also has a couple effect loops and it has an input and output for you amp input, but I found that it saps tone if you use it like that. So I just input and output through the pedals. It has carpet you can hook velcro to. It has a latching case top with some nice padding to help hold the pedals in place. It has a lock too.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Lately I've only been playing an accoustic guitar after years of jamming with bands with my marshall half stack. It's been pretty cool. I've been playing a lot in the open G tuning. That's from lowest string to highest: D, G, D, G, B, D.
It's easy to go from standard tuning to open G. First lower your low "E" string to D by sounding the E and D string together and matching the note (but of course a lower octave). Then lower your "A" string to a G by sounding the A string and G string together lowering the A to match at the lower octave. Then lower your high "E" string to D, again by matching using the sounding of the open D string.
When you play in this tuning, especially with a slide, you automatically sound like an old bluesman. Or the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards uses this tuning A LOT. But he removes the lowest string from the guitar.
I really like this accoustic too, especially for the price I paid for it, which was only $80 on sale online at Musicians Friend. It's an Epiphone AJ-1. It plays and sounds great for the price.
One of my favorite songs in open G tuning is, Death Letter Blues, by Son House. It's pretty easy to play. He used a slide, but I just use my fingers on this one.
It's easy to go from standard tuning to open G. First lower your low "E" string to D by sounding the E and D string together and matching the note (but of course a lower octave). Then lower your "A" string to a G by sounding the A string and G string together lowering the A to match at the lower octave. Then lower your high "E" string to D, again by matching using the sounding of the open D string.
When you play in this tuning, especially with a slide, you automatically sound like an old bluesman. Or the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards uses this tuning A LOT. But he removes the lowest string from the guitar.
I really like this accoustic too, especially for the price I paid for it, which was only $80 on sale online at Musicians Friend. It's an Epiphone AJ-1. It plays and sounds great for the price.
One of my favorite songs in open G tuning is, Death Letter Blues, by Son House. It's pretty easy to play. He used a slide, but I just use my fingers on this one.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Guitar tone basics for buyers pt.ii
The other day I saw a couple of giraffes in a race. I tried to see who won, but I just couldn't because they were neck and neck.
Hi, now we're going to talk about woods used for the neck of the guitar. The wood used to construct the neck will affect your sound. In general most necks are made from maple with or without a rosewood fretboard top or mahogany with a rosewood fretboard.
Maple: The most common neck wood, it's stable and strong and is affected by environmental changes less than other hardwoods. It can be light colored pale tan to yellowish. Focuses sound to the body and therefore has less impact on sound compared to the body wood. It can be topped by a fretboard of differing wood. (usually rosewood). When it has a rosewood fretboard it has a richer fundamental note as the rosewood absorbs some overtones. As just a solid maple fretboard, it promotes a large amount of higher overtones and reduced bass accentuates harmonics and variations of pick attack. In general, a maple fretboard is brighter and twangier.
Mahogany: Stable and a bit more responsive than a maple neck. It's a darkish reddish brown color. Absorbs more vibration and compresses the attack and highs a little. Considered warmer and richer sounding but maybe less articulate than maple.
Ebony: This wood is sometimes used as the fretboard layer instead of Rosewood. It adds brightness which can be desirable to some on a Mahogany neck.
O.K. thanks for stopping by and sorry about that giraffe joke I made up. Next time we'll talk about pickups.
Hi, now we're going to talk about woods used for the neck of the guitar. The wood used to construct the neck will affect your sound. In general most necks are made from maple with or without a rosewood fretboard top or mahogany with a rosewood fretboard.
Maple: The most common neck wood, it's stable and strong and is affected by environmental changes less than other hardwoods. It can be light colored pale tan to yellowish. Focuses sound to the body and therefore has less impact on sound compared to the body wood. It can be topped by a fretboard of differing wood. (usually rosewood). When it has a rosewood fretboard it has a richer fundamental note as the rosewood absorbs some overtones. As just a solid maple fretboard, it promotes a large amount of higher overtones and reduced bass accentuates harmonics and variations of pick attack. In general, a maple fretboard is brighter and twangier.
Mahogany: Stable and a bit more responsive than a maple neck. It's a darkish reddish brown color. Absorbs more vibration and compresses the attack and highs a little. Considered warmer and richer sounding but maybe less articulate than maple.
Ebony: This wood is sometimes used as the fretboard layer instead of Rosewood. It adds brightness which can be desirable to some on a Mahogany neck.
O.K. thanks for stopping by and sorry about that giraffe joke I made up. Next time we'll talk about pickups.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Guitar tone basics for buyers
When thinking of buying a solid body electric guitar, there are many factors to take into account. These factors can include: What styles of music you play, how much you can afford, experience level, construction materials, features, intentions for use, etc. I'll go over the various parts of the electric guitar and describe some of the differences in each new blog.
Woods: The wood used on the guitar will affect the tone that you hear. Guitar bodies come made from various types of woods. The most common are Mahogany, such as used on Gibsons, which sounds warmer and thicker and Alder or Ash as used in Fenders mostly, which sounds brighter.
Mahogany - Consistent density compresses the mids a bit, but still produces nice lows and low mids. Considered a relatively thick or warm tone. Has somewhat of a nasal response. Very even spectrum of frequencies. Good for soloing because high notes are thicker than ash or alder. Used on Les Pauls, SG's, Flying V's, and Explorers, among many other guitars. Often used with humbucking pickups.
Basswood - Many guitars these days are made of this. A relatively inexpensive choice for guitar woods. Somewhat softer than others it dampens and smooths sharp highs. This can be desirable if your guitar is naturally very bright, which can be affected by tremolo setups, pickups, etc. Being low in mass though, it brings a weaker low end. Because of all this it leaves a very "out front" sound with a strong mid fundamental note, therefore is very well suited to soloing. Popular on aggressive styles of lead guitars.
Alder - Light in weight like Basswood, with more rigidity with more complex tones. Leaves in more highs and lows, so sounds less "mid-rangey" than the Basswood. Very popular for stratocasters among many others. As with ash, often used with single coil pickups
Swamp Ash - Very resonant across the tonal spectrum. Bell-like highs, pronounced mids, and strong lows. Can have less consistency than other woods depending on the different cuts or qualities, so can vary from guitar to guitar. Also popular on Strats.
Walnut - Harder, denser than mahogany, so brighter in tone. Nasal response to rhythms, and solo notes jump out. Snappy attack and solid lows like ash, but smooth highs like mahogany. Heavy and dense, try to choose a lighter, more opened grain piece so it will resonate well. A bad piece can sound dull or lifeless. Changing pickups with this wood will have less of a change in tone as the walnut wood tends to dominate the tone.
Korina - A made up name for African Limba. Very similar to mahogany, but said to have a "sweeter" mid-range, and is more responsive, like a bit more lively with vibrations. Can be considered a "mahogany deluxe". Usually has a higher markup than mahogany. Epiphone makes some nice models of a V and explorer model in this wood at a good value.
Hard Maple - This wood has been said to "shout". It has strong upper mid-range, bright highs, and tapered off but very tight lows. Maple is often used as a thin layer on top of another body wood. Most Les Pauls are constructed this way. Generally the top layer sounds the pick attack and the wood beneath sounds the resonance and decay. Maple is most popularly used this way on top of a mahogany body, adding some brightness to the mahogany warmth.
Soft Maple - can be brassy, searing upper mid range for soloing or dry, combed rhythms. Not as often desired as other choices.
In addition to maple tops on various body woods, tops can be made from koa, walnut, rosewood, and lacewood. These are not as common, but be aware that different top woods all affect the sound differently.
Next time we'll talk about different woods used for the neck of the guitar.
Woods: The wood used on the guitar will affect the tone that you hear. Guitar bodies come made from various types of woods. The most common are Mahogany, such as used on Gibsons, which sounds warmer and thicker and Alder or Ash as used in Fenders mostly, which sounds brighter.
Mahogany - Consistent density compresses the mids a bit, but still produces nice lows and low mids. Considered a relatively thick or warm tone. Has somewhat of a nasal response. Very even spectrum of frequencies. Good for soloing because high notes are thicker than ash or alder. Used on Les Pauls, SG's, Flying V's, and Explorers, among many other guitars. Often used with humbucking pickups.
Basswood - Many guitars these days are made of this. A relatively inexpensive choice for guitar woods. Somewhat softer than others it dampens and smooths sharp highs. This can be desirable if your guitar is naturally very bright, which can be affected by tremolo setups, pickups, etc. Being low in mass though, it brings a weaker low end. Because of all this it leaves a very "out front" sound with a strong mid fundamental note, therefore is very well suited to soloing. Popular on aggressive styles of lead guitars.
Alder - Light in weight like Basswood, with more rigidity with more complex tones. Leaves in more highs and lows, so sounds less "mid-rangey" than the Basswood. Very popular for stratocasters among many others. As with ash, often used with single coil pickups
Swamp Ash - Very resonant across the tonal spectrum. Bell-like highs, pronounced mids, and strong lows. Can have less consistency than other woods depending on the different cuts or qualities, so can vary from guitar to guitar. Also popular on Strats.
Walnut - Harder, denser than mahogany, so brighter in tone. Nasal response to rhythms, and solo notes jump out. Snappy attack and solid lows like ash, but smooth highs like mahogany. Heavy and dense, try to choose a lighter, more opened grain piece so it will resonate well. A bad piece can sound dull or lifeless. Changing pickups with this wood will have less of a change in tone as the walnut wood tends to dominate the tone.
Korina - A made up name for African Limba. Very similar to mahogany, but said to have a "sweeter" mid-range, and is more responsive, like a bit more lively with vibrations. Can be considered a "mahogany deluxe". Usually has a higher markup than mahogany. Epiphone makes some nice models of a V and explorer model in this wood at a good value.
Hard Maple - This wood has been said to "shout". It has strong upper mid-range, bright highs, and tapered off but very tight lows. Maple is often used as a thin layer on top of another body wood. Most Les Pauls are constructed this way. Generally the top layer sounds the pick attack and the wood beneath sounds the resonance and decay. Maple is most popularly used this way on top of a mahogany body, adding some brightness to the mahogany warmth.
Soft Maple - can be brassy, searing upper mid range for soloing or dry, combed rhythms. Not as often desired as other choices.
In addition to maple tops on various body woods, tops can be made from koa, walnut, rosewood, and lacewood. These are not as common, but be aware that different top woods all affect the sound differently.
Next time we'll talk about different woods used for the neck of the guitar.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Welcome to the Guitar Outpost
Hi. Welcome to the Guitar Outpost. This blog will be concentrating on all things about guitar. It will cover topics such as choosing a guitar to buy, maintaining your guitar, playing tips, tips about forming a band, playing live, new products, and more. Please let me know any questions or comments you might have once it gets going.
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