As guitar players always look for the next better guitars and accessories, their search for the best never ends. Pickups play an essential role in playing guitar and the quality of sound it produces. Choosing the right pickup can do two things. It can turn a standard guitar into a great one. Also, a pick up can be a missing link or a tweak in the production of tones.
There are many things that users need to consider while choosing the pickups for an electric guitar. From shape and size to the sound quality they produce, there is much to look for.
Check your preferences
Although no pickups are designed for a specific type of style of music, there are some that work better with various tones. The most significant factor that affects the tone of a guitar is the output level. For heavy and distorted sounds, higher outputs work best. On the other hand, lower outputs work best for clean and dynamic sounds. So, you can choose the features according to the sounds you use the most.
Quality of Tone
As a general rule, humbuckers are suitable for louder, fuller, and warmer tones. On the other hand, single-coils are suitable for thinner, brighter, and universal guitar sounds. However, there are various possibilities within these types of tones. So, it is best to determine the exact tonal quality that you want before choosing the type of pickup for your electric guitar.
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Active and Passive Pickups
Pickups are either passive or active that affects the operation of a guitar. Although there are many types of pickups with unique properties, it is convenient to categorize them into active and passive. Most pickups are passive, and they require you to plug in the guitar to an amp and connect it to a power supply. These pickups do not have any means of pre-amplification for the electric guitar.
On the other hand, there are active pickups that have an inbuilt power supply. Most of them get power by a 9 volt or similar battery. Active pickups allow expansive control over the tone of the instrument while using onboard controls. There are many differences between the tones produced by active and passive pickups that are tough to resolve, even in the presence of tonal controls.
Control the guitar itself
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It is essential to consider the instrument like an electric guitar while choosing the picks. Various guitars produce a specific tonal quality. A pick up interacts differently with different tones produced by a guitar. Electric guitars consist of a solid body, and they produce the vibrations different than an acoustic guitar. They do not produce strong acoustic sounds like an acoustic guitar and function only through vibrations created by strings.
Moreover, subtle vibrations are also created by the material of the guitar like wood, or any other synthetic material. The sound of acoustic guitar depends on the shape of its body as it captures and amplifies the sound waves whey they move the air in and around the body.
The same pickup will produce a different sound when used with an electric guitar and when used with an acoustic guitar. It is also true for different electric guitars as they differ in the shape, material, and type of strings and body. Therefore it is best to test some picks on your guitar before finalizing one to buy.
Research Online
Your guitar manufacturer might recommend some types of picks to use with your guitar. Check the guitar accessories online on the website of your guitar company. If there is no such information on the website, you can check on YouTube as there are many videos of guitarists who teach to use accessories and to play guitar. YouTube is one of the best platforms to learn about anything, like playing guitar or buying its accessories.
Other accessories
The quality of sound produced by a guitar depends on many things. It also depends on other accessories connected to the guitar like the amp, speaker cable, other cables, and pedal switches. All these things and how they are connected to the guitar affect the quality of sound. If everything is connected correctly, then, you can check many picks on your guitar.
Final Words
These are some tips to choose the pickups for an electric guitar. If you are a beginner, it is best to take the help of a professional. A professional can look after other things too and guide you to choose the right pickup. The best way to choose the perfect pickup is to experiment with various pickups from time to time. As you experiment and gain experience over time, you will find the perfect pickup for your electric guitar and play it like a pro.
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