Humbucker
Encyclopedia
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar
pickup, first patented by Seth Lover
and the Gibson
company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil
pickup since both coils are connected in series. Like a single coil pickup, the magnets in a humbucker induce a slight magnetic field around the strings, which in turn induce an electrical current in the coils as the strings vibrate. A humbucking pickup is essentially two single coil pickups, one of which has the north poles of its pole pieces oriented toward the strings, and the other has the south pole of its pole pieces oriented toward the strings. Since the coils are connected in series and out of phase, noise and interference are significantly reduced via common-mode rejection. Humbuckers get their name from the fact that they cancel out the interference (they "buck the hum") induced by alternating current
, which is normally experienced with single coil pickups.
Hum is the result of the alternating magnetic fields typically created by transformers and power supplies inside various electrical equipment utilizing alternating current. As these alternating magnetic fields pass through the pickup coil, they induce an alternating current in the coil. The magnetic field may be very weak at the pickup, but once the signal is put through various pedals and amps it can become much more evident. Using a guitar without humbuckers, a musician would hear a slight but noticeable hum from the amp in silent sections of the music. Sources of hum generated in the studio and on stage can include high-power amps, processors, mixers, motors, power lines, and other sources. Humbuckers dramatically reduce the hum effect compared to single coil pickups.
, an American professional audio
company based in South Bend, Indiana
that Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs incorporated in 1930 for the purpose of manufacturing portable public address
equipment, including microphone
s and loudspeaker
s.
A successful early humbucking pickup was the so-called PAF
(literally "Patent Applied For") invented by Seth Lover
, a Gibson
employee, in 1955. Because of this, and because of its use on the Gibson Les Paul
guitar, the humbucker is strongly associated with Gibson, although humbuckers have been used in many different guitar designs by many different manufacturers. Humbuckers are also known as dual-coil, double-coil, or hum-canceling pickups. Rickenbacker
offered dual coil pickups arranged in a humbucking pattern beginning in late 1953 but dropped the design in 1954 due to the perceived distorted sound. The Gibson Les Paul was the first guitar to use humbuckers in substantial production, but since then, even some models of Fender Stratocaster
s and Telecasters
, traditionally fitted with single-coil pickups, are factory-equipped with humbuckers. Stratocasters fitted with one humbucker in the bridge position, resulting in a pickup configuration noted as H-S-S (starting at bridge pickup: H for humbucker, S for single coil) are referred to as "Fat Strat
s", because of the "fatter", "rounder" tone offered by the humbucking pickup.
and are therefore sensitive to electromagnetic interference
caused by mains wiring (mains hum
) and electrical appliances like transformers, motors, and computer screens
. Guitar pickups rebroadcast this noise, which can be quite audible, sounding like a constant hum or buzz.
A humbucker has two coils with opposing windings and polarities. The string motion induces current in both coils in the same direction, since the reverse winding and reversed phase of one coil create a signal in the same direction as the other coil. Electromagnetic interference, on the other hand, induces current in opposing directions in each coil because it is only sensitive to the winding direction, which is reversed for one coil. When the signals from both pickups are summed together, the noise is cancelled due to destructive interference, while the actual signal is increased due to constructive interference, thus dramatically improving the signal-to-noise ratio
. This technique is called common-mode rejection by electrical engineers, and is also used in balanced lines in audio recording.
s, usually feature cavities only for single-coil pickups. Installing full-sized humbuckers requires additional routing of the woodwork and cutting of the pickguard
(if the instrument has a pickguard). If the process is not carefully done, the instrument's body and pickguard may be damaged. For most guitarists, this is unacceptable; especially for expensive vintage guitars where it is vital to preserve cosmetic appearance. As a result, many pickup manufacturers now produce humbucking pickups compacted into the size of a single coil, accomplished by vertically "stacking" the coils instead of placing them side-by-side as in a regular humbucker. Many different kinds of stacked humbuckers are available from several manufacturers, producing a wide range of different tones.
The same type of rails can also be found in a normal-size humbucker, however. Heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell
made heavy use of this type of pickup wired in the bridge position. These tend to also sound fuller and have a higher output and attack than the single coil-size version.
. Some guitars (e.g. the Peavey T-60 and the Fender Classic Player Jaguar HH) make use of a variable coil split circuit that allows the guitarist to dial a variable amount of signal from the second coil, from pure single-coil to full humbucker and everything in-between.
Coil splits are often wrongly referred to as a "coil tap". Coil taps are most commonly found on single coil pickups, and involve an extra hook-up wire being included during the manufacture of the pickup so the guitarist can choose to have all the windings of the pickup included in the circuit, for a fatter, higher output sound with more midrange; or switch the output to "Tap" into the windings at a point that is less than the full coil for a brighter, lower output, cleaner sound. By example: a full pickup coil may be 10,000 turns of wire and the "Tap" may be at 8000 turns. Because of the confusion between coil splits and coil taps - and the rareness of coil taps in general - it is difficult to find tappable single coil pickups for sale. However, pickup manufacturer Seymour Duncan
offers tapped versions of many of their Telecaster and Stratocaster pickups on their website for a little extra money.
inventors have tried many other approaches to reducing noise in guitar pickups.
Many instruments will use a combination of separate single coil pickups in a hum reducing configuration, where the magnetic polarity is different and the coils are electrically reversed. This arrangement is similar to that of a humbucking pickup and noise is effectively reduced. Some examples of this are the Fender Jazz Bass
, introduced in 1960, which has used a pair of single coil pickups, one near the bridge and another one about half way between the bridge and the neck, and many Stratocaster style guitars, which often have 3 pickups with the middle one reversed electrically and magnetically. The (usually) 5-way selector switch allows 2 humbucking settings, where the reversed middle pickup is used in parallel with either the bridge or neck pickup.
In 1957, Fender introduced a split pickup to its Precision Bass, which was wired in humbucking fashion, with one coil serving the E and A strings, the other the D and G strings. Both coils pick up the same noise, but since each string is only served by one coil, a single-coil sound is provided. The concept of this later expanded to G&L
's Z-coil pickup, which is used for standard guitars.
In 1985, Lace Music Products introduced the Lace Sensor
pickups, which utilize a proprietary hum-screening technique to eliminate noise while preserving single-coil tone.
In 1996, Kinman Guitar Electrix
introduced replacement pickups for Stratocaster and Telecaster based on a differential coil technology, essentially a stacked humbucker where the lower pickup coil functions solely as a noise sensing coil, while only the upper pickup coil is able to sense the string vibrations. This was achieved by the use of magnetic shields augmented by differential coils. These pickups are of the single pole type often referred to as single coils. In mid 2011 Kinman released a range of innovative side-by-side humbuckers which incorporate new Patent Applied For technology. Kinman claim their new humbuckers have greater dynamic range and increased clarity compared to conventional humbuckers.
In 2007, Lace Sensor
introduced Alumitone pickups, which feature a new design which is aluminum based, rather than copper. The result is less resistance, higher output coupled to a "current driven design" as opposed to conventional voltage based pickups.
The aluminum water jet cut exoskeleton is then matted to a micro winding using 90% less fine copper wire, a low impedance/high impedance pickup is then created. Since they feature only one turn of wire, these pickups necessarily include a small step-up transformer. The single-coil and humbucker pickups are identically designed and completely silent, with the humbucker version voiced for the classic mid range response.
Sonically, Lace Alumitone pickups produce more bass than traditional single coils, more volume, mids are slightly more than conventional pickups. Highs are clear yet smooth, nicely equalized.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
pickup, first patented by Seth Lover
Seth Lover
Seth Lover is most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar....
and the Gibson
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...
company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil
Single coil
A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal...
pickup since both coils are connected in series. Like a single coil pickup, the magnets in a humbucker induce a slight magnetic field around the strings, which in turn induce an electrical current in the coils as the strings vibrate. A humbucking pickup is essentially two single coil pickups, one of which has the north poles of its pole pieces oriented toward the strings, and the other has the south pole of its pole pieces oriented toward the strings. Since the coils are connected in series and out of phase, noise and interference are significantly reduced via common-mode rejection. Humbuckers get their name from the fact that they cancel out the interference (they "buck the hum") induced by alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
, which is normally experienced with single coil pickups.
Hum is the result of the alternating magnetic fields typically created by transformers and power supplies inside various electrical equipment utilizing alternating current. As these alternating magnetic fields pass through the pickup coil, they induce an alternating current in the coil. The magnetic field may be very weak at the pickup, but once the signal is put through various pedals and amps it can become much more evident. Using a guitar without humbuckers, a musician would hear a slight but noticeable hum from the amp in silent sections of the music. Sources of hum generated in the studio and on stage can include high-power amps, processors, mixers, motors, power lines, and other sources. Humbuckers dramatically reduce the hum effect compared to single coil pickups.
History
The "humbucking coil" was invented in 1934 by Electro-VoiceElectro-Voice
Electro-Voice is a manufacturer of audio equipment, including microphones, amplifiers, and loudspeakers. A subdivision of Telex Communications Inc., Electro-Voice markets its products for use in small or large concert venues, broadcasting, houses of worship, and in retail situations.-History:On...
, an American professional audio
Professional audio
Professional audio, also 'pro audio', refers to both an activity and a type of audio equipment. Typically it encompasses the production or reproduction of sound for an audience, by individuals who do such work as an occupation like live event support, using sound reinforcement systems designed for...
company based in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
that Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs incorporated in 1930 for the purpose of manufacturing portable public address
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
equipment, including microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s and loudspeaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s.
A successful early humbucking pickup was the so-called PAF
PAF (pickup)
P.A.F. or just PAF is the world's first humbucker guitar pickup, invented by Seth Lover in 1955 as an engineer for Gibson and began use in mass production guitars in 1956 or 1957. However Rickenbacker and Gretsch had developed humbucking pickups also...
(literally "Patent Applied For") invented by Seth Lover
Seth Lover
Seth Lover is most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar....
, a Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
employee, in 1955. Because of this, and because of its use on the Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
guitar, the humbucker is strongly associated with Gibson, although humbuckers have been used in many different guitar designs by many different manufacturers. Humbuckers are also known as dual-coil, double-coil, or hum-canceling pickups. Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
offered dual coil pickups arranged in a humbucking pattern beginning in late 1953 but dropped the design in 1954 due to the perceived distorted sound. The Gibson Les Paul was the first guitar to use humbuckers in substantial production, but since then, even some models of Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
s and Telecasters
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, traditionally fitted with single-coil pickups, are factory-equipped with humbuckers. Stratocasters fitted with one humbucker in the bridge position, resulting in a pickup configuration noted as H-S-S (starting at bridge pickup: H for humbucker, S for single coil) are referred to as "Fat Strat
Fat Strat
A Fat Strat is a name for a design of electric guitars that are based on the Fender Stratocaster, but have a humbucking pickup at the bridge position instead of a single-coil pickup...
s", because of the "fatter", "rounder" tone offered by the humbucking pickup.
How humbuckers work
In any magnetic pickup, a vibrating oft-magnetic guitar string induces an alternating current in its coil(s). However, magnetic coils also make excellent antennaeAntenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
and are therefore sensitive to electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference is disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit...
caused by mains wiring (mains hum
Mains hum
Mains hum, electric hum, or power line hum is an audible oscillation of alternating current at the frequency of the mains electricity, which is usually 50 Hz or 60 Hz, depending on the local power line frequency...
) and electrical appliances like transformers, motors, and computer screens
Computer display
A monitor or display is an electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure...
. Guitar pickups rebroadcast this noise, which can be quite audible, sounding like a constant hum or buzz.
A humbucker has two coils with opposing windings and polarities. The string motion induces current in both coils in the same direction, since the reverse winding and reversed phase of one coil create a signal in the same direction as the other coil. Electromagnetic interference, on the other hand, induces current in opposing directions in each coil because it is only sensitive to the winding direction, which is reversed for one coil. When the signals from both pickups are summed together, the noise is cancelled due to destructive interference, while the actual signal is increased due to constructive interference, thus dramatically improving the signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. It is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise...
. This technique is called common-mode rejection by electrical engineers, and is also used in balanced lines in audio recording.
Stacked humbuckers
Solid-body guitars, such as Fender StratocasterFender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
s, usually feature cavities only for single-coil pickups. Installing full-sized humbuckers requires additional routing of the woodwork and cutting of the pickguard
Pickguard
A pickguard is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument...
(if the instrument has a pickguard). If the process is not carefully done, the instrument's body and pickguard may be damaged. For most guitarists, this is unacceptable; especially for expensive vintage guitars where it is vital to preserve cosmetic appearance. As a result, many pickup manufacturers now produce humbucking pickups compacted into the size of a single coil, accomplished by vertically "stacking" the coils instead of placing them side-by-side as in a regular humbucker. Many different kinds of stacked humbuckers are available from several manufacturers, producing a wide range of different tones.
Rail humbuckers
Another design known as rail humbuckers divides a single coil-size pickup in half lengthwise, and the windings are wound around two pole pieces, typically resembling a rail. These pickups look like a normal, albeit smaller, humbucker. This, however, is typically used in conjunction with stacked humbuckers, to produce a high-output pickup. This design can also extend to a "quadrail", by using a rail humbucker for each "single coil" of a normal humbucker.The same type of rails can also be found in a normal-size humbucker, however. Heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
made heavy use of this type of pickup wired in the bridge position. These tend to also sound fuller and have a higher output and attack than the single coil-size version.
Coil splits
Some guitars which have humbucking pickups feature "coil splits", which allow the pickups to act as "pseudo-single" coils by either short-circuiting or bypassing one coil. The electrical circuit of the pickup is reduced to that of a true single coil while the magnetic circuit retains its original closed loop configuration. Usually, this feature is activated using a miniature toggle switch or a DPDT push-pull switch mounted on a potentiometerPotentiometer
A potentiometer , informally, a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used , it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on...
. Some guitars (e.g. the Peavey T-60 and the Fender Classic Player Jaguar HH) make use of a variable coil split circuit that allows the guitarist to dial a variable amount of signal from the second coil, from pure single-coil to full humbucker and everything in-between.
Coil splits are often wrongly referred to as a "coil tap". Coil taps are most commonly found on single coil pickups, and involve an extra hook-up wire being included during the manufacture of the pickup so the guitarist can choose to have all the windings of the pickup included in the circuit, for a fatter, higher output sound with more midrange; or switch the output to "Tap" into the windings at a point that is less than the full coil for a brighter, lower output, cleaner sound. By example: a full pickup coil may be 10,000 turns of wire and the "Tap" may be at 8000 turns. Because of the confusion between coil splits and coil taps - and the rareness of coil taps in general - it is difficult to find tappable single coil pickups for sale. However, pickup manufacturer Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
offers tapped versions of many of their Telecaster and Stratocaster pickups on their website for a little extra money.
Notable humbucker designs
- Gibson "PAFPAF (pickup)P.A.F. or just PAF is the world's first humbucker guitar pickup, invented by Seth Lover in 1955 as an engineer for Gibson and began use in mass production guitars in 1956 or 1957. However Rickenbacker and Gretsch had developed humbucking pickups also...
" - Seth Lover's original humbucker design - Fender Wide RangeFender Wide RangeThe Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s. This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.The pickups enjoyed some...
- Fender's first humbucker design, also by Seth Lover - Epiphone (and later Gibson) mini-humbuckerMini-humbuckerThe mini-humbucker is a humbucking guitar pickup originally created by The Epiphone Company. This pickup resembles a small Gibson PAF humbucker although, it is constructed differently and produces clearer, brighter tones that are quite unlike typical Gibson sounds, and fits well between single...
- a smaller humbucker design with adjustable pole pieces. An Epiphone design from the 1950's originally, they were later used most famously in their Les Paul Deluxe. - Gibson Firebird pickup - inspired by the Epiphone pickup, and shares it's basic dimensions, but is different in terms of design, appearance, and tone, utilizing single blade pole pieces.
- Q-tuner: neodymiumNeodymiumNeodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite...
magnet humbuckers - EMG PickupsEMG, Inc.EMG, Inc. is the current legal name of a company based in Santa Rosa, California which manufactures guitar pickups and EQ accessories. Founded in 1976, the company was originally called Dirtywork Studios. The name was changed to "Overlend" in 1978 and then to the current name in 1983...
- Active pickups since 1976 - Gretsch FilterTron - from 1957 to present; famously used on the Country Gentleman and other hollow-body guitars.
Other noise-reducing pickup designs
While the original humbucker remains the most common noise-reducing pickup design,inventors have tried many other approaches to reducing noise in guitar pickups.
Many instruments will use a combination of separate single coil pickups in a hum reducing configuration, where the magnetic polarity is different and the coils are electrically reversed. This arrangement is similar to that of a humbucking pickup and noise is effectively reduced. Some examples of this are the Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
, introduced in 1960, which has used a pair of single coil pickups, one near the bridge and another one about half way between the bridge and the neck, and many Stratocaster style guitars, which often have 3 pickups with the middle one reversed electrically and magnetically. The (usually) 5-way selector switch allows 2 humbucking settings, where the reversed middle pickup is used in parallel with either the bridge or neck pickup.
In 1957, Fender introduced a split pickup to its Precision Bass, which was wired in humbucking fashion, with one coil serving the E and A strings, the other the D and G strings. Both coils pick up the same noise, but since each string is only served by one coil, a single-coil sound is provided. The concept of this later expanded to G&L
G&L
G&L is a guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s. Fender sold his company named Fender in 1965. He designed and produced instruments for Music Man in the 1970s through his company CLF Research. When relations with Music Man...
's Z-coil pickup, which is used for standard guitars.
In 1985, Lace Music Products introduced the Lace Sensor
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI since 1985.This line of electric guitar pickups was used exclusively by Fender from 1987 to 1996....
pickups, which utilize a proprietary hum-screening technique to eliminate noise while preserving single-coil tone.
In 1996, Kinman Guitar Electrix
Kinman Guitar Electrix
Kinman Guitar Electrix is a small boutique Australian company that specializes in the design and manufacture of innovative Zero-Hum pickups for electric guitars that solve noise problems associated with single coil pickups....
introduced replacement pickups for Stratocaster and Telecaster based on a differential coil technology, essentially a stacked humbucker where the lower pickup coil functions solely as a noise sensing coil, while only the upper pickup coil is able to sense the string vibrations. This was achieved by the use of magnetic shields augmented by differential coils. These pickups are of the single pole type often referred to as single coils. In mid 2011 Kinman released a range of innovative side-by-side humbuckers which incorporate new Patent Applied For technology. Kinman claim their new humbuckers have greater dynamic range and increased clarity compared to conventional humbuckers.
In 2007, Lace Sensor
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI since 1985.This line of electric guitar pickups was used exclusively by Fender from 1987 to 1996....
introduced Alumitone pickups, which feature a new design which is aluminum based, rather than copper. The result is less resistance, higher output coupled to a "current driven design" as opposed to conventional voltage based pickups.
The aluminum water jet cut exoskeleton is then matted to a micro winding using 90% less fine copper wire, a low impedance/high impedance pickup is then created. Since they feature only one turn of wire, these pickups necessarily include a small step-up transformer. The single-coil and humbucker pickups are identically designed and completely silent, with the humbucker version voiced for the classic mid range response.
Sonically, Lace Alumitone pickups produce more bass than traditional single coils, more volume, mids are slightly more than conventional pickups. Highs are clear yet smooth, nicely equalized.
External links
- http://www.moore.org.au/pick001.htm Science and measurements behind electro-magnetic guitar pickups